"Anybody ever use the 10 gallon igloo cooler for mash ferment? Those guys on the beer sites use them and I just wondered if anyone here had used them to any success?

If you have no idea what Im talking about just google 10 gallon mash tun"

Excellent. I was just looking around to make sure thats ok with my wine ferments also. I am really excited to do some brandy!

I was looking for a larger fermentation vessel then the standard 6 gallon job that everyone sells so I went to Lowes and found the 10 gallon Igloo water cooler on sale for about $20 - they normally sell for twice that. The first time I used it, I immediately drilled a hole in the top for my airlock and after 2 days into the fermentation process, the airlock had not bubbled one time. I finally realized that the top has slots routed out vertically in the edges to allow air to escape from the cooler when the top is pushed into place, otherwise you would never be able to push it into place. DUH! These slots also allow the CO2 to escape during fermentation and the airlock is not necessary. If you want to use an airlock, I think you could wrap the top of the cooler with Saran wrap or something similar. It is a great fermenter especially for mashes without a lot of sediment because you can drain off clear liquid with the push value at the bottom. I love mine. Alli

I use a Rubbermaid Brute 44 Gallon Trash Can with Venting Channels, Gray (RCP 2643-60 GRA) HDPE Food Grade as my UJSM fermenter. I don't use an airlock this can is setup in my bedroom closet safe from bugs or anything else that could crawl into it. I placed a drain about 8 inches from the bottom. This setup has been easy to do and it takes up way less space than the 6 gallon bucket fermenters. The only hard part is draining out the wash and transferring it to the still. I have this fermenter sitting up on a small patio table and with the height of my drain a 6 gallon bucket fits under it perfectly. I'm thinking about adding another Brute can for the sugar washes.

Heeler I can appreciate the idea that it's not the norm. I'm not about norm. I also understand that an igloo cooler will hold a bag of ice for 3 days so it would be common sense that it would do the same for heat. Which brings me around to the whole cooler reasoning to me, yeast likes to operate within a certain temperature parameter. An igloo cooler would hold the desired temp for as long as needed I'm sure. That would eliminate having to worry about room temp, cold weather etc.

Idk, maybe it would be overkill. If there is such a thing here.

"Alli,

At $20 a pop, that's a helluva good price! I'm one of those people that paid twice that ... and it was still a good price after considerable shopping around.

whaler,

Those coolers do hold temps pretty well. I mostly use mine as an MLT for my homebrewing. But I have used it to mash rice ... which for me is a 2 - 3 day exercise. An aquarium heater is a less expensive route to go though ... and it'll hold the temps exactly where you want them ... for as long as you want.

--JB"

From the cheap seats... I went to my beer brewers store and got 10 gal HDPE white buckets and had a drain drilled 6" off the bottom in each. (11 bucks each-total)... It's mobile enough to move to a warm bedroom, etc, and when it's time, the drain takes it down to just about one inch above the lees.. I use 4" of sweet feed in an on the grain ferment in those buckets... Seals tight, good airlock interface (they did that for me at the same time too)

I didn't think it was cool to drain thru the lee's..Have I been missing out on life?

Nahsah, There ain' no solids :) - I drain thru a fine cheese cloth into 5 gal buckets.

Then, I pour that output thru a second cloth on it's way into das Boiler..... I hate scrubbing caramelized grain frags outa that 15 gal...My bellae is waaay too fat for bending over that durn thing....I got fubared on that early on and started filtering every time...Well, you can make 'em yer self too, just go to Home Creepo, and get them orange buckets, then over to plumbin' and get the plastic drain. All ya need is a drill with the right bit(s) and patience with drilling that soft arsed plastic. I do my sugarheads in those orange buckets.. Works pretty good. Those are even cheaper!! The whole affair was $6.75 a bucket w/drain.

Or, you might find someone (Brewstore) fairly and reliably local to you to do make 'em up and ship them to ya...