Igloo vs Rubbermaid coolers

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MikeInCtown

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Hope this is the right place for this...

Locally I can get a Rubbermaid 7 gallon cooler for $29, an Igloo 10 gallon cooler for $50, or the Rubbermaid 10 gallon for about $20 more than that.

Has anyone converted the Igloo cooler or is the valve different?

The 7 gallon Rubbermaid cooler appears to take the same top as the 10 gallon, so should I assume that those conversion kits will work with the 7 gallon?

Just wondering if spending $20 more for a Rubbermaid is really needed. I'm new to brewing, but with Christmas coming up, i'd like to give others an idea of what I really want vs what I don't need.
 
I'd always go larger than smaller, you'll want 40+ qt for a good sized brew and the right place for the post is in "Equipment"

All other things being equal, I'd go with the cheaper cooler myself as long as it provides the same ease of upgrade.
 
Go to your nearest Wal-Mart and buy a 48 qt Igloo Ice Cube for $13.88.

But to answer your question, all the coolers will convert the same (i.e., same valve, etc)

You also probably want to stay away from the 7 gal cooler if you are doing 10 gallon batches and/or big beers. (O.G. > 1.080 or so).
 
Something I've been wondering about is the plastics in some of the rectangular coolers. Do you think there is a difference between the round beverage coolers and them? I mean as far as the plastics giving off flavors when heated. The round ones are meant to directly hold a hot or cold liquid, but that's not the manufacturer's intended purpose with the rectangular coolers. Or am I just being paranoid?:confused:
 
I just bottled my American Brown today, which is my first brew from the rectangular cooler. At this point, it's probably the best beer I've ever brewed, I don't detect any off flavours.
 
First, thanks for the recommendation on the square coolers. For some reason I thought you needed round. Guss it doesn't matter as long as it's a cooler with a drain that will hol heat.

Second, those who are complaining about taste from the plastic may not have cleaned the stuff well enough. They use mold release agents and oil will also get into the injection/blow molding machines. I remembered this as I used to work for a plastics mfgr, but also because I did a root beer kit with my kids and the first thing they tell you to do is soak the bottles in a cleaner solution overnight because the new bottles will impart a taste on to the root beer. I have to imagine that the hot water plus soak time would also do this to beer.

Mike
 
Bromley said:
Something I've been wondering about is the plastics in some of the rectangular coolers. Do you think there is a difference between the round beverage coolers and them? I mean as far as the plastics giving off flavors when heated. The round ones are meant to directly hold a hot or cold liquid, but that's not the manufacturer's intended purpose with the rectangular coolers. Or am I just being paranoid?:confused:

you're being paranoid. there's no way, from a manufacturing standpoint, that a company making different shaped coolers would use different plastics for different shapes. think economies of scale.
 
SenorWanderer said:
you're being paranoid. there's no way, from a manufacturing standpoint, that a company making different shaped coolers would use different plastics for different shapes. think economies of scale.

OK, paranoia it is then. Thanks for calming me down.
 
SenorWanderer said:
you're being paranoid. there's no way, from a manufacturing standpoint, that a company making different shaped coolers would use different plastics for different shapes. think economies of scale.


I have NO specific information about it, but I would be so sure in ruling anything out. What if some plastics formulation works slightly better than another in certain mold shapes, maintains proper wall thickness, is a few pennies cheaper/ton, etc.
I am sure some of the folks here close to any manufacturing processes would agree that this "tailoring" of the raw material is commonly done.
 
beergears said:
I have NO specific information about it, but I would be so sure in ruling anything out. What if some plastics formulation works slightly better than another in certain mold shapes, maintains proper wall thickness, is a few pennies cheaper/ton, etc.
I am sure some of the folks here close to any manufacturing processes would agree that this "tailoring" of the raw material is commonly done.

Greeeaaaat, now I have REASON to be paranoid again.
 
There's no reason you can't use use rectangular. These products are all designed to contain food and drink. The heat needed to leech chemicals into the hot wort will destroy your cooler anyway (> 200 ).

I have a round cooler mainly because I'm not handy and that's what the instructions said to use. :p
 
Zillions of homebrewers use quadrate-footprint ones. Zillions others use round-footprint ones.

Both types work. Both are safe, food grade, and easy to modify into an MLT.

I went with a round one, because it's what I wanted. Maybe I'm a squarist and have been discriminating against squares and rectangles for years unknowingly. I dunno. I certainly could have saved some money on one of those.

I gotta wonder if those round Rubbermaid coolers would cost less if we didn't see them on the sidelines on TV.
 
