39 replies to this topic

[denny]

on my last batch I mashed really thin (2.5 qts/lb) so the cooler was almost all the way full.  at the start of the mash I was just a little over 153F.  I then threw a couple of blankets over the tun and went about my evening/night.  About 10-11 hours later it was still at 145F.  Not too bad I don't think.

 

Yeah, that's good.

[Howie]

That's the one I use.  I lose maybe 1-2F over the course of 90 min.  I can't imagine how much better the insulation could get!

 

I used to have the Coleman Xtreme 36 qt that I used for 5 gallon batches.That weird wall thickness and odd sized drain hole made it hard to seal up.

[positiveContact]

I used to have the Coleman Xtreme 36 qt that I used for 5 gallon batches.That weird wall thickness and odd sized drain hole made it hard to seal up.

 

on my 70 qt coleman I reused the little rubber gasket with a SS washer pressing on it.  I think I used a threaded bulkhead to attach everything.  how thick is the wall?

[HVB]

 

it would feel blasphemous to hack that cooler up for homebrewing.  also at that price I feel like the inside should be made of SS.

 But it would be cool!

 

I use an insulated 15g kettle for my MLT.  I am not sure of how much it loses because I have not used it with out a RIMS since I built it.  I would have to guess it would be 3-5* over an hour?

[positiveContact]

i'm surprised there isn't much being offered out there in the home brewer mash tun category.  pretty much just uninsulated kettles or coolers with a drain pre-installed. 

[Howie]

Like I said, I liked that Mash Hawk. It is an insulated commercial drink cooler like you see in convenience stores. 70 qts. Food safe to temps much higher than we would use. Molded in drain. A lot of people didn't like how tall they were (since they had unused space in the bottom), but I'd find that to be a benefit in my gravity system.

 

Not sure why it never caught on. The website is still out there, but not sure if they still sell them.

[denny]

For some reason, most people seem to overlook my simple no-bulkhead system.  I've used a bulkhead and I can assure you that you don't necessarily get better performance by spending more money.  I went back to the minikeg bung/plastic valve system and haven't looked back.

[positiveContact]

pics?

[Corbin]

pics?

https://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/scroll all the way to the bottom.

[Steve Urquell]

A guy on my other forum built a SS lined tun usin a pot and HD cooler. Here: https://www.homebrew...h tun stainless

[HVB]

A guy on my other forum built a SS lined tun usin a pot and HD cooler. Here: https://www.homebrew...h tun stainless

That is a clever idea.

[denny]

A guy on my other forum built a SS lined tun usin a pot and HD cooler. Here: https://www.homebrew...h tun stainless

 

What's the point?

[positiveContact]

What's the point?

 

insulating power of a cooler with the durability of SS I guess.

[HVB]

insulating power of a cooler with the durability of SS I guess.

Plus no worry about leaching anything out of the plastic, plenty worry about that.

[positiveContact]

Plus no worry about leaching anything out of the plastic, plenty worry about that.

 

seems low risk.  if a reasonably priced viable alternative came up that had beer only touching SS I'd consider that.

[3rd party JKor]

If only money grew on trees

 

https://yeticoolers....ndra-75-cooler/

 

 

Go big or go home.

[Stout_fan]

I have two Coleman [font="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;"]EXTREME[/font] coolers.

One 70 quart I use for most stuff.  Bought at Wally world

One 125 qt Extreme Marine (isn't that being redundant?) I use for RIS and other big things. Bought at Costco for $100

For REALLY big things like Falconclaws, I use both.

Batch size 1/2 bbl.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Do you find that the extreme marine is better at keeping temps? Also, I read that the marine version has an antimicrobial film sprayed in it. That doesn't make me too happy about using one of those. The regular extremes don't have that film.

[Howie]

Do you find that the extreme marine is better at keeping temps? Also, I read that the marine version has an antimicrobial film sprayed in it. That doesn't make me too happy about using one of those. The regular extremes don't have that film.

 

They all have an antimicrobial liner

 

 

EDIT: Well, some say it and some don't. So who knows

Edited by Howie, 02 October 2014 - 08:31 AM.

[Stout_fan]

It's what they had at Costco.  And I needed a BIG cooler.

Present version is 135 qt.  they put a hip style roof for a top and leave the bottom unchanged.

Cheating IMHO