cooler/lauter-tun question...

[sailman]

ive been reading on several sites where they turn a cooler into a lauter-tun for grains....does anyone here suggest which one to use or does it really matter? ive seen both igloo and rubbermaid.. im sure theres not a ton of difference but maybe there is...the one i saw was an igloo max (its silver and says it will hold ice for 5 days in 90 degree weather)

which do you suggest? and do you like using it?

 

[david_42]

I've got an Igloo Ice Cube, works great for many things. Most important is sizing it right, I wouldn't pay extra for longer "hold" times. A mash only takes 60-90 minutes.

 

[disaffected]

Hey, I just posted about the Igloo Ice Cube cooler over in the Equipment/Sanitation section. It's the Carboy carrier, fermentation cooler, mash tun post.

I'm glad to hear that someone else has used these for mashing, david_42, as I thought they might be quite useful for that. How do you use yours for mashing/sparging?

 

[Beer Snob]

Also depends on what you plan on using. For instance, the Ice Cube is a real cool cooler! But if you want to use a false bottom in it you will have a problem cause there is a deep indentation on the bottom of it. You would probably get a lot of grain in your brewpot. You can make a copper manfold that would work in it. I have a rubbermaid 5 gal water cooler and the stainless steel false bottom works great in it. Although I'm now looking at coolers like the Ice Cube now though cause I want to do an IPA which takes a lot more grain then I can handle.

What I suggest is to get or make whatever means you plan to use (mainfold... false bottom... whatever) and take this to where your buying your cooler. Make sure it all fits before you buy the cooler. When I bought the Phil's false bottom and the Igloo 5 gal cooler I found out that the Igloo cooler kinda gets narrower towards the bottom. The Phil's false bottom did not work in it.

Do a search for this and you'll find a lot of threads on it. Here is one of the Rubbermaid cooler that I made. Like I said there are a lot of threads of diffeernt people's solutions to this project.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=96676&posted=1#post96676

 

[disaffected]

Mine has a flat bottom, except for the depression near the drain. Couldn't you just use a drilled copper pipe covered with a stainless steel water line cover to filter out grain?

 

[sailman]

thanks for all the help guys ! wall mart has the rubbermaid 5 gal for only 19.00.

 

[Beer Snob]

Mine has a flat bottom, except for the depression near the drain. Couldn't you just use a drilled copper pipe covered with a stainless steel water line cover to filter out grain?

Sure, but that's what I meant when I said it depends on what your using.

 

[Beer Snob]

thanks for all the help guys ! wall mart has the rubbermaid 5 gal for only 19.00.

Check Target too....I think they are even cheaper there.

 

[Blender]

If you are going to batch sparge then get a larger 48 quart cooler. A rectangular cooler willbe better than a round one. 5 gallon will not be large enough for bigger grain bills. You really do not need anything more fancy than a stainless steel braid that can be purchased at a hardware store. You will just need to remove the inside tubing and attach it to your preferred drain hose\valve. Look here > http://www.hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I have a rubbermaid 5 gal water cooler and the stainless steel false bottom works great in it. Although I'm now looking at coolers like the Ice Cube now though cause I want to do an IPA which takes a lot more grain then I can handle.


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=96676&posted=1#post96676

Hey Snob, didn't I tell you way back when to get a ten gallon cooler? Maybe not , I don't remember. Anyway, I'm saying it now to whomever feels like listening: If you're gonna buy a cooler, don't mess around with a little 5-gallon job, cuz eventually you WILL want to do a bigger beer or a bigger batch and you'll have to turn around and get the bigger one anyway. You can do a small batch with a big cooler, but you can't do a big batch with a small one. (no, I don't own stock in the Igloo company ) Cheers

P.S. Same theory goes for boiling pots...........

 

[Axegod]

Check out this thread with my first AG.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=13106

Albrbrau is right...bigger will be better as long as you have decent grain depth.

Cheers

 

[Beer Snob]

Hey Snob, didn't I tell you way back when to get a ten gallon cooler? Maybe not , I don't remember. Anyway, I'm saying it now to whomever feels like listening: If you're gonna buy a cooler, don't mess around with a little 5-gallon job, cuz eventually you WILL want to do a bigger beer or a bigger batch and you'll have to turn around and get the bigger one anyway. You can do a small batch with a big cooler, but you can't do a big batch with a small one. (no, I don't own stock in the Igloo company ) Cheers

P.S. Same theory goes for boiling pots...........

Yeah you did I just could not see me brewing more then 10 pounds. I want to do that IPA.... man.... the stuff takes up about 20 pounds! Still can't see it... 20 pounds..... thats more then double of what I'm doing now... who would have thought...

 

[Beer Snob]

Check out this thread with my first AG.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=13106

Albrbrau is right...bigger will be better as long as you have decent grain depth.

Cheers

Don't miss his point here ok His point is that you can use a bigger cooler then you need if your going to do batch sparging. Why, well grain depth is not important when you batch sparge, only when you fly.

 

[sailman]

Don't miss his point here ok His point is that you can use a bigger cooler then you need if your going to do batch sparging. Why, well grain depth is not important when you batch sparge, only when you fly.

Ok that brings up one more question what is the difference in batch sparge and fly sparge.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Don't miss his point here ok His point is that you can use a bigger cooler then you need if your going to do batch sparging. Why, well grain depth is not important when you batch sparge, only when you fly.

