Can't Find A Cooler [Foiled By Winter Yet Again!]

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hardrain

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So I'm all ready for my first all grain batch, I went out and spent $50 on equipment and another $75 or so on a couple batches worth of ingredients.

I have everything except the most important part: a cooler. No one in DC has a food grade cooler with a drain hole in it. Did anyone else have the problem? I suspect at least one of you started your exercise in winter. I did not see this coming.
 
Home Depot had nothing, I checked four local hardware stores, CVS and even Target (they had some coolers but I was told they probably aren't going to be able to handle hot liquids, do this sound right?).

I've thought about drilling, I have the tools, it's just that I'm not sure how I could drill the hole and then get the converter tube to be sealed with the plastic. It was a tube I bought specific at the LHBS and isn't threaded...
 
Made my bi-annual trip into WalMart yesterday to stock up on oil for the vehicles and since the car section is right by sporting goods, I always wander over to check the coolers out. Lots in stock.

I would also recommend going bigger than 5 gallons. Start off with at least 10, if you are doing 5 gallon batches.
 
Im in the same situation, I've been using DeathBrewers stove top all grain method but I recently went to Home Depot while I was home in VT and walked out empty handed, guess I'll have to wait another month or so.
 
So I didn't think about just getting a rubber stopper, which will work fine.

For some reason there are almost no walmarts in this area. Look. And the two markers in the middle aren't actually stores.

Is there any disadvantage to using a 10 gal if I'm going to be doing 5 gal batches? Increased aeration, ect?
 
hardrain said:
Is there any disadvantage to using a 10 gal if I'm going to be doing 5 gal batches? Increased aeration, ect?
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None whatsoever. You'll be leaving your options open if you ever want to upgrade to bigger batches or higher-gravity 5-gallon batches. That option isn't there with a small cooler.
 
I know you said you checked Home Depot, but did you just do a visual check, or did you ask anyone? I was in a similar situation when I was first looking for beverage coolers. Until I asked and they had them, but they were still wrapped, on pallets, on the top top shelf in a section you'd never imagine looking for them. Just a thought.

Another thought, you can order online from Ace and have it delivered to a local Ace and not have to pay shipping.
 
Hit up a Dick's Sporting Goods (or equivalent). That's where I got my Coleman Xtreme (HIGHLY recommended), and I suspect they're a lot more apt to keep that kind of stuff in-stock all year than a place like Wal-Mart or Target.
 
imaguitargod said:
HAhahaha! Thatr's funny. Good luck finding some one to help and second good luck on finding someone who knows their a-hole from their leg hair. :cross:
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Your response is exactly how it goes there. I did ask, as is my policy at H.D., two different people because too often I get two different answers to questions. They both said they are on order but not yet in. They have a lot of the garden stuff there already, but no coolers.

I called an ACE and I think that is the way I'm going to go. For those big orange coolers, do the spigots come off pretty easily? Or should I try to get a regular cooler with a drain hole?
 
i bought a 10 gallon at HD the other day, had about 30 5 gals stacked up by the contractors checkout, and another 15-20 10 gallons.
were on sale for 39.97, and i got another 10% off for some reason. $40 and some change out the door.

dont waste yer money on a 5 gallon. i should not have.
 
I was just in a similar situation, looking for MLT #4 (yes, my 4th one). I ended up buying a 62 qt X-treme at K-mart for 39.99. If I can find one in Northern Minnesota in February, you should be able to find one anywhere.

I should add, this was after visiting Walmart, Target, and Sam's Club in my cooler hunt.
 
hardrain said:
Home Depot had nothing, I checked four local hardware stores, CVS and even Target (they had some coolers but I was told they probably aren't going to be able to handle hot liquids, do this sound right?).

I've thought about drilling, I have the tools, it's just that I'm not sure how I could drill the hole and then get the converter tube to be sealed with the plastic. It was a tube I bought specific at the LHBS and isn't threaded...
Click to expand...

I manage at Target, disregard anything they told you about the coolers. There is no one in that store that is at all trained on the specifics of the coolers. If you found one you liked there, then go ahead and use it. They were just assuming that using it for the opposite purpose than what it was intended to do (keep things cool) would have a negative result.
 
Not to thread jack or anything but.....I have been trying to build my first AG setup and I have been a little worried about hot liquids in the coolers. I feel fine about the large 5 or 10 gallon rubber maid beverage coolers because they are ment to have hot or cold liquids drank from them.

However I question if there are any harmful chemicals (phthalates) that could leach out of the plastic and cause cancer or something. Are both kind of coolers made from the same plastic? Has anyone ever heard of something like this?
 
MgMt_Home_Brew said:
Not to thread jack or anything but.....I have been trying to build my first AG setup and I have been a little worried about hot liquids in the coolers. I feel fine about the large 5 or 10 gallon rubber maid beverage coolers because they are ment to have hot or cold liquids drank from them.

