KingBrianI
Well-Known Member
I have a 10 gal rubbermaid cooler I use for my mash tun. It has a stainless steel false bottom. I alsways do 5.5 gal batches. I preheat it before mashing everytime with hot tap water (~120 degrees F). Lately, I've been having a hell of a time getting the damn thing to hold temperature during a mash! On an Irish Dry Stout I'm brewing today, with 7.5 lbs grain and 9.75 qts. mash water, it dropped 10 degrees in 30 minutes! What the hell? I mashed in and hit my temp (152) right on the nose. Came out after 30 minutes to give it a stir and it was sitting right around 142. Does anyone else have this problem with small beers? Heck, it's been a while since I brewed anything over about 1.056, maybe it doesn't hold temperature no matter how full it is. I'm thinking about getting a 5 gal. cooler for all the beers that don't need the 10 gal. I just thought I would have heard something about this if other people were having the same problem, which leads me to believe it's the cooler that is the problem.