50qt Igloo Ice Cube

[Weezknight]

Spent the weekend fitting out the Igloo box. Okay, actually it only took up about 1 hour during my daughter's naptime. I'm not the most "handy" person, but I got it all hooked up with no leaks, and I used a CPVC manifold.

I'm going to end up putting spray foam in the lid, since I did a quick test with water and it seemed to lose a good bit of temperature over 60-minutes in my basement (around 58F this time of year). Of course, I'm also not a thermodynamics expert, but 3 gallons of 103F water lost 6 degrees over an hour, so I don't know how that translates to water+grain at 150F or so over an hour.

Can't wait to actually put it into full usage, but we're due for our second child in about 3-4 weeks, so brewing won't happen until after that. I'd hate to have to choose between finishing my mash or rushing SWMBO to the hospital.

 

[Mirage]

LOL, I would too. I just picked one up as well. If anyone is in the Waterford, CT area, they have 3 left. What a steal!

 

[Mirage]

Also, where in the area for spigot did you all position your bulkhead? I have not really looked at it well yet, but just wondering if you remembered. Thanks!

 

[Weissbier]

Look inside the cooler, you will see an indentation in the bottom. That is the wall you want to drill. It is 2 layers at 1/8" thick plastic. Piece of cake.

 

[Mirage]

Thank you very much! I will take a look after work then. Didn't see anything on the outside but glad there is something on the inside.

 

[Weezknight]

Yeah, I actually put my bulkhead level with the bottom of the cooler, rather than down in the indentation so I didn't have to use an extra piece of CPVC for the angle. I don't think it will mean I lose a lot of liquid in the long run.

Actually, from the outside, you can see a flattened area on the side of the right side of the cooler (if looking from the front), and that is where the spigot would normally go.

 

[Mirage]

Yeah, I actually put my bulkhead level with the bottom of the cooler, rather than down in the indentation so I didn't have to use an extra piece of CPVC for the angle. I don't think it will mean I lose a lot of liquid in the long run.

Actually, from the outside, you can see a flattened area on the side of the right side of the cooler (if looking from the front), and that is where the spigot would normally go.

Yea, the flattened area was quite large, so I wasn't sure where to put the bulkhead in that. Thanks for the info too. I will have to make a decision when I get home I guess. Prob should wait until I get the fitting as well.

 

[camiller]

I use one of these as well, the all white "marine" version that I got for $15.95 with a coupon. For 10 gallons of the Belgian Golden Strong I went with a relativly thick 1.1 qt/lb and had it filled within 1/2 inch of the lip of the cooler. I kind of wish I had gotten a bigger one... Really though, I think the 50qt is great for almost every beer that I will brew except the occasional super high gravity ones.

 

[Weissbier]

I actually positioned a washer on the inside wall of the cooler, centered in the indent. Marked the center with a sharpie and drilled a small pilot hole. I centered a washer on the outside pilot hole and made sure everything fit, that gave me a little wiggle space if needed.

 

[bigjoe]

Weezknight I’d be curious what your temps would be if you preheated with some near boiling water for around 10 minutes and then did your test on temp drops. My guess is it might be a lot better. Also with grain in there you might hold temps better.

I put mine together over the weekend. The hole for the spigot is about an inch from the bottom of the indent. It makes the exit drain pretty much level with the bottom of the rest of it. I’m using a false bottom with BIAB method. I had the false bottom sort of cobbled together from a keggle. It’s not the greatest but with the bag it should work great. I just wanted to keep the grain off the bottom and not use a manifold.

I used a ¼” ball valve with a ¼” NPT to ½” barb. I have ½” on everything else, but the 1/4” ball valve/bulkhead set up was cheaper. I do gravity drain to kettle once mash is complete.

I leak checked mine but haven’t done any temp check to see how much I lose. I’m not too worried as I’ll be able to recirculate via boil kettle and march pump if needed. I plan on doing Full Volume No Sparge Mashes with it.

 

[Weezknight]

Weezknight I’d be curious what your temps would be if you preheated with some near boiling water for around 10 minutes and then did your test on temp drops. My guess is it might be a lot better. Also with grain in there you might hold temps better.

As I said, I'm no thermodynamics expert, but I'd imagine preheating, as well as using hotter water would keep the temps a bit better. Other than going ahead and brewing, there really is no "perfect" way to test it.

 

[bigjoe]

I'm no expert either. Not sure if you gave it any thought or not. Pre-heating will make a big difference. At least it had on other coolers I've used. Haven't really tested this one yet other than to make sure my ball valve didn't leak.

 

[Weissbier]

Just for a quick test and without preheating, I filled mine half way with 111 degree water from my shower. After 60 minutes I was at 108 degrees. That puts me at about 97.3% efficiency. Not bad considering I have yet to foam the top!

 

[bigjoe]

Forgot to mention I foamed the top over the weekend also. I filled the compartment on top of the lid with foam also. We'll see.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Just for a quick test and without preheating, I filled mine half way with 111 degree water from my shower. After 60 minutes I was at 108 degrees. That puts me at about 97.3% efficiency. Not bad considering I have yet to foam the top!

There's a good chance your water was at 108-109 2 minutes after you added it as well. My cube MAYBE loses 1-2 degrees over a 60 minute mash, but always loses 5-10 (don't have Beersmith notes handy) when I add preheating water.
Beersmith lets you input cooler temp and desired Mash Temp to make up for this drop.

