20 Gallon Cooler Advice

[Jez]

Hi all,

I've finally saved all my pennies & will be purchasing either a 10 gallon or 20 gallon Rubbermaid cooler from Goliaths in the next few days.

I would like to get the 20 gallon for the double-brew capacity - something I think I would be aiming to do fairly regularly.

I've heard that due to the large headspace, smaller mashes would suffer greater temp loss. Is this likely to be a problem? Can this be countered with the "putting aluminium foil on top of the mash" solution I read about recently?

Thanks

Jez

 

[JasonY]

Can you even get a 20gal version? Only heard of the 10gal ones.

 

[Jez]

sorry.....18 Gallon cooler (not 20 gallon) as listed on www.brewgoliath.com.au.

 

[Jez]

so I take it no-one is brewing with an 18 gallon cooler from brewgoliath?

for those with a round cooler, it's a 10 gallon?

Jez

 

[Pumpy]

Jez,
I have seen it done with a thick circle of that white polystyrene foam floating on the mash and I think it will be fine .

The coolers I saw at Goliath are not 'Rubbermaid 'they are 'Keep cold' if those .

You will probably wish to fit your own bulkhead fitting so you can attach a ball valve .

Initially I found it a bit fiddly to get a good seal it can be achieved by fitting a piece of pipe inbetween the inner wall and the outer wall so when you tighten the nut it seals against the inside wall .

I have the 10 gallon 'Keep cold' and think it is fantastic.it does a great job .

Pumpy

 

[Jez]

thanks Pumpy.

I think I'll go the 18 gallon then.

Jez

 

[pbrosnan]

I have used the 36L Keep Cool for the last 20 or so brews and I haven't had any problems. Replaced the tap provided with a ball valve tap attached to a bit of threaded copper tube. On the inside I used the braided ss tubing approach. This setup works fine and I actually bought the cooler for $80 through a Ranger camping store. Having said that Goliaths price looks pretty good, I got a good deal as I initially has very poor service from Ranger and they were good enough to try and fix things.
Meant to add that I do 23L batches but the cooler looks like it could do up to 35-40L

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

My mash tun is a 69l (18 gal), SS lined jobby from Federal Sheetmetal WA, but I have not used it to capacity.
I used a piece of polystyrene cut to shape to reduce headspace for the first couple of brews but it made no difference and was just another piece of kit to look after,
now I dont bother.

 

[dicko]

so I take it no-one is brewing with an 18 gallon cooler from brewgoliath?

for those with a round cooler, it's a 10 gallon?

Jez

[post="76513"][/post]​

Hi Jez,
I have been using an 18 gall Keep Cold for most of this year and I have suffered virtually no loss of temp over 1 hour with whatever volume of mash I have done.
For the record my batch size is usually 50 litre but I have done a few 32 litre and a few 23 litre without a worry.
I have had 3 mash tuns so far and I wish I had just got the 18 gall Keep Cold in the first place and not stuffed around with smaller units. :angry:
Good luck with your brewing,
Cheers

 

[Jez]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I'll order the 18 Gallon in the next few days.

Jez