10 Gallon or 5 cooler? (Round)

[sweetkness]

So I'm looking to jump into the All Grain world soon, my first big question is what size mash/lauter tun? I will only be doing partial-mash batches at first, but hope to soon move to All-Grain. I may eventually move to 10 Gallon batches, but not for a while, and I do like making high gravity beers. So......instead of doing small, and having to buy larger coolers later, I thought I would just go straight to the 10 Gallon cylindrical cooler. Will this be too big for a beginner?

[BrewDog]

Yes, go straight to the 10 gallon cooler. The 5 gal is simply too small to do anything bigger than about a 1.060 beer (especially if you batch sparge).

[Mad Scientist]

Yep. I still use the same 10 gallon round that I started with.

I can use as little as 8 pounds (but why would you want to??) of grain, or over 20 pounds of grain (last mash was around 22 pounds).

[MichaelM]

I have the 10 gallon round.... but for the money get yourself a 48 quart igloo ICECUBE you can pick them up for 15 bucks and have a mashtun thats easy to build a manifold for(its square) have a mashtun that provides the same benefits as a round cooler(small footprint for good grainbeds) and its 2 gallons bigger AND for about a 1/4 of the price of a round cooler with a false bottom........ if I had to do it over again thats the route I would take they just didnt have them around here when I got my 10 gallon round :(

[hooky]

I just saw 70 quart igloos at Costco for $45. I have a 50 qt igloo and it's already too small for a 10 gallon batch sparged brew much over 1.070.

[sweetkness]

Sounds like I will be going with a 48 qt. cooler, possibly bigger.

but for the money get yourself a 48 quart igloo ICECUBE you can pick them up for 15 bucks and have a mashtun thats easy to build a manifold for(its square) have a mashtun that provides the same benefits as a round cooler(small footprint for good grainbeds) and its 2 gallons bigger AND for about a 1/4 of the price of a round cooler with a false bottom........ if I had to do it over again thats the route I would take they just didnt have them around here when I got my 10 gallon round

That brings me to another question. Will I want to go with the manifold over the false bottom? It seems like thats the way most people on here are going. It looks like I will mainly be doing batch sparging, at least at the beginning, and if I read correctly, the manifolds have less problems with the grain bed compacting/stuck sparge. Is that really a problem with the false bottoms using batch sparging methods?

[MichaelM]

well the ICECUBE is a perfectly square cooler little bit different then what hooky was talking about....


are you doing 5 or 10 gallon batches??

if your doing 5 gallons there is no need to go bigger then the 48 quart icecube.... you will HAVE to go manifold as no-one I know makes square false bottoms..
in the 48 quart you could prolly get as high as 1.120-40 starting gravity if you fly sparge thats pretty damned big lol

10 gallon batches is another story all together....

me I figure If I am doing anything bigger then 1.060 or so I will prolly just be making 5 gallon batches anyways so I dont worry about it

[Mad Scientist]

I use a false bottom (as does Corky), and I have no problems.

[hooky]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I'm talking about sqaure ones. My 50 qt is a marine ice cube about 15" square and the 70 qt I saw was a square ice cube too. The 70 looked to be taller than my 50 but close to the same inside dimensions.

[MichaelM]

prolly not a problem for batch sparging but I would imagine the wheel wells on the bigger coolers wouldnt make for a good bottom for a manifold and a fly sparging setup..... seems to me the grains along the wheel well side wouldnt get a very good flow over them then again I am just guessing so lol...

[sweetkness]

I use a false bottom (as does Corky), and I have no problems.

Is that with both batch and fly sparging? How often have they needed to be replaced? I know they sell them at lots of homebrew stores, but are most round coolers a universal size so that there is only one size of false bottom, or do most need to be fitted for the specific cooler?


well the ICECUBE is a perfectly square cooler little bit different then what hooky was talking about....

Ok...I didn't realize they were square. So if I could find a cylindrical bottom cooler, I'm thinking I might look for a false bottom. I'm not looking to go into 10 gallon batches for quite some time, so I don't need more than 48 quarts I guess.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by sweetkness
Is that with both batch and fly sparging? How often have they needed to be replaced? I know they sell them at lots of homebrew stores, but are most round coolers a universal size so that there is only one size of false bottom, or do most need to be fitted for the specific cooler?


