I just purchased a 5 gal mash tun and a lot of people have been telling me that I cannot brew a 5 gal All Grain batch with it. Is this true? If not can anyone reccomend a good starter recipe?
You certainly can brew 5 gallon batches of low to mid gravity beer in a 5 gallon mash tun. Try the Can I Mash It? calculator at this page... http://rackers.org/calcs.shtml/
Whoever told you that is wrong, but brewing 5 gallon batches with a 5 gallon tun will limit you to a gravity of about 1.070, if you want somehing higher than that you'll either need to brew a smaller batch, suppliment with some extract, or get a bigger tun.
I have a 5 gallon tun and brew 3 gallon batches typically. 5 gallons of one beer is too much to have on hand for my situation. When I want to brew a bigger beer I just reduce the batch size, but even with a 2.5 gallon batch you can brew a RIS that hits 1.120 OG with a little room to spare if you wanted to.
1.070 is really pushing it...but with a thick mash, double sparge and good efficiency...yes it feasible.
13 lbs of grain mashed at 1.25 qts/lb will fill a 5 gallon tun right to the top, but it's doable, and at an efficiency of 75% will yield a 5 gallon batch with an OG of about 1.070. Not totally unreasonable.
75% efficiency took me quite some time to reach, so maybe I am basing it off of that Not completely unreasonable, but for years (before getting my own mill) I was working with about 65% efficiency. 65% seems to be the norm around my homebrew club as well...which they can't understand how I am getting 73-75%. 65% gives me about 1.062 OG, not to mention some malts like Golden Promise will have less potential sugar extraction. Not really disagreeing with you, I am just trying to look at it in a different light.
If it were a false bottom, yes. Not a whole lot though. The popular plastic ones for the orange round coolers can't take up much more than a pint.
