10 Gallon Cooler Opinions

[Guidry]

Looking for opinions on the 10 gal Igloo vs Rubbermaid coolers. Always kinda thought the Igloo brand was better for insulation, but what do I know? Any pros/cons that any of you have thru experience with either? I have both available locally with 5 bucks of each other.

 

[Special Hops]

I use a 48 igloo cube for my mash tun. Works great!

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

10 gallon round igloo user here brewing five gallon batches. Doesn't lose a degree over a sixty minute mash. Might lose one degree over a 90 minute mash (usually doesn't).

No fancy extra insulation or floating styrofoam to take up dead space or anything like that. Just close the lid and it holds the heat.

Can't speak for rubbermaid as I haven't used one before but I would think it would be about the same.

 

[S0meB0dy]

I use a 10 gal rubbermaid I got on clearance at a local homedepot. Temperature doesn't drop during the 60 minutes mashes I do.

I would say go for whichever you can get cheaper.

 

[Bizoune]

I've got the infamous 10 gal. orange ones for Home Depot. I love it. Shot some GreatStuff in the lid for extra insulation and 0 loss over 60 minutes. Don't put over 180F water in there though 'cause the sides will warp. Still usable just not as pretty.

 

[kcweazle]

My 10 Gallon Rubbermaid HLT cooler internal lining warped as well from 175 degree water. The warping doesn't really bother me as long as it continues to work the same but I am curious if anybody has ever had one of these linings crack over time. I haven't found any posts that mentions cracking, only warping so hopefully there is nothing to be concerned about.

 

[JohnnyGunn]

I don't want to thread jack here...but could a person use a 5 gallon round cooler instead of the 10 gallon for brewing 5 gallon batches? Or is a 5 gallon mash tun a little on the small side?

 

[Spartan1979]

I've had one of the 10 round Gott coolers for 15 years. Mine warped inside, but has never cracked. It holds heat well. I was going to use a false bottom on it, but the warping killed that. But the manifold I built works just fine.

 

[Hockyplr]

I use the famous 10 Gal from HD and I too do not lose any temperature unless I leave the lid off for the sole purpose of trying to drop temperature.

I often add 200 degree water and mine has not warped as of yet.

 

[DeafSmith]

My 10 Gallon Rubbermaid HLT cooler internal lining warped as well from 175 degree water. The warping doesn't really bother me as long as it continues to work the same but I am curious if anybody has ever had one of these linings crack over time. I haven't found any posts that mentions cracking, only warping so hopefully there is nothing to be concerned about.

I use a 10 gallon RubberMaid as MLT and a 5 gallon Igloo as HLT. I heat the water in a kettle and pump it to the MLT and HLT. I have a theory - and I may be totally wrong - that the warping is caused by dumping hot water into a cold cooler, causing the liner to expand. Because the rest of the cooler is still cool and has not expanded, when the liner expands, the only thing it can do is warp. So what I've been doing is - as I heat the water in my kettle (which is mounted lower than my coolers), I pump most of the water into the cooler, then turn off the pump and let the water drain back into the kettle. By the time all the water is back in the kettle, it is about 20º F hotter than the previous time, so I pump it back to the cooler, let it drain back, etc. This heats the coolers up more gently, and so far I haven't had any warping or cracking. I don't think I've had the MLT water over about 175º F, but I've had the HLT to at least 185º F. It could be that I haven't had a problem because I haven't used these very many times, and will have a problem later, but I'm going to keep doing it this way and see what happens.

 

[shelly_belly]

I don't want to thread jack here...but could a person use a 5 gallon round cooler instead of the 10 gallon for brewing 5 gallon batches? Or is a 5 gallon mash tun a little on the small side?

5 gallon coolers work great for 5 gallon batches. Nothing too big though. I have a rubbermaid cooler and the biggest grain bill I've done so far was EdWort's Robust Porter at 14 pounds of grain.