I fly sparge, but cannot speak for corky. But you would be able to batch sparge with my false bottom and have no issues. My flase bottom is heavy duty steel, and will wear out some time late next century, so it is very durable. I know corky's is steel also, and with proper care will last as long as mine. So pretty much, once you have bought one, you're set. And yes, most coolers are uniform in diameter.

[MichaelM]

Originally posted by sweetkness
Ok...I didn't realize they were square. So if I could find a cylindrical bottom cooler, I'm thinking I might look for a false bottom. I'm not looking to go into 10 gallon batches for quite some time, so I don't need more than 48 quarts I guess.

if you go 10 gallon round false bottoms are nice..

would still sugest a 48 quart igloo icecube.... 1/4 of the price and 2 gallons bigger.... you just have to make you own manifold which is simplicity

[sweetkness]

My flase bottom is heavy duty steel, and will wear out some time late next century, so it is very durable.

Did you build this yourself? If not, where is a good place to purcahse one of the steel variety.

would still sugest a 48 quart igloo icecube.... 1/4 of the price and 2 gallons bigger.... you just have to make you own manifold which is simplicity

Is the icecube variety really a 1/4 of the price of a decent cylindrical cooler, even though it holds an extra 2 gallons?

[hooky]

My 50 quart cube was $24 and it doesn't even lose a full degree in an hour mash, plus it has 2 awesome cup holders that are removable. :D

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by hooky
...plus it has 2 awesome cup holders that are removable. :D Those are beerholders!

[MichaelM]

Originally posted by sweetkness
Did you build this yourself? If not, where is a good place to purcahse one of the steel variety.

most your online brew stores have false bottoms made for the round coolers out of both stainless and plastic they are about 30 bucks after shipping....


Originally posted by sweetkness
Is the icecube variety really a 1/4 of the price of a decent cylindrical cooler, even though it holds an extra 2 gallons?

Yes your average price of a 10 gallon round cooler is going to run you 50-60 bucks(60 bucks free shipping was the cheapest I could find one anywhere when I was looking for one... and some places want upwards of 70 for them)

the 48 quart igloo ICECUBE costs like 15-20 bucks

add about 20 bucks for going to lowes and getting the material for making your bulkhead fitting/ballvalve and the manifold and your looking at 35-40 bucks total

compared to the 60 for the round cooler another 30 for the false bottom(or you can go with a peice of braided hose if you wish.. for a bit cheaper) and another 30+ if you buy a bulkhead setup with valve online or atleast another 15 if you build it yourself....... for a grand total of 90-120+ bucks or so

ok so maybe not a 1/4 of the cost but 1/3 of the cost :)

look into the threads in here the one I started "all grain setup almost complete) and the one by jeffsav "easiest lauter tun equipment...... both those threads have lists of materials and such that you will need to build it yourself

[Mad Scientist]

Did you build this yourself? If not, where is a good place to purcahse one of the steel variety.

Actually, it is a false bottom made for a polar ware 15 gallon kettle, but very skillfully cut down to fit a ten gallon round cooler.


Ya know....It just occurred to me....why is it that a ten gallon round cooler costs so damn much anyway?

[MichaelM]

dunno all I know is I wish I knew/had available the 48 quart icecubes when I built my mash tun... would have saved me a TON of money

[Mad Scientist]

Umm....you'd save a TUN of money :D

At any rate after more than fifty or sixty batches, my cooler has abotu had it--doesn't hold temp all that well. I will still replace it with another round cooler....probably b/c that is what I started with....

[brazilhead]

Well not wanting to hijack the thread but seeing as the questions seem to have been adequately answered and as we´re talking about 10 gallon capacities, I had a question. I´ve happily been doing 7.5 gallon batches in my 48 quart Coleman and 8.5 gallon kettle but soon I´ll hopefully be going to Corny kegs. Thus, while I can´t bring myself to go down to 5 gallon batches, the ONLY logical thing would seem to be going up to 10 gallons for 2 Cornies. So from reading this thread, it sounds like my cooler will be fine for most normal gravity beers. Is there any chance I could use my existing kettle and top off with steril water and/or ice to make the full amount in 2 5-gallon buckets? I´m pretty sure it would work in theory but anybody ever do this? Thanks, John

[sweetkness]

So far, looking online, the cheapest I've been able to find one of those Icecube coolers is about $47 after shipping. Several sites were selling them for $20, but they all must be linked together because each one said they were out of stock.

