The Ice-Cube Cooler Story

[eyepah]

The question is at the end of the story - if you want to cut to the chase. But I say, relax, have a homebrew and read the story.

So I tested my 10,000 btu stove to the 6.5 gallon boil. It brought it up in 45 minutes. I can cut this time in half by boiling 2 3.25 gallon pots, then mixing them in the 32 quart pot.

I made my first all-grain batch: an Oatmeal Stout. It went smoothly - other than I used my partial-mash 24 quart cooler for a bursting-at-the-seems 12 pound grain bill. I thought for a moment there I was going to have to use a decoction.

The 24 Q tun is a poorly designed thermos cooler with a nice built in feature: A self closing-lid. Every time I brew, I think "Why the hell cant Universal Rundel or Kohler make one of these???" My girlfriend would be so happy! The lid drops as soon as its let go of. It has pissed me off for months. Do not use one of these for a All-Grain batch, or at all if you can help it.

Anyways, after consulting this site, I read about the Ice Cube cooler available at Wal-Mart. I am no fan of Wal-Mart, so the hunt began for an alternative sporting goods product source. Being that Im in MN, USA, stores drop the summer product lines back when the thermometer drops - 2 weeks ago.

So, after I lautered off some cell phone minutes, I trudged down to Wal-Mart in search of the Ice Cube cooler. Sure enough, after dodging isle displays (my ultimate pet peeve) I located the reveered Ice-Cube cooler. Perched on the highest shelf it sat above signage serving as a reminder to the dangers of mountaineering. The sign provided stability for my first hand hold.

And yes, this cooler is perfect. The surface area is narrow and tall. And building a copper mainfold for this tun would be a piece of cake.

When I took it to the cashier, he giggled, "So yah gonna put beer in it?"

I really didnt know how to respond.

I want to try a building PVC manifold. My questions are:

1) How far apart do you manifold users cut the slits? I have use 1/2 inch on center.

2) What is "food grade adhesive" and where do you get it?

3) Does PVC scratch or degrade, or harbor bacteria?

Eye

[danno]

Palmer has a nice primer on building a mash tun here... http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD.html

1) dunno, I have a false bottom. 1/2" sounds fine to me...

2) you may want to consider not gluing the PVC together, it will be much easier to clean if you can take it apart... otherwise, check out the PVC cement at Menards or Home Despot, see if it's food grade. (since PVC can be used for water source in homes, I'd guess it would have to be food grade...)

3) well, it probably does over time. however, since this is pre-boil, it's less of a concern...

edit: here's a question for everyone... Palmer says in his mash tun instructions "The slots can face up, down or to the side; hydraulically, it makes no difference." I guess I have an issue with this. if the slots are facing upwards, you'll be getting air into your line earlier than if they were facing downwards, right? that 1/2" extra, across a rectangular cooler, could be quite a bit of precious wort...

and now I'll edit my own edit. I have a pump, and air in my manifold means the end of my sparge. this wouldn't be an issue, as Palmer says, if you were gravity feeding...

[eyepah]

Thanks for the link danno.

Yes. I planned for the manifold cross bars to come apart for easy cleaning. That is the complaint I have with my copper manifold - its sweat together. I have been boiling the copper manifold after each use to flesh out any spent grain.

PVC cement has a strong odor to it even after it has cured. So does the Purple Primer. Park Supply (plumbing distributer in south mpls) has some food grade adhesive.

"The slots can face up, down or to the side; hydraulically, it makes no difference."

I think hes right about "hydraulically". In other words, the hydrodynamics are not affected. Wort will take the path of least resistance. But I would think upwards facing slots are a bad idea for 3 reasons:

1) As danno stated, air could get into the system easier if batch sparging.
2) In a large cooler, as much as a liter of wort can be lost.
3) The slots may get clogged easier when mashing with flaked grains.