Igloo cooler ?

[46andbrew]

So my brew buddy and I r going to be taking the step up to all grain. I just got a 8 gallon brew pot I have a 30000 Btu burner I'm going to grab a coil wort chiller. I was looking at the new essential all grain system from northern but my buddy is worried about the igloo coolers keeping temp. I'm sure some of u guys have used them. Just wondering your experience with them. Good or bad.


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[kh54s10]

I use the Rubbermaid version and outside at about 45 degrees I use a comforter to wrap around it. In an hour I lose 2-3 degrees. I hear the tops are hollow and could benefit from added insulation.

 

[RmikeVT]

So my brew buddy and I r going to be taking the step up to all grain. I just got a 8 gallon brew pot I have a 30000 Btu burner I'm going to grab a coil wort chiller. I was looking at the new essential all grain system from northern but my buddy is worried about the igloo coolers keeping temp. I'm sure some of u guys have used them. Just wondering your experience with them. Good or bad.


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Tons of people use 10g round coolers for mashing. I have an orange one from Home Depot (I think its rubbermaid, but can't remember) Anyway, they are awesome. The temp loss in a 60-90 min mash is pretty negligible, if you ask me. You might lose a degree on a cold day.

The only limitation you are going to have is batch size. I maxed out my cooler trying to do a 1.060 12gallon batch. But you are fine with 5-6g batches.

Also, you can make these things for a hell of a lot cheaper than $200, and if you batch sparge you only need 1 of them. Even if you fly sparge you really only need 1.

 

[46andbrew]

Ya I think I'm going to go for it. How do u guys go about checking temp. Also do u guys preheat your mash tun and if so how do u do it?


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[DJDBrew]

I have 4-5 AG brews under my belt now and use the same Home Depot cooler Rmike is using. Even on cooler days I see a max of about 1-2 degree loss over the hour so I just plan on that.

As for checking temp, I generally just add my water and stir and stir and stir until I reach the temp I am looking for. Then I just leave it for an hour. I would rather not take the lid off and lose that heat. Generally if you give it a good 4 minutes to stabilize, it will stay very close to that temp over the hour.

I don't personally pre-heat my cooler as I just heat my water up a little more for dough-in but plenty of people do pre-heat. You could heat your sparge water and dump that into your cooler to pre-heat as you are heating your strike water. When you are ready to go, just move your sparge water into your HLT or whatever it is you use to heat your sparge water and dough-in as usual.

 

[srice]

While my strike water is heating in my kettle, I also start with a couple gallons of hot tap water in another pot on the stove. I get the hot tap water up to 180ish and then dump it in the cooler. Let it stay in there with the top closed until the strike water is ready. Drain the cooler and then add your strike water - easy pre-heat of the cooler.

 

[grifulkin]

I have this cooler. It's 70 quart, so I don't have to worry about growing out of it, even doing 10 gallon batches. It was cheaper than the round coolers, and it was just as easy to convert to a mash tun. It also keeps temp very well. If it can keep ice for 5 days I think keeping 150 for an hour wouldn't be too much of a challenge. I also loved converting the mash tun myself, kept the cost low.

 

[poptarts]

I use this cooler and get maybe 1 degree loss per hour, and if you really want, later you can step it up with a 50$ ghetto HERMS system to not loose any temp at all.

 

[charliehorse]

I use this one... I didn't want ot get into the Red vs. Blue debate. I'll loose about a degree over a 90 minute mash. If you're concerned about heat loss (and there's no reason to be), drill a few holes and shoot a can of foam insulation into the lid and seal it with marine grade epoxy filler (one brand name is MarineTex).

 

[EarlyAmateurZymurgist]

Cooler choice has a lot do with how one intends to sparge. Batch sparging is mash tun geometry agnostic. Many brewers attempt to continuous sparge in a rectangular tun with a slotted pipe or tubular mesh mash filter and write the process off as being no more efficient than batch sparging. Continuous sparging (a.k.a. fly sparge) is mash tun geometry and mash filter sensitive. A mash tun that will be used for continuous sparging should be cylindrical in geometry. It should also have a proper false bottom with 16 to 18 percent open space that is evenly distributed across the entire surface. With the proper pH and technique, it is not hard to achieve efficiencies that are very difficult to achieve with batch sparging (I obtained 35 points per pound with my last batch, which is an efficiency of 95%).