[MichaelM]

dont buy it online

go to any walmarts,kmarts,aimes etc etc

[bluesguitar85]

would this:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5663765
be too big? i know the volume is pretty damn big, but the bottom dimensions are only 3" bigger on each side... I plan on brewing almost exclusively 5 gal batches, with a decent number of big beers.

[BrewDog]

Size wise, it's great.

The biggest issue with a roller cooler like that is the wheel wells eat up space on the bottom inside of the cooler. If you go with a stainless steel braid and do batch sparges, no problem. Otherwise, it's awkward to fit a manifold with those wheel wells sticking out.

[MichaelM]

exactly what brewdog said

I used the 60qt for my HLT tank though fitted with a 120 electric heater element it does the job perfectly :)

but for your mashtun(especially if your sticking to 5 gallon batches) go the 48 quart route.... you will be able to fit enough grain in it to do damn near any 5 gallon beer you would ever dream of(I would imagine that you could easily fit 25 pounds of grain in it if you fly sparge)

the 48 qt is basically the same cooler just alittle smaller and without the wheel well in it

[Lupulinitus]

I use a 72qt cooler and it easily holds up to 32lbs of grain. My system is really simple. I use pvc pipes as my manifold. The only problem with the pipes is over time they start to come apart easy so I use clamps. Here is a couple pics.
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k132/bunghammer/brew4.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k132/bunghammer/brew9.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k132/bunghammer/hellport.jpg

[stonecutter908]

Long time lurker here but I mainly post on the other homebrew sites. Anyhoo, I finally registered today.

Subscribing to thread, as I have the same question. 5 or 10 gallon. I can get a 5 gallon for $15 at wal-mart and 10 gallon from Home Depot for $35 to make the jump to AG. I was just going to get 2 5 gallon rubbermaid rounds and push forward. But, after researching, I am thinking I should take a step back and go bigger from the get go ...

Anyways, cheers to all ...

[BrewDog]

Welcome-

You won't regret getting the bigger cooler right off the bat.

[MichaelM]

48 quart icecube is the way to go! 12 gallons capacity nice small footprint easy to build a manifold for and cheap as hell :)

[cbtrtbum]

so, what im getting from all of this is that it isnt a big deal to use 10 gal rounds for 5 gal batches? Is grain bed depth an issue when you use the 10gal? I have just purchased the 10 gal round coolers (system) and it dawned on me that i might want to know what im doing w/a few 5 gal batches before i bust out a 10 gal. So, any additional reference, or experience certainly welcome. Peace,Chris

[MichaelM]

the whole point of the round coolers is that with the smaller diameter you get a better grainbed through a wider range of grain amounts... with 10 pounds of grain I get a very nice grainbed......


thats also what makes the ICECUBE coolers so nice being square they have a really small footprint like the round coolers do just at 1/4 of the price lol.

(honestly I been thinking of selling my round cooler with the false bottom take the money and build a 48 quart ICECUBE and buy more equipment with the money difference LOL)

[HogieWan]

grainbed needs to have between a 2:1 and 1:2 ratio of height:width (or width:height, really), so it's easy to get in the range with the 10 gals

[bigben]

I know that this is a old thread but I was wondering on a cooler. the local walmart has a 5 gallon round rubbermaid for 14 bucks. of course they do not have the ice cubes in stock because technically summer season is over and they are trying to move inventory for fall. I would like to do 10 gallon batches some day but am plannin on fly sparging mainly because my brew partner says that it is the only way to go. I was wondering if this cooler will work. I do not have any plans to make big beers at all.

[BrewDog]

Yes it will work for 5 gal batches but you will have upper limits on beer gravity.

You will also basically buy most things all over again when you want to move up to bigger batches/beers.

