Mash tun - round or rectangle?

[AdrianBrews]

Hey guys,

I am switching to all-grain right now, and I am deciding on whether to go with the round or rectangular 10 gal cooler. It definitely seems like round is more popular. I can think of a couple pros and cons for each option and it would be nice to hear your opinions on this.

Round cooler:

Pros: small surface area, somewhat better heat insulation?
Cons: harder to maintain even temperature since liquid is deep

Rectangular cooler:

the opposite of round's pros/cons

Is there any merit in my proposed assumptions, and anything else that could differentiate their efficacy/desirability?

(Also, I live in Canada. Finding a round cooler is nearly impossible unless I throw $180 for a pre-built tun at my LHBS)

 

[bknifefight]

Are you planning on batch of fly sparging?

 

[revco]

The overall system design will matter a bit, per above, as well as your desired batch size. I started with doing 5 gallon batches and when it came time to do a "big beer" I was nearly overflowing the 10 gallon round cooler. My ultimate goal at that time, and where I'm at now, was 10 gallon batches...so I knew the 10 gallon wasn't going to cut it under all circumstances. I ultimately went with a (much larger, I think it's 17 gallons) rectangle cooler and have been very happy with it overall. I batch sparge, but if you intend to fly sparge, a taller narrow cooler (like the 10G units) are pretty good for that.

For the record, I still use my 10 gallon round for doing sour mashes, so it wasn't a total loss...but in hindsight, the larger rectangle cooler should have been the purchase for me.

Edit: Both my coolers hold temps just about as well, so that's not a major concern. I think my rectangle one is of slightly higher quality, though, it's a Coleman 5 day if I remember right.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Rectangular coolers are cheaper and easier to come by for the most part.

You also have "cube" coolers. For our purposes, they're a combination of the two.

If you're going to batch sparge, go with a rectangular or cube cooler.

If you're going to fly sparge, go with a cylindrical or cube cooler.

Batch sparging takes less time and is less fussy, but isn't as efficient, so you'll be buying a bit more grains every batch.

I've done both batch sparging and fly sparging, and I'd recommend batch sparging for newbs. Later on if you're looking to save money on grains, then you can look into fly sparging.

So get a cube cooler and make a manifold out of CPVC tubing and then try your hand at batch sparging. DONE.

You are glad I made this decision for you. Move along.

 

[Helloworld]

If you're going to batch sparge, go with a rectangular or cube cooler.

If you're going to fly sparge, go with a cylindrical or cube cooler.

Can you share the background for your recommendations? I batch with a round cooler, my friend flies with a rectangular. We both have good efficiency.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Can you share the background for your recommendations? I batch with a round cooler, my friend flies with a rectangular. We both have good efficiency.

Fly sparging acts like a piston, using clean sparge water to get the grain drained of the sugars.

So a tall vessel with a narrow base would be more effective with this type of action. In theory. I can't say for certain, since I never ran an experiment and compared the two methods using the same exact vessel.

With batch sparging, you drain the first runnings and then add fresh sparge water and mix and then drain again and then maybe do a second sparge. This action doesn't rely on the piston-like action of fly sparging, so either a tall narrow cooler or a flat wide cooler will give you the same efficiency. Or maybe the flat wide cooler is better for batch sparging since it's easier to get a thorough mixing going.

 

[MrFeltimo]

I have a 12 gallon rectangle cooler that I started with, now moved to a 5 gallon round.
The round smaller cooler I fly sparge with, usually I do smaller beer in this one but I can comfortably fit 12# of grain in it.
The larger rectangle cooler is for the bigger beers and i will batch sparge with this one.
I have tried fly with the larger one but it doesn't seem to be as good.
I would suggest going 10 gallon round, but go with what's available and cost effective.