Ready to go AG..need cooler buying advice

Ok,

After much reading and research, I decided not to go the fly sparging route and get that $200 setup I posted about from NB last week.

I'm going to do batch sparging and I am in the market to buy a cooler for conversion into a MLT.

I know for batch sparging, they say the shape of the MLT has little effect, so I'm wondering what size and brands I should be looking at. I would obviously prefer something that I could easily find parts for from NB, etc. (flow valves, etc.)

I noticed they have some Igloo wheeled coolers at Target this week. They're all sorts of pretty colors (pink, pastels, etc.) and sizes (up to 10 gallons.) They all have spigots. Anyone seen these, think they'd get the job done?

Any and all recommendations would be great. I guess I'm looking for recommendations in brand, size, shape, portability, etc. What should I be looking for?

I'm also researching how to go all grain within the next short time. I think I've decided on the 48 qt. Igloo Ice Cube. I figure it's wheeled, so that eases things a little. It's also well insulated, so keeping a temp should be pretty easy. I've also seen a couple of folks on here that use them. And the size is good even if I want to step up to bigger batches or to make a big beer. The shape also lends itself to easy storage.

Just my $.02

I bought a 60 quart ice cube with wheels, and after I brought it home, I realized that it would never work. (See my gallery for pictures). The reason? The wheel well. No way could I get a manifold to fit right in there because of it. So, it's my lagerator. I ended up with a round Igloo cooler, 10 gallon size.

IMO you should at least get a 10 gallon cooler to allow for heavier grain loads.
I have a 5 gallon round cooler and it isn't big enough to do any more than 1060 brews, and that is pushing it for 5 gallon brews.

I have the 48 qt. Igloo Ice Cube that I fly sparge in with the lid Closed. I like it but it does not have wheels and I am glad it does not. I put it up on my 3 level sytem and it just sits there nice. The cooler is great and holds temp within 3 deg.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/TyDyeHippo/DSCF0262.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/TyDyeHippo/DSCF0215.jpg

Yooper Chick said:

I bought a 60 quart ice cube with wheels, and after I brought it home, I realized that it would never work. (See my gallery for pictures). The reason? The wheel well. No way could I get a manifold to fit right in there because of it. So, it's my lagerator. I ended up with a round Igloo cooler, 10 gallon size.

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I saw a 60qt ice cube with wheels in action a couple weeks ago and it worked better than I could have expected.

Here is a link to the exact setup he used.

http://www.stlbrews.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=222

First I would go 10 gallons minimum. The Rubbermaid 10 gallon is at HD now for 39.99. It held 1 deg(!) for a 90 min mash. I looked at the 48 qt Ice Cube, but didn't like the thin wall of the cooler. I'm surprised it will hold a 3 deg temp drop. The Igloo MaxCold models are hefty, but expensive, unless you can find a good sale.

Yooper Chick said:

I bought a 60 quart ice cube with wheels, and after I brought it home, I realized that it would never work. (See my gallery for pictures). The reason? The wheel well. No way could I get a manifold to fit right in there because of it. So, it's my lagerator. I ended up with a round Igloo cooler, 10 gallon size.

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Oh really??? I'll have to take a look at your pics.

Now that I look at it, I think I was confusing the bigger one for the 48 qt. The one I was looking at doesn't have wheels.

I just picked this one up from Wal-Mart. Great price. Supposedly "5 day" cooler so I guess that means it is extra insulated.

I think this will work well. I was going to go with cheaper, but I was able to convince SWMBO because this one will be great for camping too!!

Next week I will work on converting it. As of now I am going to use this as a guide.

Has anyone else used a similar cooler? I could only find pictures from the circular one.

I have the 48 qt Ice cube with a SS braid. It hold temps very well. It does not have the wheels and I got it at Walmart for $15 including tax. I splurged on the brass fittings for the drain.

This is the drain on on my old Coleman rectangle 48 qt cooler (this cooler did not hold temps very well at all).

Raceskier, I have to completely agree. I would go with a 10 gallon minimum. I have a 10 gallon round Igloo cooler and wish I had more space.

Orpheus, like you mentioned you can go with just about any cooler for your setup since you are batch sparging. Have you looked at Denny Conn's setup. Very simple, an inexpensive but effective. http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

I know others have used the Coleman 70qt extreme cooler with great success for batch sparging and it is more inexpensive than an ice cube.

