Cheap & Easy 10 Gallon Rubbermaid MLT Conversion

[uuurang]

With a mash/lauter tun you extract the sugars from grain to collect a sweet liquid that would be equivalent to your LME/DME. Why would one do that...control, over a period of time cheaper, tastes better IMO.

 

[Kayos]

Let me break it down a little for you

Extract Brewing:

Liquid or Dry malt extract boiled for an hour with hops thrown in at time intervals for bitterness/flavor/aroma


Extract with specialty grains brewing:

Same as above with steeping of some specialty grains at 160 degrees before the boil starts

(see here for which grains can be steeped as opposed to mashed to work)

All Grain brewing:

Get grains such as this and hold them in a cooler with 154 degree water for an hour. Drain the water. Add some 168 degree water to rinse the grains. Drain the cooler. Do this until you have 6.5 gallons drained. Then boil as usual in your pot.

That is a down and dirty extract vs. AG profile. Basically, you are making your own malt extract--sort of--.
Some grains have to be mashed (held at 154 for an hour) to convert to sugars. Some only need to be steeped. Dextrin, for example, will add body and mouthfeel if steeped at a rate of about 25%. If mashed it will convert 100% of the sugars.

Kind of make sense?

 

[Kevin Dean]

I went to Home Depot this evening looking for the 10-gallon cooler both Home Depot locations in my city informed me that the 10-gallon has been removed from Home Depot inventory but "gladly" would direct me to the 5-gallon tanks.

So I went over to Lowe's (picked up a set of Torx drivers too... damn Motorola phones...) to grab one as well - surprise - they don't stock 10-gallons anymore.

It seems I'm going to go immediate gratification and use a rectangular cooler from Wally World.

 

[uuurang]

yup. finding a 10 gal. round cooler is tough. I had to special order one from my local Ace hardware. Only took 2 days to get it in. Also was pricey, $46.

 

[98EXL]

I scored yesterday, one of the Home Depots in Annapolis had 3 of the 10 gallon Igloos on clearance for $40.....end of season apparently. I picked one up, and cost me $67 out the door or $77, now I can't remember. They didn't have 5/8" SS fender washers, but I found some in a SS bolt kit, and that was like $4 instead of $0.38 per washer. I did also buy a 16" SS hose instead of a 12". Come to think of it...it was $77 but I did buy some other things as well.


EDIT: Original thought was I did this conversion and it was easy. Only area where I had issues was making everything tight....and I did use two 5/8" O-Rings...there was room for two, so I used two to make a better seal.

And funny story, I built this at my buddy's house (we built him a sweet garage) and when I took my MLT home, itt got strapped into the front seat. he he

 

[Kevin Dean]

one of the Home Depots in Annapolis had 3 of the 10 gallon Igloos on clearance for $40.....end of season apparently.

If what the guys at both Home Depots in Frederick said was true, they're not on clearance for end of season, they're on clearance because they don't sell well enough to keep them stocked but they sell well enough to drop them on the floor and sell of what they've got. They were both sure that once Home Depot sold the 10-gallons they had, they'd not be restocking.

I had to special order one from my local Ace hardware.

I forgot about Ace Hardware. There's not one in my city and I've not seen any around this area - I figured Ace was regional and not here. Fortunately there's one about 30 miles north of here and they DID have one of the 10 gallons in stock. I paid $46 for it but oh well. Thanks for the tip!

 

[98EXL]

well let's see your new toy!

 

[Kevin Dean]

I've got it built.

I couldn't find stainless steel washers in 5/8" and I couldn't find brass in that size.

What I ended up doing was buying about 10 or 12 neoprene washers and cramming them in there to get it tight. It sealed well but can be twisted, oh well.

I am a bit backed up right now in terms of logging my brew activity but I plan on doing it this week, when I finish I'll post links and pictures to show off my new toy.

 

[Kevin Dean]

There's a crappy picture of it.

Note to all that follow:

Do not get a skimpy plastic braid. It doesn't work. It will be a nightmare.

I've found that computer cable ties work VERY well for this project.

Also, can a mod please add this thread to the "Project Locator" sticky?

 

[miatawnt2b]

Without looking I grabbed the toilet lines with the plastic braid. Being in a rush, I ended up using them anyhow. I removed teh inside tube which was pvc braided vinyl, and I cut 'V' notches in it with a pair of wire cutters down the entire length to make a sudo manifold. Then I slipped the plastic braid back over the tube and attached it with wire ties to my valve. Worked like a champ even up to 170*.

So I'm not sure what the problem is with the plastic braid... it worked great for me. Super simple to work with, kept the grain from the kettle, didn't get stuck and didn't melt.

-J

 

[FlyGuy]

Hey miatawnt2b -- I think the reason the plastic braid might have worked for you was because you notched the inner hose and reinserted it back in the braid. This really increases the strength of the braid so it can't get crushed, which is the big problem people have when they use braids.

I think using the inner tube for reinforcing the braid, SS or otherwise, is a really good idea. The problems that people seem to have with the braid is that it either gets crushed/misshapen or it floats up. Reinforcing it this way is easy and solves both of these problems.

You might get some criticism that plastics aren't meant to get hot because they could release nasty chemicals at higher temperatures. I would suspect that mash temps aren't hot enough, but I can't say for sure.

Regardless, glad to see it worked for you!

