brewjunky

Recipes 

so is the beverage cooler always draining back into the rectangular cool;er with the ice in it?

jcarson83

Recipes 

I use both 1 gallon and 1/2 gallon containers and usually dump some ice in in the beginning to get it down to temperature faster.

jcarson83

Recipes 

Thats right. When the pump kicks on it raises the water level above the drain and it recycles back into the ice cooler. Kind of like a toilet spill over.

Tripod

Recipes 

Very cool idea and can double for MLT. I think i found (another) DIY project to add to the ever increasing list!

-Tripod

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Primary: First AG Batch! - Irish Red | Bottle: Oatmeal Stout| Drinking: Nearcastle II... | Up Next: It may be time to try a lager

brewjunky

Recipes 

Wouldn't this just drain the cold water that you are pumping on the top?

BargainFittings

Recipes 

A solution to this is to put a check valve on the input line so the flow will not siphon back into the ice cooler.

Simple inline check valve from the brew store would work nicely.

slimer

Recipes 

Or put the inlet hose on the bottom to force the warm water out of the top.

jcarson83

Recipes 

It's been working well with the current setup. I'm sure there is room for improvement but I haven't noticed a problem with getting a consistent temperature in the water with the water dumping in the top. The water going in is usually 20 degrees cooler too so it will want to go to the bottom anyway since its more dense.

LooyvilleLarry

Recipes 

For those in cooler climates, I'd bet a aquarium heater would do the reverse - keeping the temps warm enough for ale fermentation.

jcarson83

Recipes 

I just used it for the first time as a heater and it works great. Hot tap water works just fine and holds temperature for several days.

This weekend I get to use the 10 gallon cooler as a mash tun for the first time on my Strong Scottish Ale too.