Mash tun cooler setup

[A_McG]

Got my hands on a couple of coolers and looking to set up my mash tun and hlt. One is a 10gal "gatorade" drink dispenser style, the other is a Coleman chest cooler, holds 12 gallon.

Wondering which makes a more efficient mash tun. I've been looking up conversion videos and see both styles being used. What's your personal preference and ideally have you tried both styles and prefer one over the other?

 

[Homergah]

The round cooler has better geometry. I believe the reason most folks use an "ice chest" type cooler is for the increased capacity over the 10 gallon drink cooler. Or, it's just what they already owned. Your 12 gallon box isn't much of an upgrade, seems to me. False bottoms are readily available and cheap, also. I have only used the round one, btw.

 

[Nagorg]

+1 Between the 2, the round 10G cooler would be a better choice because the deeper grain bed will make a better filter. The 12G rectangle will work great but I'd use the round one instead. A lot of folks use the rectangle coolers because they tend to be cheaper that the round ones.

 

[A_McG]

Thanks to both comments, I was leaning towards using the round until I saw the chest cooler conversions.

I don't think I'll ever need a 12 gallon capacity. Didn't think about the grain bed filtering.

 

[Kirkwooder]

I use a 48 qt rectangle cooler for my mash tun. I like the larger collection area of the rectangle and it seems easier to stir the dough balls out with just a big stainless spoon. It's the only thing I've ever used though, so I don't really have any experience with a round cooler to compare it to. The rectangle cooler has the tendency to splay open at the top/middle after about 50 brews. I don't know how many brews the round ones are good for but I would bet they hold up better.

 

[Jtk78]

I use a 13g chest cooler with a custom bag to do mash in a bag. It's easy to clean, drops no more than 2F in cold weather, and I can easily mash a pretty high SG 10 gallon batch in it, which I've done on several occasions. I have a round as my HLT.

 

[Nagorg]

FWIW, I have both an 18G and a 30G rectangle cooler MLT. I built copper manifolds for them and they work great for 10-15G batches and I can do pretty high gravity batches with them; I've got options.

For moderate gravity 5G batches I use a 5G round cooler. I find that I get slightly better efficiency from it and I attribute this to the sparge and the effects of a taller water column making it more effective. For that reason, given the OP's choices, I'd still choose the round cooler.

 

[WestMichBrewer]

I use a 5G round water cooler and it works pretty well. I'm getting 74 - 78% efficiency with 9.9 - 5 lb grain bills (3 gallon batches) and batch sparging.
I did a 5G lager with close to 10 lb of grain this last weekend and think I could get MAYBE 11 or 12 lbs in there max.
I had planned on 75% efficiency for this batch but came up a few points short.

 

[A_McG]

Thanks for the additional input. I doubt I'll do anything more than 5gal batches. My current equipment is really 5gal friendly, and I can only temperature control one bucket at a time.

 

[Nagorg]

I doubt I'll do anything more than 5gal batches.

Sounds like something I said before... LOL Funny thing is that I started with 2.5G batches, then to 5G and now 15G. My 5G MLT is the newest addition to my gear because I wanted to start brewing smaller batches again on occasion. Mainly for testing recipes before committing to a half barrel of it. Ha!

 

[Jtk78]

Sounds like something I said before... LOL Funny thing is that I started with 2.5G batches, then to 5G and now 15G. My 5G MLT is the newest addition to my gear because I wanted to start brewing smaller batches again on occasion. Mainly for testing recipes before committing to a half barrel of it. Ha!

Lol. Things I said I'd never do in brewing but did within a year:
- Go all grain (did 3rd batch)
- keg (did 8 months in)
- brew more than 5 gallons (did 4th time I brewed)
- mess with water chemistry (started on the 4th batch)
- brew an IPA, wasn't my favorite style & too many available (10th batch)
- enter a competition (4 entered 1st year, 1 medal)

There's probably more....

 

[A_McG]

I've been thinking about getting my water tested, it's pretty good to drink and never had a brewing issue.

I really want to get into a couple competitions this year, if only for the critique to see what I can do better. My local store does quarterly competitions and it's free to enter.

My current "never" is kegging. And yet I'm sure I'll get to building one soon enough

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I would say there are two major criteria that go into making this decision:

1. Do you plan to batch sparge, fly sparge or no sparge?
2. Do you plan to brew any high gravity beers?

While rectangle coolers can be set up with a manifold and be effective for fly sparging, I think a round cooler with a false bottom is better at it.

A 10 gallon cooler is borderline at best for a large stout. I brewed a 12.5% RIS that had 25.5 lbs of grain. A 10 gallon round cooler would have been a struggle with that beer at best. My 50 qt rectangle cooler made it easy.

I use a rectangle for my MLT and a round for my HLT. I started out with a bazooka screen filter and batch sparges, but now I use a bag and do Mash In A Bag with a batch sparge in that same cooler. I get better efficiency, clean up is a breeze, and it's easy to find and break up dough balls. I see no reason to switch to a round cooler unless I wanted to go RIMS or something where I needed even drainage.

No sparge is also another option. In general, if you're going batch or no sparge, a bag will allow you to mill finer and makes cleanup a breeze (just lift the bag out of the cooler and rinse the cooler). Dump the bag into a compost bag or garbage and rinse.

 

[A_McG]

My plan is too fly sparge, but I'll look up using a bag. I'm all for faster cleanup. Is it like brew in a bag but mashing in the cooler instead of the boil kettle?

