Newby questions about mash tun size and mill

[nelstrodomus]

Hey folks,

I bought a corona mill a while ago because I got it on sale for about 40 bucks at my LHBS. Are these mill's good enough to crack large amounts of grain, i.e., will it crack them properly for a 10 gal batch?

Question #2,
My parents have a 5 gal gott cooler that they never use, so I'm going to steal that from them and convert it to a mash tun. Can I do 10 gal batches in that size cooler or am I only able to do 5 gal? FYI, I plan on doing batch sparging...

[Cosmic Charlie]

I think a rule of thumb is that you can take your cooler size in gallons, and multiply that by 2 to get the amount of grain in pounds you can mash in it. So, a 5 gallon cooler can be used to mash 10 lbs grain, but 10 lbs would be the max (I think). If I'm thinking about this correctly, you would need some extract for a 10 gallon batch. You might even need to use extract for a 5 gallon batch, depending on the style and recipe.

[nelstrodomus]

I forgot that I have an extra 15.5 keggle with a hole in it for a ball valve, so, can I make a 10 gal batch out of this or do I still have to get like a 20 gal cooler?

[beerking]

I have 10 gallon pots I use for brewing 5 gallon batches. I have found that I can do about 22 lbs of grain, but that is pushing it. That will get me close to 1.100, but that is all without extract.

[nelstrodomus]

beerking,

I'm going to take that response as a 'yes' to my question then...?

[nickhorvath12]

I have a 5 gallon gott, and have squeezed 14.5 pounds of grain into it at a 1.1 quart/lb ratio. However, this resulted in my first stuck sparge and one hell of a mess trying to unclog it. I can mash around 12 pounds no problem though, which lets me make 5 gallon medium gravity batches in the 1.050 - 1.070 range depending on final volume. Hope this helps.

[roadhouse]

I don't see how it would be possible to do a 10 gallon batch in a 5 gallon cooler. It would most certainly result in either a stuck sparge since the ratio would have to probably be below 1:1. I have a 10 gallon cooler and i tend to only make 6 gallon batches. I could probably make 10 gallon batches of a smaller beer no bigger than 1.060, but I really haven't decided on a beer I want to make that much of yet. I think the keggle would definitely work for 10 gallon batches so long as you can keep it insulated to steady the temperature.

[beerking]

beerking,

I'm going to take that response as a 'yes' to my question then...?

Actually, except for low gravity batches (under 12P/1.048) I would think the answer is "no." I am using a 10 gallon pot (which does have 1 gallon "dead space" under the false bottom) for 5 gallon batches, and I cannot get about about 25P/1.100 without extract.

Realize my pot is 2X my batch size, and you are propsing using a cooler that is 1.5X batch size. I am using 12-15 #s grain in my average batches. For 10 gallon batches, you would need 18-23 3s. If you assume 1.25 quarts per pound of grain, that is over 7 gallons of mash water, plus the water in the dead space (probably ~.5 gal in a cooler), and the volume of the grain (which I am not sure of, but might guess to be 2 # = ~1 qt, meaning you have 3 more gallons of volume. ProMash can do the exact calculation).

The above shows you can do a beer around 12P/1.048, but that is pretty close to your limit. By going with your suggestion, I suspect you are limiting yourself to "small beers," and unable to brew Oktoberfest, Bock, Scotch ales, big IPAs, etc.

[nelstrodomus]

beerking/roadhouse,

thanks for the advice, since I can't live without hopbomb IPA's, looks like I'm going to get myself a 20 gal or so cooler, I've looked around, are there any cheap places to get these (I'd rather just pick one up at the store than online).

On another note, any word on the Corona Mill grain I have? I plan on buying a big screw that I can replace with the hand crank so I can just use a hand powered screwdrive to crank the shaft, but in terms of its ability to mill grains right am I OK?

[roadhouse]

beerking/roadhouse,

thanks for the advice, since I can't live without hopbomb IPA's, looks like I'm going to get myself a 20 gal or so cooler, I've looked around, are there any cheap places to get these (I'd rather just pick one up at the store than online).

On another note, any word on the Corona Mill grain I have? I plan on buying a big screw that I can replace with the hand crank so I can just use a hand powered screwdrive to crank the shaft, but in terms of its ability to mill grains right am I OK?

I have a corona mill and I think it works fine. It's not gonna be as good of a crush as one of the expensive ones but it is definitely acceptable. My gravity has been off maybe .002 at most.

[beerking]

Back in the 80s, the Corona mMill was the only thing a homebrewer could get. It is also much cheaper than the ones specifically made for brewing.

Thus, Corona has become kind of the "homebrewers basic." It is a good mill, and will accomplish good results. Not great mind you, but good.

I have a Valley Mill, which was $99 about ten years ago. I think that was the cheapest of the specific brewing mills. Unfortuantely, they have been out of business for years now.

Bottom line Nelstro, what you have will work fine.

[corkybstewart]

Actually, except for low gravity batches (under 12P/1.048) I would think the answer is "no." I am using a 10 gallon pot (which does have 1 gallon "dead space" under the false bottom) for 5 gallon batches, and I cannot get about about 25P/1.100 without extract.

Realize my pot is 2X my batch size, and you are propsing using a cooler that is 1.5X batch size. I am using 12-15 #s grain in my average batches. For 10 gallon batches, you would need 18-23 3s. If you assume 1.25 quarts per pound of grain, that is over 7 gallons of mash water, plus the water in the dead space (probably ~.5 gal in a cooler), and the volume of the grain (which I am not sure of, but might guess to be 2 # = ~1 qt, meaning you have 3 more gallons of volume. ProMash can do the exact calculation).

The above shows you can do a beer around 12P/1.048, but that is pretty close to your limit. By going with your suggestion, I suspect you are limiting yourself to "small beers," and unable to brew Oktoberfest, Bock, Scotch ales, big IPAs, etc.
I routinely do 10 gallon batches of big beers in my converted keg(15.5 gallon). My max was 43 pounds and 11 gallons of water for my Imperial stout. That was a hell of a sparge job but we got it done. In fact I've now brewed it several times and have gotten the process down. But beers with 30-40 pounds of grain are no problem at all.
I don't think 20 pounds of grain should be much of a issue in a 10 gallon cooler, but the guys with coolers would certainly know better.