Mash Tun Cooler Capacity

[bassetbeer]

I've got a 5 gal cooler as my mash tun. How much grain can I cram into one of these things?

I've only done some faily low gravity, all-grain beers so far, and some fairly thin mashes.

I'm looking to go up to a doppelbock on a 5g batch (final volume) and my best guess on a recipe is calling for 15-18 lbs of grain. Can I fit all that in there AND have room for enough H20? Especially seeing as how I'll probably do a decoction and I'd like to avoid adding back DME to get my gravity.

Just want to be reassured before I invest in the mat'l and the time.

Thanks.

[DannyW]

According to the mash calculator on this page: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

You would have to mash in REAL thick at .75qts/# to fit 18# in a 5 gallon cooler.

At 15#, you could mash in at a more reasonable 1qt/#.

Are you sure your cooler is really 5 gallons below the lip? Sometimes they include the volume of the domed top. That's great for sub sandwiches and 2L bottles of soda, but not so much when you are filling it with liquid.

[BeerMan]

I use a 5 gallon cooler for my Tun I lost .25 gal of capacity for my false bottom, I can comfortably mash 14 pounds with 1 quart per gallon infusion rate or 16 pounds at .8 quart per gallon a little messy. When I do high gravity brews I found it is easier to scale back my batch size. Calculate your brew for a 4-gallon vice 5-gallon batch, very easy to do if you have ProMash.