Soliciting Igloo Cooler Thoughts

[TRex23]

I'm in the process of switching to AG brewing and am trying to get together my equipment. I saw this cooler at my local Target yesterday. The price was right, but the one unit they had was damaged (someone had bashed a round hole through the side).

Anybody have any experience with, or thoughts on, this Igloo 52 Quart Family Cooler ($19.99)?

http://www.target.com/Igloo-Family-...om_size-bin,target_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

Thanks in advance.
Any

 

[TRex23]

BTW, it DOES have a spigot on the bottom. If I purchase this, I plan on swapping out the spigot for a SS ball valve and building a copper manifold system for it.

 

[HoppyGus]

THAT is the exact magic box I bought when I switched to AG.
Works great and can hold ~24lbs of grain.

 

[JJL]

There are 2 things I can think of to consider before buying a rectangular cooler. 1) Will you be able to get adequate grain bed depth with the amount of surface area in the cooler? Most people would suggest you need a 4 in minimum depth. 2) How much dead space will there be between the top of my grain bed and the top of the cooler? And will this contribute to significant heat loss?

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

I have a 38qt igloo and I'm pretty happy with it, seems to hold temps pretty good, BUT I have to put a blanket over the top of it because the lid isn't insulated. Just pick up a can of Great Stuff,fill the lid with it and you should be good to go. Also, be sure to pre-heat your Mash Tun once you start doing AG, it makes a huge difference in maintaining temps.

 

[TRex23]

THAT is the exact magic box I bought when I switched to AG.
Works great and can hold ~24lbs of grain.

Thanks for your input. It looks pretty good. It's simple and it has a rectangular bottom (some coolers come with channels) that seems like it would be conducive to fitting a copper manifold system in rather easily.

 

[TRex23]

There are 2 things I can think of to consider before buying a rectangular cooler. 1) Will you be able to get adequate grain bed depth with the amount of surface area in the cooler? Most people would suggest you need a 4 in minimum depth. 2) How much dead space will there be between the top of my grain bed and the top of the cooler? And will this contribute to significant heat loss?

These are both good points. I have a 5 gallon Rubbermaid beverage cooler that I am in the process of outfitting as a MT/LT. I will probably use that for 5 gallon average gravity beers and use the Igloo 52 qt. one for higher gravity brews, though if I only mash for 5 gallon batches with it, I might have a problem with bed depth. What do you think?

The dead space is a problem related to last issue as well. If I am only mashing for 5 gallon high gravity batches in it, I will likely have more dead space. I'm not a math whiz, but I'll probably have to sit down and figure out what kind of total volume I will typically fill in the 52 qt. cooler when brewing a 5 gal. high gravity batch. If I brewed a 10 gallon batch I don't think it would be an issue but then I have to commit to 10 gals of recipe that I'm just trying out and I'd have to get another carboy.

No one said it would be easy.

 

[TRex23]

I have a 38qt igloo and I'm pretty happy with it, seems to hold temps pretty good, BUT I have to put a blanket over the top of it because the lid isn't insulated. Just pick up a can of Great Stuff,fill the lid with it and you should be good to go. Also, be sure to pre-heat your Mash Tun once you start doing AG, it makes a huge difference in maintaining temps.

Does Great Stuff come with a nozzle to spray or do you need a separate sprayer to work with it? I assume you just drilled a hole in the lid, sprayed the insulation in and then plugged it. What did you use to plug it?

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

Does Great Stuff come with a nozzle to spray or do you need a separate sprayer to work with it? I assume you just drilled a hole in the lid, sprayed the insulation in and then plugged it. What did you use to plug it?

I have yet to do mine, but I know that great stuff will do the trick. Great Stuff just comes in it's own spray can with a Nozzle attatched, Best to try and use the whole can in one shot, after the first use the nozzle is pretty much useless. That's been my experience anyway.

 

[JJL]

These are both good points. I have a 5 gallon Rubbermaid beverage cooler that I am in the process of outfitting as a MT/LT. I will probably use that for 5 gallon average gravity beers and use the Igloo 52 qt. one for higher gravity brews, though if I only mash for 5 gallon batches with it, I might have a problem with bed depth. What do you think?

I had to go through the same thought process. I finally settled on a 10 gal round Rubbermaid. It suited my needs. If you only do high grav in the rectangle cooler, you should be ok in terms of bed depth. It's the below 10lb grain bills that I would be concerned with.

 

[weirdboy]

It's the below 10lb grain bills that I would be concerned with.

There are not a lot of 5 gallon recipes with less than 10 lbs of grain in them unless you have excellent efficiency. Even my simple pale ale has 11 lbs of grain.

Basically it comes down to only a couple of styles of beer, like Mild and maybe American Light Lager, which if it's really that big of an issue, you can do BIAB. Personally I think grain bed depth is a moot point if you are batch sparging anyway.


I suppose I should qualify that statement to say, for most combinations of COTS coolers that can be converted to MLTs and beer recipes for 5+ gallon batches, it's a moot point.

