I've acquired an old(80's maybe) coleman cooler. Metal outside, metal latch. Older style cooler. I was wondering if anyone has used a decades old cooler and if they are good at holding temps. My assumption is they will lose heat more rapidly than some of the newer ones. Is there a good way of testing heat loss? I was thinking about filling it half way with hot water and taking temp readings every 15 minutes or so for an hour. Would that give me an accurate idea of heat loss or should I fill it with a grain/water mix comparable to a mash and take some temp readings? Should I spring for a new cooler or will this freebie do what I need it to?
Old Coleman Metal Cooler. Suitable Mash Tun?
- Thread starter Rohlk
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heres a link to s pic of the same type of cooler. I'll get some of my own pics with some shots of the inside up soon.
http://classiccolemanlanterns.blogspot.com/2009/04/green-metal-coleman-cooler.html
http://classiccolemanlanterns.blogspot.com/2009/04/green-metal-coleman-cooler.html
Newer coolers are definitely better at holding temps but....they cost and you may not need the temp held for as long as you think. Give yours a try with just water and see how much heat you lose in an hour. Try it a second time with a blanket folded and laid on the top.
The quality of your crush will determine how long you have to mash for as with a coarser crush it takes longer for the water to wet the grain to the middle of the pieces. When you crush (or grind) finer, the size of the pieces is smaller and they get wet to the middle very quickly. The actual conversion once everything is wet only takes 15 to 20 minutes. The problem with that is that your very fine crush will cause problems when you try to drain the sweet wort out as they tend to clog whatever screen you use to filter.
This is where the BIAB system works well as the large surface/fine mesh eliminates the plugging. There isn't any reason you cannot combine the advantages of BIAB with your cooler, just make a bag from Swiss Voile (sheer curtain material, Walmart has curtains you can buy to make one) that fits in your cooler and put your grains inside that. When it comes time to drain, you can just lift up the bag for the filtering, drain the first runnings, drop the bag back in and add sparge water, lift and drain again. Or you could just learn about the BIAB system and use the cooler to keep your beer cold.
The quality of your crush will determine how long you have to mash for as with a coarser crush it takes longer for the water to wet the grain to the middle of the pieces. When you crush (or grind) finer, the size of the pieces is smaller and they get wet to the middle very quickly. The actual conversion once everything is wet only takes 15 to 20 minutes. The problem with that is that your very fine crush will cause problems when you try to drain the sweet wort out as they tend to clog whatever screen you use to filter.
This is where the BIAB system works well as the large surface/fine mesh eliminates the plugging. There isn't any reason you cannot combine the advantages of BIAB with your cooler, just make a bag from Swiss Voile (sheer curtain material, Walmart has curtains you can buy to make one) that fits in your cooler and put your grains inside that. When it comes time to drain, you can just lift up the bag for the filtering, drain the first runnings, drop the bag back in and add sparge water, lift and drain again. Or you could just learn about the BIAB system and use the cooler to keep your beer cold.
Looks very similar to mine. It holds temp fairly well; maybe loses a degree or two after an hour. I throw an old bath towel over the lid.
You definitely want to remove the hinges. Trying to get grain in with the lid constantly wanting to close is a big PITA.
Testing w/ water is pretty much irrelevant as it will lose heat much faster than a mash. I would just simply bump your mash strike temp a couple degrees and anticipate minor losses....no big deal. For your first batch, you could keep a a quart or two of boiling water on hand if you need to bump upward slightly. IME just about any cooler will work fine if you are familiar w/ how it will perform and adjust accordingly. RDWHAHB
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