However I question if there are any harmful chemicals (phthalates) that could leach out of the plastic and cause cancer or something. Are both kind of coolers made from the same plastic? Has anyone ever heard of something like this?
Click to expand...

I wish you wouldn't have brought this up, but yeah, I wonder about this too. I'd rather not be out the $40 I just spent, but if it means an extra couple years on my life maybe it's worth it. I mean that's like, what, seven or eight batches of beer I'd be missing out on?

I'll send some emails and post them here if I get a response.
 
I have to image that they count on some people such as caterers to use coolers like this for hot beverages or even to keep hot water for other purposes. I looked at Rubbermaid's site and there are no warnings what so ever about using hot liquids in these coolers.
 
HD in Memphis had them out all over today: 5 and 10 gal. Got me a 10 Gal. Spring is in the air here :D Not only that, but I had like 6 staff ask if they could help me! Very friendly!
 
As suggested here on the forums, the people at Home Depot have no idea what they are talking about. I called the store closest to me and asked them if they carried the 10 gallon water coolers and he said uhh definitely not. I called another store a little further away and he said they do carry them, but he wasn't sure about the stock quantity since they are a seasonal item. He did say that if they had them they would be near the lumber section, close to the commercial checkout. So i stopped by the store which had none over the phone, and there they were exactly as described. Go to HD and look, they usually have them.
 
I just grabbed a cooler at HD like 3 days ago, it was in the garden section outside.. though I'm out here in California where we don't really have `seasons'. :mug:

When I picked the cooler up I also noticed that the big orange 10gal said nothing about NOT using hot liquids in it, where every other cooler did (even the smaller rubermaid coolers that looked like they were designed to hold only ICE). i.e. a single manufacture cautions to not use the cooler for hot liquids on one product and not on another... I'm taking that as them saying that it's probably OK to use the drink-cooler with hot stuff :mug:

I'm also going to mention that I recently returned to academia and that I study chemistry :rockin:. I have done quantitative labs where we have boiled water in stainless vessels (stainless is supposedly one of the best things to store `pure' water in) and after an hour there are enough metal ions in solution to get faint readings with potentiometric analysis. Take home message: whatever you use there will be some `leeching' or `solvating' or whatever you want to call it.

My 0.02 cents : I wouldn't use anything that expressly said `Don't use with hot liquids' as my HOT liquor tank or mash tun. But I am also under no delusion that there's NOTHING getting into my water from my big orange HLT. I would be surprised if there was a true danger, but I'd rather be safe then sorry (most of these compounds we are taking about probably don't have much health data, if any associated with them). Personally I would worry more about an aluminum kettle, I wouldn't make ****ing pasta in one of those, much less beer :D
 
I guess I got lucky last week - found several in the 5 gal and 10 gal both at Home Depot. In one of the first aisles on the garden/outdoor tool side, on one of the middle shelves.

Maybe the spring stock is coming out earlier in west TN - not sure.
 
stevemgordon said:
Personally I would worry more about an aluminum kettle, I wouldn't make ****ing pasta in one of those, much less beer :D
Click to expand...

Can you tell us a little more about this? I've read up on this quite a bit and realize nothing really will give you a 'clean' storage, but was not aware that aluminum is any worse than the others. The one thing I do know about it is that recycling is a priority with that stuff; it is virtually 100% recyclable and also very energy intensive to mine and form.

I picked up an Igloo cooler from Target that claims to "meet US FDA food safety standards", FWIW.
 
The `:D ' was there because I didn't want to hijack the thread or go way off topic....

Lets face it, we have no idea if these compounds pose a risk or not, there is simply no long-term data. I made the aluminum comment because there are a good deal of people who choose to cook and or brew with the material even though there is a great deal of evidence linking aluminum to all sorts of health problems, though again, no definitive results have been published... I personally stay clear of aluminum for that reason and if I came across rigorous scientific data that made me question my use of the plastic HLT, then I'd have to ease my mind and get a stainless HLT...and SWMBO couldn't say no... I mean it IS our HEALTH we are taking about right? :mug:
 
Rubbermaid and Igloo "round Beverge coolers" ARE designed for Hot and Cold use.

If you Can't find it, E-bay/Amazon IT!

If it doesn't have a stamp of the above mentioned brands, It's NOT, dont use it for HOT. Trust me you will regret it when it warps!

I bought mine on amozon for $42.68 delivered, and it is a 7 gallon, My 10 gallon I bought at Ace for $52.77. Both are round Rubbermaid.
 
I guess just to be safe I am going to try and get one of the rubbermade water coolers since they are made to hold hot and cold liquids.

I just called my local Home Depot and the garden department said they should have them coming in stock in the next few weeks for their spring stock.

This was my attempt to get this thread back on track since I derailed it :p
 

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