Good luck,
Jason

boldone said:

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I'm going to go with the 10 gallon round rubbermaid jobby from Home Depot. Can I get a weldless spigot at Home Depot too? What exactly would I be asking for, what size would I need for the 10 gallon round cooler?

This thread has pretty much everything detailed:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=23008

Orpheus said:

I'm going to go with the 10 gallon round rubbermaid jobby from Home Depot. Can I get a weldless spigot at Home Depot too? What exactly would I be asking for, what size would I need for the 10 gallon round cooler?

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Welcome Aboard!

Get the cooler, then get:

Cooler Fitting: http://www.greatbargain.net/order/shop1.html. Also, g oto the Depot and get a sheet of gasket material and make a good sized gasket for an extra seal. You'll need it.

Then get this:
Keggle Fitting: http://www.greatbargain.net/order/shop1.html

I've done two pot conversions (keggle and SS pot) and both were easy. You need a good wrench, a 7/8" holesaw or step-bit, a deburring tool, some 3-in-1 oil (for cutting) and a good drill.

Do you have a chiller? If it's a CFC, ask Wayne from GreatBargain to give you a fitting with a 3/8" OD barb fitting.

As for the "Can't I build my own?" question, getting the SS washers and high-temp O-rings isn't easy, not all shops carry them. He's not making a lot of money on them, so you're not really paying a huge premium vs. making your own.

If you get a turkey fryer, you have your HLT. I put a fitting on mine to make sparging easier and to give me the ability to upgrade to fly sparing later if I want to.

Cheesefood said:

Welcome Aboard!

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Thanks,

I tells ya Cheese, I feel like I'm starting over again.

well, guess you have decided, but I will chime in with one more vote for the icecube. I got mine recently a 48 Qt. with no wheels. It works very well. It seems if you have a smaller grain bill the heat does not hold as well. I threw a folded towel on top and only had about a 3 degree drop in an hour. I imagine it would be better if I did not open it to check temp and stir, i.e. if I could monitor temp w/o opening. Working on that.


I guess what I really liked is it was ony $18 at the family dollar. Good luck and happy mashing.

I know what you mean about "starting over" I am still working on getting my other ag gear

i.e. bigger pot, burner, chiller...

Ya know, I didn't want to say anything to you cornered-cooler folks, but don't you taste the difference when your beer changing shapes? I like mine to go from round HLT to round MLT to round keggle to round keg. Putting it in a rectangle makes a big difference in overall taste, and not in a good way. That's why most magazines and HBSs recommend round coolers.

But maybe you guys are lucky enough not to taste the difference.

I found that if you use 2 dimensional fermenters, it will negate any off flavors produced in early fermentation.

Personally, I've been looking everywhere for a rhombo-hexagonal dodecahedron shaped cooler. I hear that's the best shape for making beer.

BassBurner said:

Personally, I've been looking everywhere for a rhombo-hexagonal dodecahedron shaped cooler. I hear that's the best shape for making beer.

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No real brewer would EVER go rhombo-hexagonal dodecahedron. A truncated octehedron is about as far as anyone should go.

Rhombo-hexagonal dodecahedron.....yech.

I'm trying to reorganize my brewing area and though I would try a tesseract shaped fermenter to save space:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesseract
You could probably drink beer from that all day and not get filled up.

Hmm, what are the ramifications to the space time continuum of a 4th dimensional hangover?

I just went to Academy today to pick up a 5 gallon cooler to use as a mash tun for my mini-mashes. They also had 10 gallon Igloo cylindrical coolers there that were $44.83 if anyone is interested.

I bit the bullet and picked up the 10 gallon rubbermaid at Home Depot today after work. It's all downhill from here!

Cheese, should I get the regular weldless spigot or the extra thick one they have listed there for heavy duty coolers (I'm assuming you have the same 10 gallon rubbermaid?)

Orpheus said:

I bit the bullet and picked up the 10 gallon rubbermaid at Home Depot today after work. It's all downhill from here!

Cheese, should I get the regular weldless spigot or the extra thick one they have listed there for heavy duty coolers (I'm assuming you have the same 10 gallon rubbermaid?)

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Get the regular. The extra-thick one is for thick-walled Xtreme coolers. It won't work well with yours.