Rubbermaid cooler

[bulp]

Just curious where to buy those rubbermaid coolers i've only been able to find the keep cold round coolers for about $85 at BCF, What are the keep cold coolers like as a mash tun is it much of a muchness between the two i know the price is good and i can't seem to find the rubbermaid ones anywhere? Cheers
P.S i was after a 10 Gal one.

[Trough Lolly]

G'day bulp...as far as I know, the KeepCold and Rubbermaid coolers are virtually the same, other than colour. I cannot attest to the insulation properties of the KeepCold, but my 10 Gal Rubbermaid is an excellent mashtun (see pics below)...



The temp drop over an hour is around 1 Degree C...I don't know where you can buy 10 Gal rubbermaids here in Oz - my bro picked one up for me when he worked in Texas - they're around US$38 in the shopping mall...

Cheers,
TL

[lethaldog]

Grain and grape sell the 10 gallon rubbermaids for $175..
http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Grain and grape sell the 10 gallon rubbermaids for $175..
http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/

There's some square, bomb-proof coolers that I like the look of - I forget the name and everything else about them except that you can lock them up and onto your ute and you can buy them on eBay or Grays Online.

All you're looking for is a well insulated box that will take the fittings you want to introduce, so (IMHO) brand is unimportant unless you don't want to faff about potentially reinventing the round thing.

Hmm... This wasn't as helpful as I initially wanted it to be...

[James L]

I saw igloo 10 gallon coolers at ranger camping on Sats, i'm sure they'd be just as good. Didnt get a price though. I was going to purchase, but i have ordered a square false bottom.

Its quite hard to find a decent flat bottomed esky that has a removable drain plug. operative word being decent. But at the same time, i guess there is no point spending heaps on something that you are going to warp and stain over time with continued high temps.

[Ed]

I've got a 55L rectangular Igloo that didn't like anything over 70C, it buckled very nicely indeed. Preference here is for cylindrical tuns that give a nice deep grain bed and, being the shape they are, might handle hot liquor temps with more success.

Cheers, Ed

[drsmurto]

I saw igloo 10 gallon coolers at ranger camping on Sats, i'm sure they'd be just as good. Didnt get a price though. I was going to purchase, but i have ordered a square false bottom.

Its quite hard to find a decent flat bottomed esky that has a removable drain plug. operative word being decent. But at the same time, i guess there is no point spending heaps on something that you are going to warp and stain over time with continued high temps.

Willow brand 55L esky - no probs with boiling water additions, dropping it or sitting on it. The hilux of the esky market.

I've got a 55L rectangular Igloo that didn't like anything over 70C, it buckled very nicely indeed. Preference here is for cylindrical tuns that give a nice deep grain bed and, being the shape they are, might handle hot liquor temps with more success.

Cheers, Ed

Grain bed depth - now i recall reading something about that many moons ago but it clearly didnt sink in so what impact does that have on the mash Ed?

[Trough Lolly]

There is a school of thought that suggests that grain bed depth is irrelevant if you batch sparge....

Cheers,
TL

[Ed]

Dr what you end up with from a deeper grain bed is a more effective filter that is set up by the grain (batch or fly), so the resulting run-off should be clearer (depending). If you fly sparge, then there's the added advantage of a deeper grain bed giving a much more even and more complete extraction.

Cheers, Ed

[lethaldog]

I saw igloo 10 gallon coolers at ranger camping on Sats, i'm sure they'd be just as good. Didnt get a price though. I was going to purchase, but i have ordered a square false bottom.

Its quite hard to find a decent flat bottomed esky that has a removable drain plug. operative word being decent. But at the same time, i guess there is no point spending heaps on something that you are going to warp and stain over time with continued high temps.

If its the igloo 10 gallon round then i got a price down here for one and it was $165.

[James L]

Yeh i have a rectangle false bottom coming thats the same as DrS's.. hence why i need a rectangle esky instead of the round one... Think i'll try the willow for brewing. The missus wants a larger esky for when we have parties, but i think i'll buy a separate one for that...

[drsmurto]

I have 2 identical 55L willow eskys but they both are used for parties, the beerbelly manifold is easy to remove. It just looks funny with a bloody great big tap on the side and hurts like hell is you stub your toe on it!

[lethaldog]

http://morebeer.com/search?search=mash+tun
Just got myself a 10 gallon rubbermaid mash tun from these guys which comes with false bottom, ball valve tap etc and a few other bits and pieces + a sparge arm and hose $230 delivered to the door which is not bad considering the price of the cooler itself over here

[cliffo]

http://morebeer.com/search?search=mash+tun
Just got myself a 10 gallon rubbermaid mash tun from these guys which comes with false bottom, ball valve tap etc and a few other bits and pieces + a sparge arm and hose $230 delivered to the door which is not bad considering the price of the cooler itself over here

Hmm...very tempting. How long did it take to arrive?


cliffo

[James L]

Its not a bad idea to get stuff from the US with the Aussie dollar the way it is...

I really need a temp controlled HLT cos i cant be bothered putting one together myself...

[lethaldog]

http://morebeer.com/search?search=mash+tun
Just got myself a 10 gallon rubbermaid mash tun from these guys which comes with false bottom, ball valve tap etc and a few other bits and pieces + a sparge arm and hose $230 delivered to the door which is not bad considering the price of the cooler itself over here

Hmm...very tempting. How long did it take to arrive?


cliffo

Has not arrived yet but they guaranteed me no longer than 2 weeks so ill let you know

[Trough Lolly]

G'day Lethal,
B3 is an excellent site - I've bought gear off them and they deliver pretty quickly considering they're in the US...Their 10 Gal homebrew system is a beauty. The killer has always been postage. I bought 4 kegs on another site for US$80 and the postage was US$70!!

When my brother picked up the cooler from the shopping mall in Texas, I asked him to order the SS false bottom and whack it in the cooler before posting the lot to me. I've since discovered that the Morebeer 12 inch SS false bottom doesn't fit snugly around the inside circumference of the cooler (see pic from my earlier post in this thread). To get a better seal (and thus reduce the amount of runoff needed before you get a clear wort flow at mashout) you need to buy a length of hose, slit it on one side and fit that around the false bottom. It makes a good seal and the weight of the mash ensures that it all stays on the bottom of the mashtun and helps you get a clear flow sooner.

Cheers,
TL

[lethaldog]

Yeah the postage was around the $70 mark but i figuered what the hell, even delivered from the US for that large amount it is still cheaper than what i could have gotten the same thing here for and cheers for the info on the falsie ill have to address that when it arrives.

[Neil]

Hi LethalDog

Just a follow up: how's your new mash set-up going? I'm thinking of getting the same set-up to upgrade my own gear but wanted to know what you thought of the results.

Cheers

Neil

Yeah the postage was around the $70 mark but i figuered what the hell, even delivered from the US for that large amount it is still cheaper than what i could have gotten the same thing here for and cheers for the info on the falsie ill have to address that when it arrives.

[lethaldog]

Excellent, ive now used it twice and the results have been fantastic + having a proper full setup makes life so much easier