Best cooler for a mash tun? (Coleman, Igloo, Rubbermaid) - Page 6

fezzman · 10-21-2010, 07:08 PM

I found this thread a little too late. Last weekend I went to Lowe's to buy a Rubbermaid cooler. Sitting next to it was the 48qt Igloo Ice cube for less than half the price. I figured I was getting 2 extra gallons of space for cheaper.

The cooler did not have a drain plug built in, though it did have the groove in the bottom for a drain. I have already drilled and installed a ball valve, sprayed Stuff foam into the hollow lid, started working on my fly sparge manifold, and installed a braid in the bottom. I've just not yet used it. I guess I can look forward to some temp drops.

The I still have some gaps in the foam in the lid so I will drill a few extra holes and fill those up. I plan to give it a test run this weekend.

Price was a big factor but the size also played a pretty big role in my decision. I used a borrowed Rubbermaid when I brewed a Founders Breakfast Stout clone, which had it pretty maxed out. I'd like to make some pretty big beers this winter so a slightly larger cooler with similar footprint seemed right.

camiller · 10-21-2010, 08:36 PM

I have an igloo 50qt ice cube marine (the all white one) and have been happy with it. I don't understand the person losing 6-10 degrees in an hour. The first few batches when I bothered to measure I lost maybe one degree in an hour. With any cooler you should pre-heat the cooler with hot water to ensure the thermal mass of the cooler doesn't soak up a lot of heat (or start with correspondingly warmer water at dough-in).

The only issue I have had is when I want to do a really big beer in a larger than 5 gallon batch. For the 10-10-10 beer I had a 37 pound grain bill and had to mash thick @ 0.9qt/lb for it to fit. For the 11-11-11 beer I want to do two back to back batches at 12 gallons each final volume to the fermentors and again am looking at something like a 37 lb grain bill. I might have to see if I can scratch up the $ for a 70-qt or borrow a larger mash tun.