Which is why when I replaced my MLT (you know, the one I melted ) I stuck with the round cooler. It is tall and thin rather than short and squat, and therefore lends itself well to fly sparging even with smaller amounts of grain.

BTW, I just yesterday brewed 10 gallons of red ale- 22 1/2 lbs of grain with room to spare

 

[disaffected]

Ok that brings up one more question what is the difference in batch sparge and fly sparge.

Hey, I can answer that. In a word, efficiency! That's probably not what you meant, but that is really the difference.

Batch sparging is done by mixing the grains in a mash tun with all the sparge water at once. The water is mixed with the grains, thoroughly stirred, allowed to steep for some specified amount of time, recirculated until clear, then drained off to the wort kettle for the boil. Or you might do the process with half the water, then the other half. The point is that the water is mixed with the grain and stirred, steeped, then drained.

Fly sparging slowly drips water through a grain bed that has been steeped in hot water without stirring. After the vorlauf (recirculating until the wort is clear), the wort is slowly drained off while sparge water is dripped through the compacted grain bed at the same rate until all the wort is collected.

Fly sparging extracts more sugars from the grain than batch sparging, so fly sparging is considered more efficient, from that point of view.

OK, that's my "newbie" understanding of the subject. I await correction (hopefully gentle) from the guys who really know. I've never done either type... yet.

 

[Exo]

A huge question I have when fly sparging is how high (if at all) should the level of liquid be in your cooler/bucket when sparging? Almost to top of grain bed, almost to the bottom, none?

 

[philwho]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and a UK homebrewer, I bought my cooler mash tun ready made but have found it excellent in conjunction with the copper filtering device I purchased as an extra, it set me back about $100 approx but I've had 90-95% extract efficency and that's with using a watering can to sparge. Also the company I used (Art of Brewing, but they must be available in the US) sell a gadget caled a hop strainer which fit into the tap of a Bruheat boiler all equivalent (I use a home made 12 gallon boiler to ensure the chlorine and flouride added to our water is boiled off) which works brilliantly. To achieve a 5.5% AG brew of 23 litres I was having to use 13-14 Ilbs now 9-10 is ample. God bless the Mother of a Brewer.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

A huge question I have when fly sparging is how high (if at all) should the level of liquid be in your cooler/bucket when sparging? Almost to top of grain bed, almost to the bottom, none?

About an inch above the top of the grain bed. that way the bed never gets disturbed.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

sailman, next time y'all are in Raleigh swing by Fuquay and you can check out my kit if you want. Hell, next time I do a batch (don't know if it will be pre or post-baby) you can hang out if you want. If it's post-baby I'll even have some cigars from an island south of Miami.

 

[Beer Snob]

Hey, I can answer that. In a word, efficiency!

You know that is one thing I noticed. Umm..... not efficiency as a calculated percent... still have not gotten that down yet. But efficiency as in I pretty much got the gravity numbers that ProMash said I was going to get. This has not happened yet with Batch sparging (or at least the ones I have done so far).

 

[sudsmonkey]

If it's post-baby I'll even have some cigars from an island south of Miami.

They make cigars in Key West ? Congrats on the little Baron to be.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

They make cigars in Key West ? Congrats on the little Baron to be.

Thanks! Baroness, as it were. She already rules the Barony from the womb.

 

[the_bird]

Thanks! Baroness, as it were. She already rules the Barony from the womb.

Is this your first?

 

[disaffected]

You know that is one thing I noticed. Umm..... not efficiency as a calculated percent... still have not gotten that down yet. But efficiency as in I pretty much got the gravity numbers that ProMash said I was going to get. This has not happened yet with Batch sparging (or at least the ones I have done so far).

So when batch sparging, did you get lower gravity than what ProMash calculated? That's what I'd expect, because I think the more sugars you extract, the higher the specific gravity, and it is said that you extract more sugars by fly sparging. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

What exactly is ProMash, btw? A brewing program of some sort?

 

[Beer Snob]

So when batch sparging, did you get lower gravity than what ProMash calculated? That's what I'd expect, because I think the more sugars you extract, the higher the specific gravity, and it is said that you extract more sugars by fly sparging. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

What exactly is ProMash, btw? A brewing program of some sort?

Yup, ProMash is a very good program. http://www.promash.com/ Your gravity would be lower because batch sparging is not as efficient as fly sparging. ProMash currently does not do batch and assumes that you are fly sparging. You can figure out the water needed to batch though. The GreenBoard has instructions and the link is here somewhere.... worked great! Think I'm going to put it in thier suggestions.... I'm sure they have heard it before.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Yup, ProMash is a very good program. http://www.promash.com/ Your gravity would be lower because batch sparging is not as efficient as fly sparging. ProMash currently does not do batch and assumes that you are fly sparging. You can figure out the water needed to batch though. The GreenBoard has instructions and the link is here somewhere.... worked great! Think I'm going to put it in thier suggestions.... I'm sure they have heard it before.

Beersmith (the other beer software) does let you set up your recipe for either batch or fly sparging.

 

[Beer Snob]

Found the link I was looking for... we need to put this in the FAQ or something. Good link for batch sparging with ProMash....

http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=40175

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Is this your first?

It is. But since I've watched all my friends raise children while secretly criticizing their methods in my head it should be a snap for me.

 

[the_bird]

Even more congradulations, then!

Everyone says it, but it's so true - nothing is EVER the same again. You don't WANT it to be the same again. Just take it all in stide, it's all wonderful (except the lack of sleep, free time, money...)