With that said, many brewers are very happy with the results that they get with batch sparging. Only you and your brewing partner can determine if you are willing to take on continuous sparging. I have been continuous sparging since since I started brewing all-grain beer in 1993. It's second nature to me now. However, I do remember getting less than stellar results at first. If I started today, I would probably opt for batch sparging.

 

[charliehorse]

Cooler choice has a lot do with how one intends to sparge.

I had to reread the first sentence. I thought that you were extending my joke about the Red vs. Blue cooler and said that "color choice" has a lot to do with sparge technique.
:smack:

 

[EarlyAmateurZymurgist]

Is there a cooler color debate raging on HBT?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Don't over analyze it, just about any cooler can be easily used for batch sparging. An inexpensive chest cooler 48 qt variety will work fine, ask Denny linked below....
http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[Schreiner]

Ya I think I'm going to go for it. How do u guys go about checking temp. Also do u guys preheat your mash tun and if so how do u do it?


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I monitor my mash temp with a floating thermometer. Just toss it in there and leave it float. I open the lid a few times during the first half of the mash to re-stir anyway. No need to drill more (any) holes.

I store my equipment in the garage, and in the WI winters I definitely preheat it (in the summer months I find I don't need to.) I just throw in a gallon of hot tap water and leave it sit to defrost. If you use a program like beersmith it will adjust the mash water temp to compensate for your equipment temp also.

 

[charliehorse]

Is there a cooler color debate raging on HBT?

Not on this board but there was on another popular board.

 

[RmikeVT]

I take the temp after I combine everything and let all the temps adjust and stirring for 5 minutes. And then take temp after 60min. I rarely lose more than a degree. I used to measure temp more often but it was redundant once I realized my tun held temps just fine.

I did have a problem when I moved up to a 70qt coleman xtreme hitting my temps and holding them, but I found that those coolers take much longer to reach equilibrium temperatures. I have since dialed it in.

 

[poptarts]

Not on this board but there was on another popular board.

There is another homebrewing fourm? link

 

[Riot]

Why are you guys adding an extra water addition to preheat the cooler? Isn't it easier to just dump all your strike water in 10-20 degrees too hot and let it sit for ten minutes or so before adding the grain?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Why are you guys adding an extra water addition to preheat the cooler? Isn't it easier to just dump all your strike water in 10-20 degrees too hot and let it sit for ten minutes or so before adding the grain?

My only guess would be they don't realize there is an easier way, or it's just the way they have always done it.

Maybe it's the terminology, "preheat the cooler".


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[DonnieZ]

Preheat your mash tun. Then put a sheet of aluminum foil down on top of the mash. Since I started doing this, I lose 0 degrees over the course of a 60 minute mash.

 

[evanmars]

I know about it, it's just the way I've always done it. It's just as easy for me to just dump a gallon or two hot faucet water in the cooler and let sit while I'm heating sparge water.
I've just never tried the extra hot sparge water. I may sometime in the near future. It would save the extra step.
As far as measuring temps throughout the mash, I use an electronic thermometer with a probe on a "leash." Just put the probe in the mash, and set the body of the thermometer on top of the MLT
The most I lost is about 2F over an hour in the winter.

Square Igloo cooler.

 

[charliehorse]

Why are you guys adding an extra water addition to preheat the cooler? Isn't it easier to just dump all your strike water in 10-20 degrees too hot and let it sit for ten minutes or so before adding the grain?

That's what I do... I figured out (with the help of an app because I don't really feel like doing Differential Equations while I'm brewing or drinking beer) with the help of Brewer's Friend. I like my mash temp at 152 degrees, so I add water at 164 degrees. YMMV, but it works out on my system.

 

[Vinnychuck]

Hi everyone. I'm a fairly new all grain brewer. And new to HBT. Just figured id jump in on this one seeing as I just switched from a SS keg mash tun, to a 120qt cooler. The thing is amazing. If u get your strike water correct there's really no issue. Its great at holding temp especially on bigget batches. Just did my first 15 gal batch and the heat loss was negligable. On the 5-10gal batches its about 1-2 degrees. The ss steel keg still gets used and holds temp alright, but now its another boil kettle. As far as sparging goes, everyone has their own way of doing things. I've tried it all and now have a full quick connect spray system built in to my cooler