Hey guys. I’m in a bit of a pinch. I am making my homemade mash tun with a cooler, braid, tubing, and an inline valve. Everything arrived this afternoon and I’m ready to go. I tried the rubber bung in a 10 gallon Rubbermaid Gatorade cooler and, wait for it… It’s too big. I remembered I had a 7 gallon Gatorade cooler that’s never been out of the box. Tried the bung in it and… Perfection. Does anybody see any issues with going with the 7 gallon cooler? I’ll probably stick with 5 gallon batches because I have problems finishing the beer I make now anyway. Any thoughts you have would be appreciated. Thanks!
10 lbs of grain will absorb 1 gallon. So dough in with five gallons water and your first run will be about 3 1/2 gallons. Then batch sparge 3 more gallons to get 6 1/2 gallons in the pot. It Will work fine. I started with a 5 gallon tun and made if work. I think there is a site that will calculate it for you.
A 7 gallon mash tun will limit you to low/medium gravity beers. Your dead space will limit you too around 6 gallons. I’ve had my 10 gallon mash tun full to the top doing a high gravity 5 gallon batch. I’m going to purchase a 15 gallon mash tun solely so I can brew high gravity beers. A 6 gallon mash will support 14 lb grain bill and provide roughly 1.070 OG.