[jab688]

hello, guys. this is kinda inline with the thread posting so i thought i would start here before doing a new one.
i have a 5gal water cooler with a manifold. has handled my infusion mashing just fine with oh, say 8lbs of grain. now i
want to make a all grain double bock 12lbs grain, i know it wont fit via infusion. my classic beer style book practically demands diacation. ok, but heres the big question of the day.

will 12lbs of grain and 3 gallons of water fit into a 5gal water cooler. if so great diaction double bock here i come.

if not, ratts its build a manifold or find a 10gal water cooler just for one style.
i look forward to everyones answer. i must make the final decision in two fridays, yup the next day of pay. :p

[Mad Scientist]

You're going to be pushing it real, real close with 12 lbs and three gallons...12lbs of grain will almost fill a 5 gallon bucket after I grind it. You may make it, but you will not be able to put the lid on your cooler. Get a ten gallon. If you cannot find one at Wally-world (which bnever has a ten gallon round) check you local sporting goods store.

[hooky]

There's a nice calcuator for mash tun space HERE (http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml)

[psychodad]

I've been watching this thread as I have a 5 gallon igloo in the garage that has been used maybe three times in the last 15 years. I traded it today for a 10 gallon Igloo Industrial made out of galvanized that is about three years old and used even less. The inside is vinyl lined.

My question is... What problems if any will I have if the vinyl becomes damaged? I hoping that pre-fermentation wort contact with the galvanized won't be a big deal.

[Mill Rat]

If you get a leak in the liner, you've got problems no matter what your cooler shell is made of. Once you get wort into some sort of crack and back into the insulation, all sorts of unpleasant matter will fester there until you wash it with your next mash. You'll kill the microbes with the next boil, but you won't get rid of the taste. RDW and enjoy your industrial-duty mash tun.

[psychodad]

I guess I didn't explain that the innards are galvanized as well and coated in vinyl. The vinyl itself is very tough and were it to be breached, there is a lot of galvanized steel to go through to get to the insulation.

As long as contact with the galvanized metal isn't a problem, I'm not worried. I'm hoping that galvanized steel like copper isn't an issue hotside and before fermentation.

It may still be awhile until I use this anyway as I'm only beginning my second extract batch. I just want to move along into AG pretty soon as I'm enjoying this making beer thing as much if not more than the drinking beer thing.

[jab688]

thanks everyone, target has 10 gal for 55$. now all i have to do is wait till my next day of pay. thank you all for your help.

[BrewDog]

Contact with galvanized metal IS a problem. I remember hearing about a college grain-alcohol punch party that was made in a galvanized trash can, and several people were severely poisoned.

[psychodad]

Crap. I thought this sounded too good to be true.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by BrewDog
Contact with galvanized metal IS a problem. I remember hearing about a college grain-alcohol punch party that was made in a galvanized trash can, and several people were severely poisoned.

To much Zinc.....

[psychodad]

Probably arsenic. From what I'm finding out through my googling problems are likely from arsenic if anything. I'm also finding out that the shell of this thing may not actually be galvanized. I shot an e-mail to igloo but don't expect a reply until monday if at all.

[Mad Scientist]

Igloo will probably respond.

Unless they got a massive does, Aresnic effects are generally chronic, not acute in nature....While have not looked into it, I do not think there would be enough aresnic on a galvanized trash can to make a bunch of people sick....
Lots of zinc on the other hand.....
But then again, I could always be wrong.

[Otis_The_Drunk]

Well currently I have 3 kegs and in the process of planning my brew sculpture. Go to a scrap metal yard and get some kegs.

If you live in an area that has a lot of pools, look for Purex pool pump housings they are stainless and hold 40 gallons, that is enough volume to make 1bbl batches.
I'm wishing that they had a bunch of polls around here, but they don't.

[psychodad]

The reply I got from Igloo was to call an 800 number. That resulted in pushing 2 for this, 3 for that and in the end I got another 800 number. From what I'm googling up, it doesn't look to be worth the trouble perhaps in the long run. I'm going to go out and pick up a cooler in a season ending sale at Wally World or see what condition one of the three dozen or so coolers the father-in-law has is in.

[JayShaw91]

Ok, back to the original topic. I assume this is the Igloo we're talking about?

Igloo 48 qt (http://www.tackletogo.com/ig48icecuco.html)

And do you need a false bottom if you have a manifold?

[BrewDog]

That's the one. No, you don't need a false bottom if you are using a manifold. One or the other (or a stainless braid) is enough.

HTH-

[darylM]

Its an exclusive relationship. If you have a false bottom you don't need a manifold and vice versa.

[sweetkness]

Wow, 50 replies for a post that I started!!! I can use that as my excuse to drink a six pack today. Lets go for a hundred guys.