 

[Snowhere]

If you already have the 5gal round cooler I would recommend getting a 10gal round cooler to complement your system. I costs a little more but it is worth it in my book. I now use my 5gal cooler as my Sparge reservoir when I use the 10 gal cooler for my MLT. It works great and even if a lose time with a stuck sparge, my water stays at the 170f I started with. For smaller batches I reverse the coolers and use the 5gal round as my MLT with the 10gal serving to hold the sparge. This way I usually have at least 8” of grain and even more, which makes a nice grain bed. I use a false bottom and I average 85% to 90% efficiency with my system everytime.

 

[TRex23]

If you already have the 5gal round cooler I would recommend getting a 10gal round cooler to complement your system. I costs a little more but it is worth it in my book. I now use my 5gal cooler as my Sparge reservoir when I use the 10 gal cooler for my MLT. It works great and even if a lose time with a stuck sparge, my water stays at the 170f I started with. For smaller batches I reverse the coolers and use the 5gal round as my MLT with the 10gal serving to hold the sparge. This way I usually have at least 8” of grain and even more, which makes a nice grain bed. I use a false bottom and I average 85% to 90% efficiency with my system everytime.

I was thinking the same thing -- that I would use the 5 gallon one for the sparge water -- and the 52 quart one as the MT. But I see your point, the 10 gallon Rubbermaid would probably do the trick. It's about $40 at Home Depot - twice what the 52 qt. Igloo rectangular cooler costs, but on the plus side, because it's cylindrical and less volume, grain bed depth would definitely be a moot point.

 

[aehernandez]

I'm also thinking about snagging one of these from the local Target since I'm aiming to move exclusively to all grain brewing (I'm relatively new, with only a few batches under my belt).

I'm wondering though--and forgive the newb question--if this cooler is suited for both my typical styles (which will yield 5-ish% ABV) and some more unique say Belgian styles for which I'm shooting for a higher OG and ending in 9-ish% ABV. Should I look elsewhere, or will this red Igloo do the trick?

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

I'm also thinking about snagging one of these from the local Target since I'm aiming to move exclusively to all grain brewing (I'm relatively new, with only a few batches under my belt).

I'm wondering though--and forgive the newb question--if this cooler is suited for both my typical styles (which will yield 5-ish% ABV) and some more unique say Belgian styles for which I'm shooting for a higher OG and ending in 9-ish% ABV. Should I look elsewhere, or will this red Igloo do the trick?

It's really going to depend on the size of your grain bill,Batch size, & what water to grain ratio you go with. So to answer your question, I think this cooler would be too big for your 5-ish% beers. I think the grain bed will end up being too thin and you will lose a lot of heat during the Mash. I would go with something smaller that would be more suited to your beers with smaller grain bills, then when you want to something bigger you can adjust your water/grain ratio down a little bit so that it will fit.

 

[weirdboy]

I think this cooler would be too big for your 5-ish% beers. I think the grain bed will end up being too thin and you will lose a lot of heat during the Mash.

Speaking from experience with an even larger rectangular MLT (Igloo Ice Cube 60qt), this is not the case. Mine will maintain temps within 1-2 degrees F for 60 minutes no problem.

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

Speaking from experience with an even larger rectangular MLT (Igloo Ice Cube 60qt), this is not the case. Mine will maintain temps within 1-2 degrees F for 60 minutes no problem.

Fair enough, my experience has told me something different. If I mash too small a grain bill in my 38qt I can lose up to 5 degrees in 60 minutes, even though I preheat the tun. Maybe I'm the exception.

 

[Sean]

These are both good points. I have a 5 gallon Rubbermaid beverage cooler that I am in the process of outfitting as a MT/LT. I will probably use that for 5 gallon average gravity beers and use the Igloo 52 qt. one for higher gravity brews, though if I only mash for 5 gallon batches with it, I might have a problem with bed depth. What do you think?

The dead space is a problem related to last issue as well. If I am only mashing for 5 gallon high gravity batches in it, I will likely have more dead space. I'm not a math whiz, but I'll probably have to sit down and figure out what kind of total volume I will typically fill in the 52 qt. cooler when brewing a 5 gal. high gravity batch. If I brewed a 10 gallon batch I don't think it would be an issue but then I have to commit to 10 gals of recipe that I'm just trying out and I'd have to get another carboy.

No one said it would be easy.

It does have a drain you said. That is good. It will probably work just fine, but it will take some getting used to, as would any other option.

You may loose more heat when doning 5 gal batches, but you will adapt to that--Insulating top, wrapping cooler. Hotter water, etc.

Whatever you use you will have to get used to with regard to the water temp you need to add, how long you want to pre-heat, whether you need to insulate, blah blah ... You just need to start somewhere and that looks like a possible good start, It may work great, but might suck.

The thing is it is a cheap option that might work ok, but probably not optimal. Why not spend the extra $10 or $15 and get something that will work well. My 2 cent!