I want to start brewing more 2.5 gal batches. Just easier for me during the winter and will allow me to brew more often if I can bring most of the operation in the house. I pretty much am ready to go except for a mash tun. I don't want to do BIAB. I would prefer just to scale down an all grain set-up. Anyone have a 5 gal cooler set-up they like or something similar that I can do anywhere from 7-10 lbs of grain in?
I use a 50qt cooler for mashing and I regularly mash 1/2 batches in it with less then 10 lbs of grain. If I were you I would just buy a smaller cooler and use it for your half batches, its a small investment.
my 5 gallon round water cooler works great for most five gallon batches and would work great for smaller than five gallon batches too.
It's VERY hard to do higher gravity beers in just a small 5 gallon tun though. On my first ever homebrew two weeks ago and I couldn't get the whole 13.5 lbs of malt in the tun without spilling a bunch all over the floor. With the water and the grain it was just too much for my 5 gallon cooler to handle. I'm going to stick to 3 gallon batches from now on and I think the 5 gallon cooler works well for those size batches
12 gallons is my standard batch. Getting a little over 13 you have to fudge the ratio a little and get a little creative. Getting a lot over 13 you have to lessen the batch size. As for spilling, it's never been an issue for me.
I just use my 60qt cooler. I noticed that your strike water needs to be about 5 or 6 degrees hotter. Have extra and be willing to add an extra .5 qt/lb of grain if needed. You may be mashing thin.
Yeah I was super noob doing my first ever batch, had I known that tuns come in 10 and 5 gallon sizes I would never have attempted to brew that beer the way I did, would have scaled it down to make it all fit. Oh well every mistake is a lesson learned I'm learning!
I scaled down and do 3.5 gallon batches. I built a 5 gal cooler mash tun with a stainless braid. Works great. I do fill it up full when I batch sparge, but for actual mashing no issues on size.
I just pulled the trigger on a 5 gallon mash tun with a false bottom. All put together for $80 from AIH. Thanks for the input everyone.
Best part about making these small batches, if you're making a 1.050ish beer and you have relatively fresh yeast no need to make a starter.
Sadly ... no; it is not VERY hard nor is it even kinda sorta hard to do higher gravity beers in just a small 5 gallon tun. Not in my brew closet ... anyway. I brew 2.5G batches of 1.110 old stock ales in my 5G round MLT pas problem. Two-step temperature infusion mash with 12 1/3# grain @ final thickness of 1.3 QT / #.
Parts list here (MLT is 10G but the parts don't care if it's 5 or 10Gs.) http://members.shaw.ca/Fly_Guy/mlt.htm Denny Conn on the cheap http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/mashtun.htm
I know Vikeman mashes in a pretty big cooler (70 qt maybe?) without much trouble. He mashes out rather than sparging. Seems like a good option in your situation, although might be a little tight at 2.5 gal.
52 quart actually. I do mash out, getting the full water volume in the tun for a no-sparge with 5.1 gallon batches. Usually with plenty of room to spare.
I meant it's hard to do a full 5 gallon batch. Sure you can do it if you do smaller than 5 gallons but there is no way you can put 16 lbs of grain in a 5 gallon tun for a 5 gallon batch size, that's all I was saying. And yes you can break it up and do two separate mashings but that's a PITA vs. just having a 10 gal tun
O-K; however ... the OP stated the batch size was 2.5G so commentary relative to a 5G batch size is irrelevant ... amirite?
Also consider that coolers are a dime a dozen. Five gallons is fine for 2.5 gallon batches of all kinds, and many five gallon batches of around 13 lbs of grain or less. Change out the parts to another cooler if you decide you need to step up the size.
