Coleman 62 qt Xtreme Wheeled Cooler <$20!

[BNVince]

Here is my Coleman 70qt. It's rock solid. With a little bit of hot water to pre-heat the tun I don't lose more than 1 degree during an hour long mash. It's fantastic.

 

[FSR402]

That cooler is going to work great. I have the 80qt one and love it.
Don't worry about the grain bed depth. If you are batch sparging then it does not matter at all and if fly sparging then it only matters if the manifold is not covered. The good thing with these coolers is that the foot print is not that large. It's narrow, long and deep. so the grain bed is plenty deep for a 5 gallon batch..

The other day I was listening to some of the archived MP3's of the Brewing network and they had a professional brewer on there that said not to have a thick grain bed. If it's thick you can't rinse it well. It only had to be deep enough to filter.He had some equation to figure out how large of a MLT was needed but I don't remember what it was.

 

[hollowdp]

Has anyone ordered a weldless fitting for this yet? I'm looking at discount fittings and can't decide if I need the one for the thick wall or the regular. I know the thick wall says for extreme type coolers but the wall didn't look to be more than 7/8" thick where the hole was. The regular goes up to 5/8" and the thick goes from 7/8" to 1.5".

Any guidance?

 

[RedVR6]

When I bought my 52qt Xtreme I ordered the weldless stainless cooler ball valve kit from NB: http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/action/search-do?searchTerm=7581+&x=0&y=0

Assuming the walls of the 52 and 62qt coolers are the same, I found the nipple to be a hair too short for proper fitment (as mentioned on page 2) that came with that kit (1.5" IIRC)...I managed to find someone on Homebrew.com selling 2" nipples...which worked perfectly. HTH

 

[Donasay]

Looks like they caught on the cooler is now selling for 79 bucks again

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

Looks like they caught on the cooler is now selling for 79 bucks again

Glad I ordered mine on friday night, should be delivered to my local walmart on thursday.

 

[hollowdp]

Does the length of the braid come into play here? It seems like you'd want it to run the full length of the cooler for faster throughput.

 

[splat]

You got a good deal....I didnt do too bad, picked up mine at K-mart for 29.99 I think...Havent used it yet, but maybe in two weekends or so...(still got to get my boil pot done, and get a wort chiller)

 

[mrkristofo]

I suppose I should post my pics, too. Here's the manifold:

 

[missing link]

When I tried using a real long braid, it kept floating up to the surface. I used a brass plug in the end to help hold it down. When it floats up, your only filtering or draining right at the spigot. I switched to a PVC manifold and it works much better for about the same cost as the braid.

Linc

 

[hopsalot]

I just recently purchase the 70qt version of this from Walmart for $35.00 and just finished up the copper manifold, heres the pics

Will be doing an American IPA on the Mash Tun within the next few weeks.

Are there hole drilled in to the copper?

 

[xumbi]

You got a good deal....I didnt do too bad, picked up mine at K-mart for 29.99 I think...Havent used it yet, but maybe in two weekends or so...(still got to get my boil pot done, and get a wort chiller)

That was good thinking adding that extension. With mine I can't quite turn the valve perpendicular, but it doesn't leak, so I'm not worried about it.

I brewed my first all grain batch with this cooler on sunday! Ed Wort's Haus Pale Ale (doesn't everyone?). It went well, I just need to work on my efficiency.

I did promise to upload some pics... I'll see if I can document my next brew day and post some.

 

[splat]

When I tried using a real long braid, it kept floating up to the surface. I used a brass plug in the end to help hold it down. When it floats up, your only filtering or draining right at the spigot. I switched to a PVC manifold and it works much better for about the same cost as the braid.

Linc

I have the same problem, but I found out why....The "stainless steel" braid I bought isnt stainless steel...Its some kind of plastic that looks exactly like stainless....Im going to replace it this weekend. Guess I didnt look that close at the sticker when I bought it.

 

[splat]

That was good thinking adding that extension. With mine I can't quite turn the valve perpendicular, but it doesn't leak, so I'm not worried about it.

I brewed my first all grain batch with this cooler on sunday! Ed Wort's Haus Pale Ale (doesn't everyone?). It went well, I just need to work on my efficiency.

I did promise to upload some pics... I'll see if I can document my next brew day and post some.

Did you do a five gallon batch, or ten gallon??? If you did a five, how did the heat do? How much heat did you lose in the hour?

 

[xumbi]

Did you do a five gallon batch, or ten gallon??? If you did a five, how did the heat do? How much heat did you lose in the hour?

It was a 5 gallon batch, and I didn't lose any heat during the hour! These xtreme coolers apparently live up to the hype.

 

[splat]

It was a 5 gallon batch, and I didn't lose any heat during the hour! These xtreme coolers apparently live up to the hype.

thats what I was hoping to hear You batch sparge?

 

[xumbi]

thats what I was hoping to hear You batch sparge?

Yup, I followed Ed Wort's instructions step by step. The only thing I did differently was add another 2lbs of base malt, to account for my likely (and eventual reality) of lower efficiency. I hit the OG of 1.051 on the dot!

I think my lower efficiency could have come from not draining fast enough, not letting the second sparge sit for very long (only about 2 minutes), and not stirring before draining the second sparge.

 

[splat]

Yup, I followed Ed Wort's instructions step by step. The only thing I did differently was add another 2lbs of base malt, to account for my likely (and eventual reality) of lower efficiency. I hit the OG of 1.051 on the dot!

I think my lower efficiency could have come from not draining fast enough, not letting the second sparge sit for very long (only about 2 minutes), and not stirring before draining the second sparge.

cool, sounds great...I was also kicking around the idea of adding a pound or two more base malt for my first batch, sounds like it worked out great for you....Im sure I wont get getting great efficiency right out of the gate either....THanks for the great tips, I cant wait for my first batch.