Cooler vs. Metal mash/lautertun

[Winkmc]

I am trying to decide which item to buy: a water cooler mash/lauter-tun (the standard "Rubbermaid, etc) or go with the metal one. Any input?

[Mesa Maltworks]

A round cooler is best used with 5 gallon yields. The reason is that you can eliminate sparging since you can usually fit 7 or so gallons of water in the container. This technique has a number of advantages with the biggest being the reduction of tannin leaching that can result from high sparge temperatures or too much sparging.

This is a generality though because this recommendation does not work with high gravity ales that require lots of grain or when you are particularly concerned with the water to grist ratios. This will work for the most commonly home brewed styles which are tend to use English style, single infusion mashes.

If you plan to decoct or step mash, you will need a metal tun because you will have to directly heat it.

Eric Watson

"Ask not what your country can brew for you, ask what you can brew for your country !"