5 Gal Coleman cooler

Sorry if this was already discussed but I can't seem to find it anywhere...is the conversion for a 5-gal. coleman cooler the same as for any other 5 gal cooler? I found them to be the cheapest...or are they cheapest for a reason?

the conversion is essentially the same for any cooler, but the 5 gal cooler will limit the amount of space you have and the potential gravity of your beers. check out this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/how-big-your-mash-tun-needs-123585/

It was exactly the same for my 5 gallon cooler mod as was the cheap and easy stickey.

I've not come across a beer so far that I couldn't make with my 5 gallon cooler. Sometimes I've had to play with the water to grain ratio to fit it all in, but it's worked. I've not done a barleywine with it, but for regular sized beers, my 5 gallon has done me fine.

Revvy said:

It was exactly the same for my 5 gallon cooler mod as was the cheap and easy stickey.

I've not come across a beer so far that I couldn't make with my 5 gallon cooler. Sometimes I've had to play with the water to grain ratio to fit it all in, but it's worked. I've not done a barleywine with it, but for regular sized beers, my 5 gallon has done me fine.

Click to expand...

You just need to start making bigger beers!!

Just saying

You can make a lot of beers with a 5 gal cooler. I have a rubbermaid and an Igloo. I like the rubbermaid better. I made a robust porter in it with a grain bill of 13 pounds 13 ounces. Filled it to the brim. I haven't tried a coleman though. I see walmart discontinued Igloos in favor of colemans. Good for me though when they did-I got 4 Igloos at $5 a piece.

I guess this is just an ultimate deciscion I'll need to make. Of course I would want to make big beers...but just how big?

for $10 more I can get 10 gal igloo coolers from walmart ($40). I believe I have read that 5 gal batches can easily be made in 10 gal coolers...or am I not correct?

But along with the 10 gal. coolers, I would need a bigger brew pot. I'm going to need to search around a bit more pricing on everything.

Here is something I posted not too long ago on maxing the realm of a 5 gallon cooler...I would only do this if you know your system, trust your strike water calcalutor, and trust your thermometer...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/maxing-out-igloo-5-gallon-188783/

That said, get a bigger cooler if you plan on high gravity or eventually going 10 gallon. You will never go wrong with bigger brewpots