Whatever you do, though, PLEASE don't spend more than 25 on a cooler, you will regret it. Head to Wally-world, grab yourself any of their coolers and you should still come in under 20 bucks, whether it's the "Ice cube" or one of the regular rectangular ones... I saw 48 qt Igloo's decked out in hunting camo, still for only $12.88
 
chriso said:
Whatever you do, though, PLEASE don't spend more than 25 on a cooler, you will regret it. Head to Wally-world, grab yourself any of their coolers and you should still come in under 20 bucks, whether it's the "Ice cube" or one of the regular rectangular ones... I saw 48 qt Igloo's decked out in hunting camo, still for only $12.88

Yeah, that's the route I'm going to go. I've been mashing in a 5 gallon pale with a "mash jacket". I'm excited to get something higher capacity and do some BIG AG beers!
 
chriso said:
Whatever you do, though, PLEASE don't spend more than 25 on a cooler, you will regret it.

Not to be an arse the ONLY thing I regret about my entire MLT is that I tried using the polymer braid rather than a real stainless steel one. I paid almost $60 for my Rubbermaid 10-gallon: I could have ordered it online cheaper but I like instant gratification.

I also bought a rectangular cooler from Wally World the first time and realized it wouldn't work as a MLT (It had one of those dips) but I kept it and use it to catch the hot water from the wort chiller, then drop the wort chiller in there, swish it around and be done. :)
 
Kevin Dean said:
Not to be an arse the ONLY thing I regret about my entire MLT is that I tried using the polymer braid rather than a real stainless steel one. I paid almost $60 for my Rubbermaid 10-gallon: I could have ordered it online cheaper but I like instant gratification.

I also bought a rectangular cooler from Wally World the first time and realized it wouldn't work as a MLT (It had one of those dips) but I kept it and use it to catch the hot water from the wort chiller, then drop the wort chiller in there, swish it around and be done. :)

LOL, OK, point taken. I regret the CPVC manifold I built - today is the virgin run for my s/s braid.

What do you mean by "dips"? Just curious, haven't seen what you're talking about.

I need a big round rubbermaid tote to wash my cfc in.... I've been using a plastic bag and a spray bottle for now.....
 
PseudoChef said:
Go to your nearest Wal-Mart and buy a 48 qt Igloo Ice Cube for $13.88.

Well, this sucks. Must be my area or something, but no 40 or 48 coolers to be found. Closest thing was the wheeled Igloo 60 quart cooler for $25. They also had Rubbermaid coolers, but those seemed pretty under insulated nd the sides didn't feel solid.

I went to three different WalMarts including one supercenter and a Target and not one had a 10 gallon round cooler or anything other than the 60 quart units. I did see a nice wheeled one at WM that was rectangular and the drain was opposite the wheels and in a wll of sorts for maximum drainage. I though about getting that one, but I don't want to spend a bunch if I don't have to. Will see what they come up with as time goes on and I'll just stop at some places while I keep Christmas shopping.

Also FWIW, Old Time Pottery rules for cheap 5 gallon Carboys. $15 for the same thing they want $20 and $25 for at the LBH.:ban:
 
Kevin Dean said:
Not to be an arse the ONLY thing I regret about my entire MLT is that I tried using the polymer braid rather than a real stainless steel one. I paid almost $60 for my Rubbermaid 10-gallon: I could have ordered it online cheaper but I like instant gratification.

I also bought a rectangular cooler from Wally World the first time and realized it wouldn't work as a MLT (It had one of those dips) but I kept it and use it to catch the hot water from the wort chiller, then drop the wort chiller in there, swish it around and be done. :)

I'm curious also what you mean by the dip. I'm piecing together a cooler MLT and if there is a problem with some coolers, I would definitely be interested.

Thanks
 
Has anyone compared one of the inexpensive rectangular coolers back to back with a round Rubbermaid or Igloo? I'm not talking about "I use the 48qt Ice Cube and get great results." As an anal retentive engineer, I can not believe that the skimpy Ice Cube will hold anywhere near the same temperature over a 1 to 1.5 hour mash as the thicker Rubbermaid. (I get 1-2 deg F)

I first bought one of the Ice Cubes to make a mashtun, got it home and realized that the wall was very thin. I'd say no more than 1/4 the thickness of the 40 qt round Rubbermaid. I took the Ice Cube back and sprung for the Rubbermaid.