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

My plan is too fly sparge, but I'll look up using a bag. I'm all for faster cleanup. Is it like brew in a bag but mashing in the cooler instead of the boil kettle?

Exactly, with one other twist. BIAB is primarily a full volume mash approach....in other words, no sparge since you're mashing in the same vessel you boil in.

In this case, it's a separate vessel (the cooler), so it's easier to follow the tradition mash, drain and sparge approach. You could theoretically still fly sparge, but you'd want to forego the finer milling or risk a stuck sparge. You'd also want a way to ensure even drainage (like a round cooler with a false bottom or a rectangular cooler with a well-designed manifold).

My process:

1. Heat strike water in the boil kettle. When I reach strike temp (I usually go a few degrees above and let it drop to the desired strike temp in the cooler), transfer water to the cooler.
2. If you haven't already, line the cooler with the bag.
3. Stir in the grains
4. Put the lid on and let the conversion happen. My temps usually only drop a degree or two.
5. While this is happening, heat sparge water in the kettle and transfer to HLT
6. Stir one last time and lift the bag up, drain the first runnings. You can start heating these toward a boil at this time.
7. Drain HLT contents into MLT for batch sparge. Stir like hell.
8. Drain second runnings to kettle.

So, even with the bag, it's still mostly like a traditional 3 vessel approach. The primary reasons for me going this way were easy cleanup and better efficiency. I can mill finer with literally zero risk of a stuck sparge, grain absorption is lower and I only leave about 2 oz of wort in my MLT thanks to a nice recessed drain channel in the cooler and dip tube design I created. I went from a brewhouse efficiency of 60 to about 72 with this change.

 

[A_McG]

Exactly, with one other twist. BIAB is primarily a full volume mash approach....in other words, no sparge since you're mashing in the same vessel you boil in.

In this case, it's a separate vessel (the cooler), so it's easier to follow the tradition mash, drain and sparge approach. You could theoretically still fly sparge, but you'd want to forego the finer milling or risk a stuck sparge. You'd also want a way to ensure even drainage (like a round cooler with a false bottom or a rectangular cooler with a well-designed manifold).

My process:

1. Heat strike water in the boil kettle. When I reach strike temp (I usually go a few degrees above and let it drop to the desired strike temp in the cooler), transfer water to the cooler.
2. If you haven't already, line the cooler with the bag.
3. Stir in the grains
4. Put the lid on and let the conversion happen. My temps usually only drop a degree or two.
5. While this is happening, heat sparge water in the kettle and transfer to HLT
6. Stir one last time and lift the bag up, drain the first runnings. You can start heating these toward a boil at this time.
7. Drain HLT contents into MLT for batch sparge. Stir like hell.
8. Drain second runnings to kettle.

So, even with the bag, it's still mostly like a traditional 3 vessel approach. The primary reasons for me going this way were easy cleanup and better efficiency. I can mill finer with literally zero risk of a stuck sparge, grain absorption is lower and I only leave about 2 oz of wort in my MLT thanks to a nice recessed drain channel in the cooler and dip tube design I created. I went from a brewhouse efficiency of 60 to about 72 with this change.

I really like this idea, thanks for sharing your setup!

 

[mirthfuldragon]

My plan is too fly sparge, but I'll look up using a bag. I'm all for faster cleanup. Is it like brew in a bag but mashing in the cooler instead of the boil kettle?

That is what I did for a while - messing with the false bottom was never worth the hassle in the round cooler. Just pull the bag after mashing-lauter-sparge, easy peasy. Then I retired my mash tun about a year ago and just do full-volume BIAB.

 

[Nagorg]

messing with the false bottom was never worth the hassle in the round cooler.

I built a copper manifold for my round cooler; works great and way cheaper than a false bottom! Messing with hoists, draining bags and all with BIAB just doesn't seem fun to me.

 

[McKnuckle]

I've done most of the methods: Mash in a round cooler with a bag; mash in a cooler naked; mash in a kettle with a bag; fly sparge, batch sparge, no sparge; squeeze and no squeeze.

My current favorite is the cooler with a bag and no sparge, no squeeze. I keep the false bottom in there because, well, it doesn't get in the way and it supports the center drain pickup tube.

I like this setup because I can pump from my HLT/BK to the cooler and underlet into the ball valve, so that doughballs don't form.

I like draining from the cooler to a separate boil kettle using a bucket filter over the top, which lets me skip a vorlauf and still avoid any particulate from the grain in the boil.

Since there's a bag in there, I can mill really fine and get great efficiency without fear of a stuck sparge.

The cooler will hold a mash temp within 1-2 degrees over an hour, which is fine performance.

However, I also recirculate in the cooler using RIMS so I can do step mashes and mash outs if I like. I know I don't have to. But I can. Flexibility is a good thing.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I built a copper manifold for my round cooler; works great and way cheaper than a false bottom! Messing with hoists, draining bags and all with BIAB just doesn't seem fun to me.

I greatly prefer it after switching from the bazooka filter. I got a $15 ratcheting hoist and mounted a hook on the garage ceiling. Easy to use and, when I'm done, cleanup is much easier. Just dump the bag into a compost bin, compost bag (we have curbside composting), trash can or whatever. The cooler cleans up easily and no scooping or dealing with grains all over the inside of the cooler. The bag rinses out in the sink in just a couple minutes.

Cleaning my MLT used to be my most hated task...now it's a breeze.

Faster cleanup, better efficiency, and easy...that all works for me.