 

[jafo28]

I don't want to thread jack here...but could a person use a 5 gallon round cooler instead of the 10 gallon for brewing 5 gallon batches? Or is a 5 gallon mash tun a little on the small side?

You can, and I do for now. You won't be able to do a real high gravity beer. The price isn't too much more for the ten so I would suggest getting the ten. When I made my I couldn't find a ten gallon any ware. I got the five and wouldn't you know it two weeks later i'm in home depot and see a whole stack of the ten gallon coolers, i wasn't very happy. Gonna convert to the ten this spring.

 

[JohnnyGunn]

I might have to go the rectangular cooler route...because up here the round 10 gallon coolers hover in the $90-$100 range! Thanks for the help folks...and sorry again for taking up space with this!

 

[geeyoupee]

I use a 10 gallon RubberMaid as MLT and a 5 gallon Igloo as HLT. I heat the water in a kettle and pump it to the MLT and HLT. I have a theory - and I may be totally wrong - that the warping is caused by dumping hot water into a cold cooler, causing the liner to expand. Because the rest of the cooler is still cool and has not expanded, when the liner expands, the only thing it can do is warp. So what I've been doing is - as I heat the water in my kettle (which is mounted lower than my coolers), I pump most of the water into the cooler, then turn off the pump and let the water drain back into the kettle. By the time all the water is back in the kettle, it is about 20º F hotter than the previous time, so I pump it back to the cooler, let it drain back, etc. This heats the coolers up more gently, and so far I haven't had any warping or cracking. I don't think I've had the MLT water over about 175º F, but I've had the HLT to at least 185º F. It could be that I haven't had a problem because I haven't used these very many times, and will have a problem later, but I'm going to keep doing it this way and see what happens.

Has it warped yet?

 

[Reaver]

I've got the 10gal HD Rubbermaids and they have been great for my only 2 AG's I did a 5 gal the first round and it only lost 2deg's because I was always checking on my first mash. the 2nd 10gal batch I did, lost no heat over 60 min. That one was a 24lb grain bill and 8gal of strike water and Maxed out my setup. But I know my limit now!
I also pre-heat my cooler with some initial water at both instances. (strike or Lauter).

 

[DeafSmith]

Has it warped yet?

Not yet - though I have only done about 4 brews since I posted that.

 

[medley]

old thread, but after 26 batches both my 10 gallon HD rubbermaid round coolers have buckles inside and one has cracked. I have never had over 175 degree water in either one. Guess it's time to upgrade to a HERMS system.

 

[Manny_E]

Moving to AG brewing...

is there a real gain of using 10G round cooler vs. a rectangular one?

I pickup an Igloo 52 qt at walmart... $27.36

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-Marine-Cooler/4994241

After a few days reading and comparing.. The tendency / preference is a round shape cooler. However, did not find a real advantage from a round cooler vs. other shapes / style coolers.

:smack:

 

[wilserbrewer]

is there a real gain of using 10G round cooler vs. a rectangular one?

round coolers have a more desireable height / width ratio resulting in deeper grain bed for fly sparging. Shape of cooler, grain bed depth makes no difference for batch sparging. That cooler you linked would work great for batch sparging. The pros of rectangular coolers are cheaper, shallower and easier to stir / clean etc.
...

I would suggest using the outer stainless braid from one of these
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Watts-3-...ater-Heater-Supply-Line-LFBK-LBF-12/203789991

 

[Manny_E]

round coolers have a more desireable height / width ratio resulting in deeper grain bed for fly sparging. Shape of cooler, grain bed depth makes no difference for batch sparging. That cooler you linked would work great for batch sparging. The pros of rectangular coolers are cheaper, shallower and easier to stir / clean etc.
...

I would suggest using the outer stainless braid from one of these
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Watts-3-...ater-Heater-Supply-Line-LFBK-LBF-12/203789991

Thanks for tip...

 

[Manny_E]

Thanks to the info and tips provided...

Here is the final product. have not tested it yet...

Thanks