 

[miatawnt2b]

Yep, I agree. I was planning on re-using the inner tube anyhow even with stainless for that very reason. I did have a bit of an issue with the braid floating while mixing the mash, though while the mash was stirred and liquified i would push the braid to the bottom with the paddle. Simple enough solution until I can figure how to weight the braid enough to hold it down.

 

[Kevin Dean]

I had several problems with my polymer braid (toilet supply line). The first one was: it floated.

The second was that the plastic got especially soft when I added in hot water. These things combined caused the braid to float off and become detached.

The second time around I added the nipple/lock part and a heavier (metal) braid and used a tie to hold the things together. That worked well.

I think even a stainless steel braid would collpase if it didn't have the internal hose supporting it.

 

[hopsalot]

does it have a plastic taste?

 

[FlyGuy]

does it have a plastic taste?

The Rubbermaid round beverage coolers are meant for beverages and do not have a plastic taste.

 

[98EXL]

I feel after using mine 4 times or so it may need some sort of improved braid/filter something. I'm going to try to improve on this on the cheap side

 

[Bobby_M]

Inserting anything inside the braid that effectively covers a large percentage of the open area is counterproductive. I've seen people make copper coils from electrical wire and use that but I just find it to be unnessesary. I've used the stainless braid in my cooler for a good 12 batches and it's never deformed or collapsed. One time I got a little crazy with stirring and continually snagged it and it's stretched out a little, but never to the point where it was ruined.

 

[Kevin Dean]

I've seen people make copper coils from electrical wire and use that but I just find it to be unnessesary. I've used the stainless braid in my cooler for a good 12 batches and it's never deformed or collapsed.

I used the Dremel to take some big chunks out of the tube and cut holes in it. The first and foremost reason I have the plastic tubing in there is to keep it securely fastened to the inner nipple on the ball valve, the cable tie on the SS braid itself won't hold securely enough.

Even though I've got the tubing in it, it still lauters very well. I'm sure the ball value is the bottle neck rather than the tubing.

 

[jzal8]

I made this a week ago, as I know many others have, and I just wanted to say that these directions were spot on and super easy to do. I spent at most 35 minutes at Lowes gathering all the pieces and one I got everything home it took less than 45 minutes for me to figure out how to put everything together. Thanks for the help FlyGuy

 

[98EXL]

it's the only reason (ok not really) that I went to AG

 

[bazeballdadx]

I apologize for my ignorance here as an extract brewer, but how does the liquid flow out of the cooler? Does the stainless steel braid act as a grain filter, while allowing liquid to enter throughout all sides of it? Or does liquid enter through the end of the braid hose?

I thought I understood this, but upon viewing the 3/27 update I got confused.

Thanks.

 

[Soulive]

I apologize for my ignorance here as an extract brewer, but how does the liquid flow out of the cooler? Does the stainless steel braid act as a grain filter, while allowing liquid to enter throughout all sides of it? Or does liquid enter through the end of the braid hose?

I thought I understood this, but upon viewing the 3/27 update I got confused.

Thanks.

You're right that the braid filters everything (mostly) out except for the liquid. The liquid flows out via gravity/pressure differences. You will also establish a grain bed via vorlaufing which helps clear the liquid...

 

[njnear76]

Can you do a partial mash with the 10 gallon beverage cooler setup?

I'm plan on going to all grain in a year from now once I move into a house.

There's still a lot of brewing equipment I want to acquire over time so I'm not stuck with sticker shock. (I already bought a 36 quart pot, which I plan on using now.)

• scale
• wort chiller
• mill
• 02 aeration setup.
• kegging equipment

 

[Soulive]

Can you do a partial mash with the 10 gallon beverage cooler setup?

I'm plan on going to all grain in a year from now once I move into a house.

There's still a lot of brewing equipment I want to acquire over time so I'm not stuck with sticker shock. (I already bought a 36 quart pot, which I plan on using now.)

• scale
• wort chiller
• mill
• 02 aeration setup.
• kegging equipment

Yeah you can partial mash in the 10 gallon cooler. Just make sure your brewing software accounts for the dead space...

 

[njnear76]

Yeah you can partial mash in the 10 gallon cooler. Just make sure your brewing software accounts for the dead space...

Kool Moe Dee.

 

[Soulive]

Kool Moe Dee.

Right on man...

 

[njnear76]

Right on man...

Heh. I got to revist the 80s catch phrases. Psych out the kids.
Mike

 

[bazeballdadx]

You're right that the braid filters everything (mostly) out except for the liquid. The liquid flows out via gravity/pressure differences. You will also establish a grain bed via vorlaufing which helps clear the liquid...

Okay, makes sense.

Yeah you can partial mash in the 10 gallon cooler. Just make sure your brewing software accounts for the dead space...

Answers my next question... thanks!

 

[burton178]

I've read about how to make the round MLT with the Rubbermaid drink cooler. I have a rectangle cooler (I'm not sure but I think it's about 10 gallons. I'd say it's "medium" sized from what I've seen with a lot of coolers).

My question is... Can I still do the 12" stainless steel braid or does it have to be bigger?
Also, the drain hole on the cooler is a few inches above the bottom. Could I just prop the other end of the cooler up during the whole process to put the drain hole more toward "the bottom." I would secure it so it wouldn't slip, of course.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[kmudrick]

Is there a way to smooth out the edges of the cut off braid? I used my dremel with a carbide disc to cut the ends off, which worked fine, except I now have tons of pointy strands on the ends that pierce me everytime I touch it.