Cylindrical or Rectangular MLT?

I am not sure if this should be with the equipment forum (if so feel free to move it)

I'm trying to put together my equipment to make the move to AG. I know there has been some discussion regarding the best SIZE for a 'cooler' style MLT, however, does anyone have any thoughts/comments/recommendations about choosing between the Cylindrical beverage coolers and the rectangular 'ice chest' style.

It really depends, IMO alot, on the size of the beer you intend to brew.

Big beers, i.e. a lot of grain can create a difficult to manage "column" in a cylidro-cooler MLT thus meaning a deep grain bed which can cause trouble in runoff by getting stuck.

A rectangular can have the same issue but is less prone to this as their is more room to "spread out".

In a perfect world, I prefer a round cooler. It's easier to stir things really well, and I feel there are less temperature variations in a round cooler.

Having said that, I have a rectangular cooler. It was cheaper (and makes fine beer). Seems like once you get past the 5g size the round coolers get pretty expensive.

Me and most of my friends that use rectangular coolers get about 65 to maybe 70% eff., I don't mind paying a lil more for more grain, but I like to think I have a really good setup. I've heard of people using the 10 gallon drink coolers and getting a lot better eff. I am hoping to switch to one, but they are pretty hard to find locally and I don't want to pay shipping.

If you do get a rectangular one, you want one with good bottom geometry, make sure it has a good spot for a valve and manifold. It is sometimes hard to get the valves to seal if the outside is corrugated/rough, or isn't perfectly flat. I've never converted the round ones, but I'd imagine they have a flat spot where the traditional drink spigot would be.

I have a rectangular one and prefer them over the round style. I also use it to keep the carboy cool as the weather warms up.

I like round ones because of the following:

1. Good grain depth for geting good filtering action from a false bottom.

2. Even drainage through the grains and especilally if using a spraybar(fly sparge) but also works good for batch sparging because it is easy to stir.

3. They have good insulation (better than some cheaper rectangular coolers).

The only downside I can see is that the round coolers only can be only 5 or 10 gallons capacity and I use 2 of them when doing a very large grain bill for 12 gallons. I could use 1 rectangular one but then it is harder to get the water to drain evenly in the rectangular cooler when using fly sparge which I have been using lately because I am testing different latering/sparging techniques.

Thanks for the responses...Seems like you can have success with either style, and each have their pluses and minuses. I think I may splurge and go with the cylindrical (even though they are pretty pricey) it will fit better in the space I have been allowed by SWMBO!

Cheers!

I was able to get a 10 gallon Coleman drink cooler. It is square.




I really like it and regularly get into the low 90's for eff.


I fly sparge and the arm fit nicely into the lid.

what do you use for a pump for your fly sparge? that's amazing eff.

do you do 5 gallon batches?

I brew 10 gallon batches all gravity fed. No pump.

Where did you get that green cooler? I like it. I tried to google it but got the orange cylinder.

I found it on ebay. Got it for 26 bucks shipped!

It must have been used on the sidelines at a basketball game because it had an ACC tournament sticker on it from 2000 which I removed.

Not sure if Coleman has them listed on their website.

Full with grains from an Oktoberfest.

WOW! thats a hell of a deal. Coleman has them on their site for 50 something plus shipping. Time to look at ebay i guess.