cooler selection & other AG newbie Qs

[mooface]

Hi!

I want to start AG brewing: 5g batches when I brew alone and 10gal batches when I brew with friends. Can y'all help me choose an MLT? I currently have an 8 gallon boil kettle, and a 6g bottling bucket, and various kegs.

1.) Does an 8g boil kettle work better for fly or batch, or doesn't matter?

2.) Which MLT? I'm stuck deciding between:
• 10g round cooler
• 70qt cube cooler with wheels (can't find any w/o)
• 58 qt rectangular cooler
• Ideally I like a 60qt cube without wheels, but I can't find any.

70qt: does the wheel area mess up the efficiency b/c it creates an odd water flow path? Is it too big for 5g batches? I like the possibility of lagering a carboy in here!

10g round: too small? Bonus: EZ fly-sparge.

58 rectangular: seems the simplest. Is it too big for 5g batches?

Thanks!

 

[azscoob]

I have the 60qt square igloo ice cube cooler, no wheels, also doesnt have a drain installed, it cost me $19.99 at Target. I batch sparge and boil in a keggle so I dont know much about fly-sparging and what works better, I get mid 80's efficiency with my current setup and am quite happythus far!

 

[Judochop]

I love the design of the Coleman Xtreme line. Great insulation and great drainage design with that little trough at the bottom leading to the outflow spigot. Solid mash temps and no wasted wort!

They have many sizes available, and some without wheels. I'm only going to do 5-gal batches like you, so I picked up the 36-qt model. I expect to be able to get at least 18 lbs, maybe 20 lbs, of grain in there with the mash water @ 1.25qt/lb. I know they do have a 52-qt model without wheels as well. I was looking at that one and went with the 36-qt. Don't know why. I felt like 52 was 'too much' for my needs but I'm afraid I'm going to regret that decision someday.

 

[Gilbey]

I am new to AG myself, so I can't comment on a lot, but I can say that I have the Igloo extreme 52 Quart without wheels and it worked GREAT for my mash/lauter tun. My first two batches I thought I would use an older picnic cooler that I had in the garage. It worked but even with preheating, in a 60 minute mash it lost 7 degrees so I was scrabling to try to get the temp back up....not the kind of agrevation I needed for my first try at AG .

With the new Igloo I got my mash up to temp and it stayed dead on for the entire 60 minutes.

Alan

 

[BillyBeer]

I have used both the 10gal round and the cube and here is what I have found:

10 gal:
pros - very easy to stir the grain, held temp well, easy to move around with the handels
cons - wasn't big enough for 10 gal of big beer

Cube:
pros - lots of room for 10 gal of big beer, holds temp well, wheels are nice.
cons - stiring is more work and harder to mix the grain well.

I still get 80% eff. with both but if I didn't like to brew 10gal batchs of big beer I would go back to the 10gal round.

And I batch sparge.

Just my thoughts.

 

[malkore]

I've used my 10gal cooler exactly once...all my brews are under 1.060 which I get done with the 5 gal round cooler.

pros: less heat lost
cons: none (5gal is plenty of beer for me)

if you like big beers, you'll want a bigger cooler.

and since you only have an 8gal kettle, you won't be making 10 gal batches anytime soon (unless you left out the part about having a 15 gal boil pot)

 

[brettwasbtd]

I see you can have the coleman 70 quart xtreme shipped to your nearest walmart to pick up for about $39... can only find the 52 qt extreme for $50+ Anyone know what the deal is for that?

I am in a similar situation, want a cooler big enough for a possible 5 gallon batch of barleywine or fairly regular 10 gallon batches. Not a fan of the round coolers. Anyone know where I can get the best deal on coleman xtremes? That 70qt is a great deal, but just feel like it will have to much empty space.

 

[RIBeer]

I use the 70 qt Coleman Extreme for both 5 and 10 gallon batches with no issues. Plus, it satisfies the most important aspect of a cooler - it's blue!

 

[brettwasbtd]

I use the 70 qt Coleman Extreme for both 5 and 10 gallon batches with no issues. Plus, it satisfies the most important aspect of a cooler - it's blue!

Haha, but its the off light blue... kinda like an gray-blue infusion, not as aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. HA

I think I am going to patiently wait til around Memorial day and see if they put coolers on sale.