The gods must be crazy

[drives_a_bike]

I'm an extract brewer and have friends that said they'd help me move on to AG when I'm ready. I know it takes extra gear that will cost me, so I haven't really felt like doing yet, but then this happened...

I live next to a soccer complex and every time there is a big tournament a bunch of garbage and crap blows into my yard...usually this pisses me off beyond belief, but a few weeks ago, something blew into my yard that could be of some use.
There was a huge tournament going on and a massive storm blew up out of nowhere...50+ mph winds and the soccer complex emptied out in record time. After everything died down I was out in the yard cleaning up the regular snickers wrappers, McDonalds bags and whatnot. When I noticed, stuck under one of my trees a 5 gallon igloo water cooler. I've seen people use these in AG brewing...I wonder if this is big enough or if I need a bigger one? Also, is it easy to convert a regular water cooler into what I need for AG?

This is what it looks like
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B3KQPE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

What do I need to convert it? And is it cheaper to convert or just buy one meant for brewing?

Sorry about the novel...I like details...haha

P.s. I was going to try and see who it belonged to, but found out almost all the soccer teams were from out of town, so I thought, screw it! I clean up enough of their garbage they leave lying around...finders keepers.

 

[Waynep005]

It is easy to do the work to convert a cooler to a mash tun. You can search on this site for instruction or I bought a kit to do it from Rebel Brewer ,for about $30.00 I think, because I just did not want to get into a DIY project at the time. The only issue is a 5 gallon cooler will limit prevent you from beng able to make big beers because it will not hold enough grain and water.

 

[unionrdr]

Oh,idk...I see a lot of folks on here using those. A 5G container can hold a lot of grain & water. Check out the DIY forum for this one. Then my ghetto brew setups thread in the pic forum for how they're set up.

 

[Draken]

BIAB is a real cheap way to try all grain. Buy a bag and use your boil kettle. If the kettle can fit in your oven, then set that thing to 175 and maintain perfect temps the whole time. If you like the extra work of all grain start piecing together your equipment and switch form BIAB to a more traditional process when you are ready.

 

[neomantra]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/how-big-your-mash-tun-needs-123585/ has a nice summary explaining the maximum gravity you could brew with a 5g mash tun.

 

[unionrdr]

175F is too high for a mash temp. Let alone steeping temp. Mash temps should generally go over 165F to keep from leaching tanins from the hulls.

 

[Draken]

175F is too high for a mash temp. Let alone steeping temp. Mash temps should generally go over 165F to keep from leaching tanins from the hulls.

Yes. But the temp is set to 175 because thats as low as my oven allows and it's never affected the temp of my mash. I recently did a step infusion mash for a 2.5 gallon batch. About 5.5lbs of grain, one 30 min rest at 140 and thirty at 158. Set my oven for 175. I did not lose or gain a single degree of temp. My mash stayed on temp the entire time. Think about it you have the thermal mass of the pot, plus 20+ lbs of grain and water. If I had set it at 225 or 300, I'd expect the temp of the mash to climb a bit, but with such a low temperature difference it takes a long time for thermal transfer.

Think I it another way. Chicken is done at 165. Why don't we bake it at that temp? It would take forever.

 

[KISS Brew]

If the kettle can fit in your oven, then set that thing to 175 and maintain perfect temps the whole time.

I recently started following this advice, and it works wonders on keeping a consistent mash temperature. Highly recommended.

 

[billl]

re: ovens messing up a temp.

The rate of heat transfer is directly proportional to the difference in temps between the 2 items. Say you have 155 mash sitting in a 75 degree room and it loses 5 degrees in an hour. The temp difference is 80 degrees. Say you put that same pot in a 175 oven. The temp difference is only 20 degrees, so you'll get something like a 1 degree swing.

As for the cooler, yeah, it will work fine for a mash tun. However, that size will limit the gravity and mash ratios you can use. A 10 gallon provides a whole lot more versatility.

 

[captwalt]

I dont want to change the subject here about maintaining mash temps and BIAB and all, but I say Use it. I use a similar cooler for my mash tun and it suites my purposes nicely. I bought fittings at home depot and the valve and I put some mesh screen thingy on th inside to filter. I hear alot of people poo pooing these 5 gallons coolers but I have to disagree. In the event that I need to brew some high octane elixer I just make a smaller volume of it and life goes on just the same. Seeing as you are into this thing for exactly $0 I say your way ahead. Use it.

 

[ruralbrew]

I have a five gallon mash tun and it is a bit small but I can still make some pretty good beer. The biggest problem I have is hitting my mash temp. The tun is usually so full if you are high you stir like crazy and keep the lid off hoping the temperature will eventually drop and if it is low there isn't enough room to add extra hot water to raise the temperature. You have to do a double batch sparge but other than that it works great.

 

[Draken]

As for the cooler from the gods.. If you plan on doing session and average gravity beers or want to brew smaller batches, I'd say outfit it as a tun and get to brewing. If you prefer higher gravity beers or large batches, save your cash and wait.

 

[amandabab]

when Bacchus throws a cooler on your lawn, make a mash tun out of it.

 

[JDoubleDuBB]

Reference the oven trick... I use this for partial mash. My oven goes down to 175 as well so what I do is preheat it and then turn it off when I put my kettle in. After a 1 hour Sacch rest I don't see any temp change! Works like a charm. The oven will do a great job of insulating and retaining the heat.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

If you don't want to invest a bunch of money in converting it, use or make a large bag to line it so you are basically doing BIAB in a insulated container. If you are budget minded, you can also convert with some silicone tubing and a braided stainless supply line (which I did and recommend). You will be fine with that size for average gravity beers.