Coleman xTreme 70qt Cooler Mash Tun or old cooler?

Hello,

I bought the Coleman xtreme 70qt cooler to use as a mash tun (cheaper than the 52 qt version).

However, it's such a nice cooler, I almost hate to use it for this purpose because I also camp and this is bigger and would keep ice longer I am assuming than my old cooler.

My old cooler is a @50qt rubbermaid.

My question is, will the old cooler work fine as a mash tun? I wonder how much extra heat I am able to hold with the 70qt Coleman xtreme vs the old 50qt Rubbermaid.

I will only ever be doing 5 gallon batches.

Other than insulating, is the recessed channel drain on the extreme a big advantage as well?

Thanks!
gunrock

The 50qt would be better, but for 5 gallon batches I use a smaller one so there is less head space and temp loss.

So is their any advantage to the drain channel on the xtreme or its better insulating value?(though it seems headspace would negate that?)

gunrock said:

So is their any advantage to the drain channel on the xtreme or its better insulating value?(though it seems headspace would negate that?)

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I loose very little (less than 1 degree) over an hour wih my extreme and no issue with drain channel. There are quite a few threads on here about the 70ct extreme and cpvc manifold builds.

I never found any advantage to the drain channel or the better insulation, we are only talking about an hour anyway!
Once you build the filter screen or whatever method you will use to drain it will kinda negate the drain channel.

Okay, I'd feel much better destroying my old cooler and using the Coleman for camping, since it's bigger and will hold ice longer. (lid shuts better too).

If there is no advantage (other than size) of one cooler vs the other, the old cooler being retired as a mash tun, sounds like a good end of life for the old rubbermaid. hehe

Thanks

If you do notice some temp loss in the old cooler, just wrap some insulation around it. I use a super cheap blue coleman 42qt cooler as my mash tun. Wrapped some ductwork insulation around it and I lose maybe 1 deg over 90 mins.

pannell77 said:

If you do notice some temp loss in the old cooler, just wrap some insulation around it. I use a super cheap blue coleman 42qt cooler as my mash tun. Wrapped some ductwork insulation around it and I lose maybe 1 deg over 90 mins.

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Agreed. I had my wife and mother in law fashion some insulating blanket sleeves that slide right over the top of my cooler. I only need to use it for 90 min mashes in the winter (since I brew in the garage), but a free old blanket and a little bit of sewing expertise did it for me.

Cheers!

Them old Rubbermaids work fine, preheat well!