Building a mash tun

Northern Brewer General
1

I am currently making the switch to all-grain and was curious if a 60 quart cooler would be enough room to brew the occasional 10 gallon batch?

2

If you know your grain bill, this site will tell you.

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml
3

If you batch sparge then you should have no problems.

4

It should be big enough for most 10 gallon batches. I have done many 10 and 15 gallon batches in my 52 quart mash tun and even 1 20 gallon batch. I batch sparge by the way. Of course now I am building a 100 quart mash tun for the 20 gallon batches.

5

60 qt should be big enough for 10 gal batches up to 1.080 or so, depending on efficiency.

6

Yep, no problems using a 60qt for 10gal batches of standard brews.

7

Since 60 is large enough for 10 gallons, is it too big for 5 gallons? Does the extra head space create problems for maintaining the proper temperature?

Thanks.

8

[quote=“Sigma Brew”]Since 60 is large enough for 10 gallons, is it too big for 5 gallons? Does the extra head space create problems for maintaining the proper temperature?

Thanks.[/quote]
I use a 72 qt cooler, and brew almost exclusively 5 gallon batches. While it works, it is too big. If I was to do it again, I’d get about a 50 qt. If you were going to brew both, the 60 would be a good size.