50qt Igloo Ice Cube

Yakima 728
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bigjoe said:
Weezknight I’d be curious what your temps would be if you preheated with some near boiling water for around 10 minutes and then did your test on temp drops. My guess is it might be a lot better. Also with grain in there you might hold temps better.
Click to expand...

As I said, I'm no thermodynamics expert, but I'd imagine preheating, as well as using hotter water would keep the temps a bit better. Other than going ahead and brewing, there really is no "perfect" way to test it.
 
I'm no expert either. Not sure if you gave it any thought or not. Pre-heating will make a big difference. At least it had on other coolers I've used. Haven't really tested this one yet other than to make sure my ball valve didn't leak.
 
Just for a quick test and without preheating, I filled mine half way with 111 degree water from my shower. After 60 minutes I was at 108 degrees. That puts me at about 97.3% efficiency. Not bad considering I have yet to foam the top!
 
Forgot to mention I foamed the top over the weekend also. I filled the compartment on top of the lid with foam also. We'll see.
 
Weissbier said:
Just for a quick test and without preheating, I filled mine half way with 111 degree water from my shower. After 60 minutes I was at 108 degrees. That puts me at about 97.3% efficiency. Not bad considering I have yet to foam the top!
Click to expand...

There's a good chance your water was at 108-109 2 minutes after you added it as well. My cube MAYBE loses 1-2 degrees over a 60 minute mash, but always loses 5-10 (don't have Beersmith notes handy) when I add preheating water.
Beersmith lets you input cooler temp and desired Mash Temp to make up for this drop.
 
IrregularPulse said:
There's a good chance your water was at 108-109 2 minutes after you added it as well. My cube MAYBE loses 1-2 degrees over a 60 minute mash, but always loses 5-10 (don't have Beersmith notes handy) when I add preheating water.
Beersmith lets you input cooler temp and desired Mash Temp to make up for this drop.
Click to expand...

I filled the cube and took a reading after about 3 minutes and I was at 111. I closed the lid on my probe wire and was able to constantly monitor the temperature drop from the outside. I checked it about every 20 minutes, I should have recorded it for a graph, it was very steady even decrease in temp. Initial heat loss is different from sustained heat loss, preheating as a precaution is always a good idea.

Here is the thermometer I was using...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001BFJ54/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
Last edited by a moderator:
These things are great - even at the $25 I paid.
I filled inside the top with spray foam, messy but worked. I then made an inner "lid" of 2 layers of foam board wrapped in plastic wrap. This fills the dead space on top of the grain/mash. I only brew 5 gal batches and even the typical higher OG brews leave a fair amount of space. I stole the idea from a previous post that included pictures.
The last addition was an outer shell of the metallic foil wrap (reflextic?) from home depot. I made a 5 sided cube taped together with foil tape, with a small cutout for the fittings. Cheap and easy ,stores ontop of the cooler.
Last 2 brews had 1 deg drop over 60 min.
cheers,
jason
 
Temp losses for water will be much greater than a barley mash, have faith. Perhaps the wate being free to circulate cools much quicker, not so w/ a mash. I'm not convinced that foaming the lid is all that beneficial. Preheat, preheat thoroughly and I feel these cheap coolers perform well right off the shelf.
 
Came across this thread yesterday, thought I'g give it a try. stopped at target near my house on the way home from work. Sure enough there were three of these clearanced out for $9.95 and right next to was a 5 gal round Igloo beverage cooler also discounted at $9.95. bought them both. plan on filling the top this weekend thanks to you guys. :mug:

Any one tried filling the corners by drilling a small hole from the bottom of the cooler?
 
Ten bucks? I already have one, but at that price I might have to search for some more! Sheesh, thats a steal!
 
Welcome to the board! I don't think there is any need to foam up the lid, Ive used mine twice already and haven't lost a degree in a 60 minute mash. I do preheat the cooler though, I think that is key.
 
You can use this link to check inventory of local Targets. Just enter your zipcode and it'll tell you if anystores in your area have them in stock. If it says "limited availability" that usually means they only show 1 or 2 in stock and you may not find one on the shelf (either inventory is off, or it's misplaced in the store somewhere). You may get lucky, though. Happy hunting.

http://www.target.com/gp/store-info/find-target-store.html?asin=B000YIPGWU
 
Hammeru said:
Came across this thread yesterday, thought I'g give it a try. stopped at target near my house on the way home from work. Sure enough there were three of these clearanced out for $9.95 and right next to was a 5 gal round Igloo beverage cooler also discounted at $9.95. bought them both. plan on filling the top this weekend thanks to you guys. :mug:

Any one tried filling the corners by drilling a small hole from the bottom of the cooler?
Click to expand...

