I'm scaling up to 15 gal batches, and trying to spec out a cooler-based MLT. I'm expecting that the most I'll ever mash is about 45 lbs of grain.
I've read all the volume discussions and at first blush it seems like a 100-qt cooler would be more than sufficient (mashing @ 1.25 qts water / lb of grain takes up 1.62 qts /lb, or 73 qts). But rather than filling it to the very rim, I'd like at least 2 inches of "freeboard", so for a 12" deep cooler I give up 17% of the capacity. So now I need 88 quarts. I'd also like to be able to add 3 gallons of water at mashout, so that's 100 quarts.
Perfect. Except that when I measure the cooler (Igloo MaxCold) and do the math, a "100 qt" cooler works out to more like 90 qts.
Of course the cooler is not perfectly cuboid, so my volume estimate may be off ... although I'm hard pressed to imagine it's off by 10%. So I'm wondering if the marketing departments at the cooler manufacturers are playing fast and loose with the volume specs.
So I'm looking for some real-world data. Does a "100 qt" cooler really hold 100 qts? Also, if you mash in a 100 qt cooler, what's the biggest grainbill you can accommodate?
I've read all the volume discussions and at first blush it seems like a 100-qt cooler would be more than sufficient (mashing @ 1.25 qts water / lb of grain takes up 1.62 qts /lb, or 73 qts). But rather than filling it to the very rim, I'd like at least 2 inches of "freeboard", so for a 12" deep cooler I give up 17% of the capacity. So now I need 88 quarts. I'd also like to be able to add 3 gallons of water at mashout, so that's 100 quarts.
Perfect. Except that when I measure the cooler (Igloo MaxCold) and do the math, a "100 qt" cooler works out to more like 90 qts.
Of course the cooler is not perfectly cuboid, so my volume estimate may be off ... although I'm hard pressed to imagine it's off by 10%. So I'm wondering if the marketing departments at the cooler manufacturers are playing fast and loose with the volume specs.
So I'm looking for some real-world data. Does a "100 qt" cooler really hold 100 qts? Also, if you mash in a 100 qt cooler, what's the biggest grainbill you can accommodate?
