Cooler MLT, Is round or sguare better?

[onejdn]

Hey everyone,

I am gonna make a MLT out of a cooler and was just wondering which works best, or if anyone has noticed a difference.

 

[Skipster]

I made a square MLT and have since thought about switching to a round one. My reasoning, I am in the process of building a rig, the round ones seem like they would fit more easily, second fastening a rotating sparge arm to a round one would, in my opinion be more effective.

 

[mnadamn]

I think round would be better as you you will be able to achieve more grain bed depth meaning any circulating water in sparge will have to travel through more grain. This is my personal opinion though havent tested, would be intresting to find out though

 

[wildwest450]

All the info you will ever need.
A home brewing beer and wine making civilized discussion community. Also with beer/wine/mead/cider discussion, pub talk, and general chit-chat. - Search Results for round vs square mash tun

 

[onejdn]

cool, I appreciate the suggestions

 

[Mutilated1]

someone explained to me once that round was better, sorry I really can't remember the details as I was drinking - but it seemed to make sense at the time

 

[Brew-boy]

I will speak for the squares, I have the blue igloo and have no problems at all.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I have a square igloo fitted with a Bazooka tube and SS ball valve.

The food basket works great for recircing too. You dump right in the middle of the basket.

 

[Fingers]

You don't want too deep a grain bed or you're more susceptible to stuck sparges. If you have a large grain bill, say with 10 gallon batches, you might want the square containers. If you just do small 5 gallon batches, you need the round to create depth.

 

[missing link]

I have the white igloo square and like it. The only real difference between the round and square to me was the price. I had a round 5 gallon previously and I find the square 12 gallon easier to clean and it is easier to build a manifiold. I use 1/2 inch pvc with small holes drilled in it to make a square on the bottom.

Linc

 

[LibertyBrewer]

There are several manufacturers that make the round coolers. Which one is best? I checked with my local industrial supply, and Igloo coolers seem to be the most expensive, and the gatorade coolers are the cheapest. Will the gatorade coolers handle the heat? I noticed in the picture the gatorade coolers are the same color/style as the Rubbermaid coolers. There is about a 50 dollar difference betweent the most expensive, and the cheapest, when buying a 5 and 10 gallon cooler. Which ones should I get?

 

[evanmars]

... If you just do small 5 gallon batches, you need the round to create depth.

No, you don't. My square igloo works just fine for 5 gallon batches.

 

[Fingers]

No, you don't. My square igloo works just fine for 5 gallon batches.

Yeah, that's true, I should have been more clear in my post. If you use a smaller cooler, square is fine. The point was to illustrate the quantity of grain versus the depth of the grain bed.

 

[micro108]

It really depends on the size of your grain bed... Don't get anything that will make your gain bed too shallow...Square or round shouldn't make a difference... Another tip get one that is bigger than your batch (10 gal for 5 gal batch) (15 gal for a 10 gal batch) etc.

Good luck and happy brewing...

 

[tokolosh]

As long as your grain bed is of good depth, it's not going to make a whole lot of difference round vs rectangular. Some prefer a 10 gallon round cooler because you know you'll always have a good filtering layer of grain and the bed won't be disturbed too easily regardless if you're making a run-of-the-mill ale or a big beer.

If you're making really big beers (especially in 10 gal + batches) or larger batches, rectangular coolers offer more and larger options.

I personally prefer rectangular MLTs, but just because that was what I started with and got used to the concept! Either way, don't worry about it too much, it's just an MLT!

 

[rico567]

....snip..... don't worry about it too much, it's just an MLT!

Glad to read this. I'm getting stocked up making extract batches now, planning to make the jump to AG this summer, and hope to be doing regular AG brewing this Fall. All the research I've done about mashing tells me that the shape per se of the cooler MLT isn't nearly as important as the manifold used to strain the wort as it's lautered. As for grain bed depth, it seems to make sense that a certain depth -but not too deep- of grain is necessary for the grain bed to function as part of the overall filtration system. As for batch vs. fly sparging, I'm not even going to go there, except to state that any difference in efficiency I've read about just isn't enough to make me consider fly sparging.
Since I cannot foresee making more than 5 gal. batches, either the Rubbermaid 10 gal round or the Igloo 48 qt. "Ice Cube" model would seem equally good choices. As far as the price, if I'm going to be using this converted cooler over the long term for dozens of batches of beer, I'm certainly not going to worry about whether one cooler is $25 and one is $50- I would unhesitatingly buy the more expensive cooler if it could be demonstrated that it did a better job. So far, I've seen no specific evidence that would convince me that's true.

 

[Homercidal]

I've been using a rectangular 48 QT cooler for my first 2 batches and it's worked very well. I used a copper manifold.

Just make sure it has a drain plug.