Now if you can find a great deal on something like the rectangular Coleman Xtreme, I'd go for that. Those things are extremely well insulated.
 
raceskier said:
As an anal retentive engineer, I can not believe that the skimpy Ice Cube will hold anywhere near the same temperature over a 1 to 1.5 hour mash as the thicker Rubbermaid. (I get 1-2 deg F)

I thought the "Ice Cube"'s were supposed to be second only to the Coleman Xtreme's that you mentioned. I could be wrong. I just remember seeing that the Ice Cube's are supposed to have *primo* insulation.

Then again, I use a standard, plain ol' Igloo 48. I can mash 2 hours with only a 2 deg drop. I guarantee the Ice Cube walls are thicker than mine.
 
Bromley said:
I'm curious also what you mean by the dip. I'm piecing together a cooler MLT and if there is a problem with some coolers, I would definitely be interested.

Thanks

I assume he is talking about the channels in the bottom of some coolers which lead to the outlet valve.
I myself only see positive things about this
 
boo boo said:
I assume he is talking about the channels in the bottom of some coolers which lead to the outlet valve.
I myself only see positive things about this

That was the kind of "dip" I was visualizing too, and with my new S/S braid, I think that would be a big WIN!

(Today's mash in the new MLT went well, if you can't tell by my cheerful demeanor)
 
I'm not sure a standard false bottom will fit in a rectangular cooler.you can of course use a manifold oror some kind of bazooka arrangement.
 
raceskier said:
Has anyone compared one of the inexpensive rectangular coolers back to back with a round Rubbermaid or Igloo? I'm not talking about "I use the 48qt Ice Cube and get great results." As an anal retentive engineer, I can not believe that the skimpy Ice Cube will hold anywhere near the same temperature over a 1 to 1.5 hour mash as the thicker Rubbermaid. (I get 1-2 deg F)

I first bought one of the Ice Cubes to make a mashtun, got it home and realized that the wall was very thin. I'd say no more than 1/4 the thickness of the 40 qt round Rubbermaid. I took the Ice Cube back and sprung for the Rubbermaid.

Now if you can find a great deal on something like the rectangular Coleman Xtreme, I'd go for that. Those things are extremely well insulated.

I have used both a 5 gallon round Rubbermaid Victory and the 48 qt Ice Cube. They both hold temps equally well. I lost half a degree over the course of an hour with the Ice Cube. As a side to this, we really don't even need to be mashing (for the most part) more than an hour. 30 minutes should yield excellent conversion with modified malts.
 
PseudoChef said:
I have used both a 5 gallon round Rubbermaid Victory and the 48 qt Ice Cube. They both hold temps equally well. I lost half a degree over the course of an hour with the Ice Cube. As a side to this, we really don't even need to be mashing (for the most part) more than an hour. 30 minutes should yield excellent conversion with modified malts.

I agree, it seems like people are mashing for alot longer than necessary. I dropped from a standard 60 min mash to 40 minutes and saw absolutely no change in efficiency. 90 or 120 minutes seems like way too much. Unless there are reasons to mash that long. I'm someone more knowledgable will come along and correct me.
 
Bromley said:
I agree, it seems like people are mashing for alot longer than necessary. I dropped from a standard 60 min mash to 40 minutes and saw absolutely no change in efficiency. 90 or 120 minutes seems like way too much. Unless there are reasons to mash that long. I'm someone more knowledgable will come along and correct me.

I usually go 60-90 minutes on wheat- and dextrine-heavy mashes. That seems to be what reading has suggested.... I'd love to see links to the contrary though, because I always love to shave time off my brew day! :D
 
chriso said:
... I regret the CPVC manifold I built ...
:off: Just curious what you regret about it. I have been using a homemade CPVC manifold for 2+ years and it's worked great. (I also ask b/c it might help anyone out there just starting to build a mash tun out of a cooler.)
 
Rhoobarb said:
:off: Just curious what you regret about it. I have been using a homemade CPVC manifold for 2+ years and it's worked great. (I also ask b/c it might help anyone out there just starting to build a mash tun out of a cooler.)

Probably because I made my cuts with a jigsaw... but they seem too thick. I get lots of husks into my manifold, which made dried wort goo block off over 1/2 of the diameter of the ball valve after only 4 mashes. (Glad I noticed before it started contributing off flavors)

I've always done good hot soaks after using, but after seeing that crappy goo, I think I need to start brushing inside, too.

I plan to take apart my S/S manifold after an equivalent 4 mashes, and see if it changes things... I noticed on my brew yesterday, though, that vorlaufing is practically non-existent with the S/S braid.

Thanks for playing devil's advocate, these are very important questions worth asking, and I definitely agree that if we can help someone else make the right choice for them, then great!
 
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