Building a mash tun Q's

I'm looking to build a mash tun out of a cooler. I went out shopping today but couldn't find any of the coolers I commonly see recommended. Anyone out there build one recently and have a good idea for a cooler to use? The only coleman extreme coolers I could find had wheels on them and the spigot was tilted up inside the cooler which I didn't like. Also what size of hardware is everyone using? 1/2" or 3/8"?

Would a coleman xtreme 70qt be too big for when I do 5 gallon batches?

For 5 gallon batches 70 quarts is kinda big. That's 17.5 gallons. You'll have alot of head space and I suspect you may have trouble keeping your temps. I used 3/8 hardware with my cooler. I made the one in this thread and it works great....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/

Gotta look at your local Home Depots for the 10 gallon coolers. Or better yet call...some will have them and some won't.

I got the 52qt Coleman Xtreme from K-Mart for $29.99 (in store). And of course I check today and it is $2.00 cheaper:

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_...coleman+xtreme&prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

I used lustreking's tutorial as my guide: http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/mashtun.html

John

johnodon said:

I got the 52qt Coleman Xtreme from K-Mart for $29.99 (in store). And of course I check today and it is $2.00 cheaper:

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_...coleman+xtreme&prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

I used lustreking's tutorial as my guide: http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/mashtun.html

John

Click to expand...

This is exactly what I did too. The cooler is awesome. I often get 0*F loss over an hour. It's REALLY insulated well. I think I also got mine from K-Mart after looking just about everywhere else (walmart, target, HD, etc.). Good luck!

johnodon said:

I got the 52qt Coleman Xtreme from K-Mart for $29.99 (in store). And of course I check today and it is $2.00 cheaper:

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_...coleman+xtreme&prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

I used lustreking's tutorial as my guide: http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/mashtun.html

John

Click to expand...

Thanks,

This post was very helpful. I ended up finding that cooler at kmart just like you said for $27. Can't wait to use this bad boy, unfortunately I probably won't be able to until payday.