Batch Sparge

I came across this and I'm very interested in it



It's batch sparging with a cooler. Has anyone tried it? It seems very promising.

Nope, never heard of it, but it sounds GENIUS!

Lol, j/k. Yes, most of us use that, and it is just about the cheapest most efficient way that one can homebrew all grain beer. Do a bit of searching in that top right search bar for cooler mlt, and you'll get tons of info.

this is such a good way to do it, most of us do it very similarly. works great

Okay, the idea of "all grain" seemed like some intimidating process. Holy crap, if it's that easy, I might have to switch.

Awesome! I'm excited about this. So it's just a matter of building the lines and all of that. I assume there is some sort of a shut off valve somewhere in the line?
There are probably tutorials on how to do this...so I need to search the forums now. Thanks for the info, guys!

I found a 15 gallon cooler on sale at Lowes for $27. Is 15 gallons TOO big, or does that not really matter? There is a 7 gallon one as well.

That's the video (and the people on here ) that pushed me into all grain. Also since I watched this video 500 times, my first all grain was the Steam Beer, or California common.

Less head room will help prevent temp drop. So 15 gal might be a bit excessive.

If you make a high gravity beer you'll need the room for more grain. I have a 12 gal igloo called the ice cube. No problem getting 20lbs of grain in there. Also it's square which works really well when you put the valve on because the surface is flat for the washers to seal. Got some styrofoam from the hardware store and cut it to fit down inside to decrease the headroom when needed. The styrofoam is also handy for poking your thermometer through for temp readings.

Yeah he's right. 15 gal may be a bit big. I think most use 10 gal. I already had this 12 gal in my garage so I just used that and it's working great.

Great! Thanks for the info. That igloo ice cube is exactly what I'm looking at. I will probably go with that and do the styrofoam to decrease headroom. Thanks for the tips!

Question: I picked up my igloo ice cue and assembled everything, the only thing is that the spout to drain the cooler is on an angle. Picture a square with one of the bottom corners cut at a 45 degree angle. On that angle is the spout. With that current placement I will not be able to get all of the liquid out, so I'm going to have to drill another hole on the front side and put the old spout back on, no biggie. Is the original spout that came with it made of the same material as the interior? Will it be able to handle the heat?

go to the DIY forum, check:
Cheap & Easy 10 Gallon Rubbermaid MLT Conversion

It's round but should be the same idea.

I use the rubbermaid 10 gallon and loose some wort because the drain is not at the lowest point. Not much can be done about that.

you would be surprised how little wort is left if you simply tilt the cooler at the end of the run... using a braid I lost very little doing that.

I would have easily a half gallon left over if I used the existing spout. The tutorial for the Rubbermaid cooler is great, but on that one the spout is right near the bottom and not much is lost.

I have the ice cube and had a loss of exactly 2 qts at the bottom. No big deal. Just figure it in your planned yield. My last batch I got 82% efficiency. It'll work fine.
I tried tipping mine once to get more out but ended up with grain coming out with the sparge so I don't do that anymore.

Well I thought I'd be slick and drill a hole through the front of the cooler...bad idea. I went through the insullation, which has give to it, so I can't get it water tight, no matter how tight I make the fittings. Is there any sort of caulk or something along those lines that is safe to use in the cooler, that can stand up to the temps and not affect the flavor? If not, I'm out the $30 I paid for the cooler

HexKrak said:

Less head room will help prevent temp drop. So 15 gal might be a bit excessive.

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nothing such as excessive. you'll go 10 gallon soon, and wish you'd just gone ahead and bought the bigger setup. after years of building up, i'm almost to the herms setup, and i should've just gone big from the start

15g is not excessive.

In fact, it is perfect. I have 10g cooler mashtun and also a 15g keg mashtun. Often I have to use the 15g for large batches.

Well my cooler will be rendered useless unless there is something that is safe to use to create a water tight seal...see my above post

You could fill the walls with Great Stuff expanding foam. I'd recommend the formula they sell for doors and windows... won't expand too much. That would make the walls sturdy and you could tighten down a bulkhead fitting with some large rubber washers. www.bargainfittins.com sells a large red rubber silicone washer that would work great. Or you can get sheets of rubber at HD.

Before you scrap it, just get some aquarium silicone caulk and patch the hole.

Great idea! Will aquarium silicone caulk stand up to the high temps?

...because I noticed on the clear caulk I have at my house, the temp range says it's only up to 140F.

Moody_Copperpot said:

Great idea! Will aquarium silicone caulk stand up to the high temps?

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Don't know. But I've had problems with clear caulk that ONLY the aquarium stuff would fix. You can get small tubes of it at home depot or at any aquarium store. Might not work.

If you don't have any of this stuff sitting around, I'd just get another cooler.

found someone too buy it off of me. I plugged the hole and used silicone caulk, it will still work for ice with no problem. I picked up a coleman 12 gallon for $22 at Sears and constructed it today! No leaks!!!