 

[Weissbier]

There's a good chance your water was at 108-109 2 minutes after you added it as well. My cube MAYBE loses 1-2 degrees over a 60 minute mash, but always loses 5-10 (don't have Beersmith notes handy) when I add preheating water.
Beersmith lets you input cooler temp and desired Mash Temp to make up for this drop.

I filled the cube and took a reading after about 3 minutes and I was at 111. I closed the lid on my probe wire and was able to constantly monitor the temperature drop from the outside. I checked it about every 20 minutes, I should have recorded it for a graph, it was very steady even decrease in temp. Initial heat loss is different from sustained heat loss, preheating as a precaution is always a good idea.

Here is the thermometer I was using...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001BFJ54/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[jwright]

These things are great - even at the $25 I paid.
I filled inside the top with spray foam, messy but worked. I then made an inner "lid" of 2 layers of foam board wrapped in plastic wrap. This fills the dead space on top of the grain/mash. I only brew 5 gal batches and even the typical higher OG brews leave a fair amount of space. I stole the idea from a previous post that included pictures.
The last addition was an outer shell of the metallic foil wrap (reflextic?) from home depot. I made a 5 sided cube taped together with foil tape, with a small cutout for the fittings. Cheap and easy ,stores ontop of the cooler.
Last 2 brews had 1 deg drop over 60 min.
cheers,
jason

 

[wilserbrewer]

Temp losses for water will be much greater than a barley mash, have faith. Perhaps the wate being free to circulate cools much quicker, not so w/ a mash. I'm not convinced that foaming the lid is all that beneficial. Preheat, preheat thoroughly and I feel these cheap coolers perform well right off the shelf.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Yea, I've not foamed my lid and it works just fine.

 

[Hammeru]

Came across this thread yesterday, thought I'g give it a try. stopped at target near my house on the way home from work. Sure enough there were three of these clearanced out for $9.95 and right next to was a 5 gal round Igloo beverage cooler also discounted at $9.95. bought them both. plan on filling the top this weekend thanks to you guys.

Any one tried filling the corners by drilling a small hole from the bottom of the cooler?

 

[MultumInParvo]

Ten bucks? I already have one, but at that price I might have to search for some more! Sheesh, thats a steal!

 

[Weissbier]

Welcome to the board! I don't think there is any need to foam up the lid, Ive used mine twice already and haven't lost a degree in a 60 minute mash. I do preheat the cooler though, I think that is key.

 

[mattjmac]

You can use this link to check inventory of local Targets. Just enter your zipcode and it'll tell you if anystores in your area have them in stock. If it says "limited availability" that usually means they only show 1 or 2 in stock and you may not find one on the shelf (either inventory is off, or it's misplaced in the store somewhere). You may get lucky, though. Happy hunting.

http://www.target.com/gp/store-info/find-target-store.html?asin=B000YIPGWU

 

[mattjmac]

Came across this thread yesterday, thought I'g give it a try. stopped at target near my house on the way home from work. Sure enough there were three of these clearanced out for $9.95 and right next to was a 5 gal round Igloo beverage cooler also discounted at $9.95. bought them both. plan on filling the top this weekend thanks to you guys.

Any one tried filling the corners by drilling a small hole from the bottom of the cooler?

$9.95?!? You got a bargain, mine was $9.98 . I checked inventory (see above post) and found a Target nearby work that had "limited availability". There were 3 on the shelf clearance priced at $9.98.

 

[chromados]

I just went to my local target and picked up 1 to turn into my mash tun, the 5 gallon cooler wasnt cutting it for me.

I have partially foamed the top and going to do the rest later tonight. I cannot wait to use it this weekend so i can finally do a beer with a large grain bill!

I drilled my hole in the front and not in the intended on the side because i wanted the stiffness the little bit of insulation added. I tested and with the hole in the front i only lose around 0.25 gallons of h20.

 

[Hammeru]

Welcome to the board! I don't think there is any need to foam up the lid, Ive used mine twice already and haven't lost a degree in a 60 minute mash. I do preheat the cooler though, I think that is key.

Maybe i'll try it first without insulating the top and doing a preheat see how it works before go modifying.
thnx for the heads up.

 

[FrostyBeverage]

I just picked this up today on a whim while i was buying a vacu sealer for bulk hops. What kind of manifold would you put in this? I am assuming because its not round that the braid would be less than ideal.


ALSO, while looking for some dual purpose stuff I ran across clearance car window reflective shade things... would those be good as a wrap for insulation?

 

[redbenn]

Just got one on sale at Target for $13.95! I couldn't resist...time to go ALL GRAIN!

going to check my target tomorrow
is this the model you got: http://www.target.com/Igloo-Ice-Cube-50-75-Cooler/dp/B000YIPGWU?
[crosses fingers]

 

[bigjoe]

redbenn, that is it. Probably $10 at the store marked down.

 

[redbenn]

redbenn, that is it. Probably $10 at the store marked down.

Thanks... it is showing out of stock at 2 of the stores by my house, and "limited availability" at the other... will hit that one up tomorrow.

http://services.rivernorthdesign.com/target/ is a good resource for those who want to check target inventories in the future... one thing I learned from my time on SlickDeals.net