$9.95?!? You got a bargain, mine was $9.98 :mug:. I checked inventory (see above post) and found a Target nearby work that had "limited availability". There were 3 on the shelf clearance priced at $9.98.
 
I just went to my local target and picked up 1 to turn into my mash tun, the 5 gallon cooler wasnt cutting it for me.

I have partially foamed the top and going to do the rest later tonight. I cannot wait to use it this weekend so i can finally do a beer with a large grain bill!

I drilled my hole in the front and not in the intended on the side because i wanted the stiffness the little bit of insulation added. I tested and with the hole in the front i only lose around 0.25 gallons of h20.
 
Weissbier said:
Welcome to the board! I don't think there is any need to foam up the lid, Ive used mine twice already and haven't lost a degree in a 60 minute mash. I do preheat the cooler though, I think that is key.
Click to expand...

Maybe i'll try it first without insulating the top and doing a preheat see how it works before go modifying.
thnx for the heads up.
 
I just picked this up today on a whim while i was buying a vacu sealer for bulk hops. What kind of manifold would you put in this? I am assuming because its not round that the braid would be less than ideal.


ALSO, while looking for some dual purpose stuff I ran across clearance car window reflective shade things... would those be good as a wrap for insulation?
 
bigjoe said:
redbenn, that is it. Probably $10 at the store marked down.
Click to expand...

Thanks... it is showing out of stock at 2 of the stores by my house, and "limited availability" at the other... will hit that one up tomorrow.

http://services.rivernorthdesign.com/target/ is a good resource for those who want to check target inventories in the future... one thing I learned from my time on SlickDeals.net
 
Had my wife stop by the nearest Target which showed "Limited Availability", and she came home with one for less than $10!

The thing sure does look thin though, but I figure I'll try to see how it holds heat without any mods first.

I've only brewed extract with grains, but I've been getting an AG itch anyways. I'm looking forward to going AG for the first time, but it will have to wait until I order a new kettle.

At this price, I can afford to get this one for 5 gal batches, and if it works well enough, I probably could also pull off most 10 gal batches. And if it doesn't work so well, hey, it's only $10 and will still work for keeping refreshments cold on the pool deck for an afternoon.
 
ssabin said:
At this price, I can afford to get this one for 5 gal batches, and if it works well enough, I probably could also pull off most 10 gal batches. And if it doesn't work so well, hey, it's only $10 and will still work for keeping refreshments cold on the pool deck for an afternoon.
Click to expand...

Exactly why I bought it, if it didn't work I had myself a new boat cooler. It seems to work just fine for 5 gallon batches, I have yet to do a 10 gallon.
 
Just got the last one at my target, tag underneath said $20, but it rung up for $13
 
FrostyBeverage said:
I just picked this up today on a whim while i was buying a vacu sealer for bulk hops. What kind of manifold would you put in this? I am assuming because its not round that the braid would be less than ideal.../QUOTE]

I use a braid in the white "marine" version.
Click to expand...
 
Hammeru said:
Came across this thread yesterday, thought I'g give it a try. stopped at target near my house on the way home from work. Sure enough there were three of these clearanced out for $9.95 and right next to was a 5 gal round Igloo beverage cooler also discounted at $9.95. bought them both. plan on filling the top this weekend thanks to you guys. :mug:

Any one tried filling the corners by drilling a small hole from the bottom of the cooler?
Click to expand...


I am going to depot to get some spray foam this afternoon. I will let you know how it works.
 
personally i hate my 48 qt igloo ice cube. it loses 3-4 degrees in less than half an hour. i would recommend a better insulated cooler unless you dont mind adding hot water additions mid way through the mash.
 
matt415 said:
personally i hate my 48 qt igloo ice cube. it loses 3-4 degrees in less than half an hour. i would recommend a better insulated cooler unless you dont mind adding hot water additions mid way through the mash.
Click to expand...

Did you add spray foam to the top, or do you preheat the cooler? I'm just wondering since most have had success by doing those things. I haven't tried mine out for a brew session, yet, but I've already foamed up the lid, and it seems to work a lot better with just water inside.
 
Just picked up mine in Marlboro for $10.60 after tax!

Now to either get the CPVP piping, or switch the mesh from my current 3-Gal mini-mash system over to this.

Happy, happy, joy, joy :ban:
 
Hammeru, Finally got around to making my first batch with this setup yesterday.

I went with the CPVC manifold using a batch sparge. It worked well. My manifold is a quadrilateral. The far end if a little shorter than the end near the drain. I think this may have prevented it from coming apart as other people have had problems with. I also wrapped teflon tape around the end that I pushed into the drain to make the seal tighter.
 

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