Cooler box as a mash tun

[cwrw]

Hi,
What's the opinion about buying an Igloo 57litre coolbox (with threaded hose)as a masher (DIMENSIONS 19" X 16.5" X 27.5") - would this be overkill or is it worth the purchase - NB I'm thinking of batch sparging.
Also has anyone converted one of these (Island breeze) and what plumbing parts fitted without wrecking the plastics. :
Cwrw

 

[pjbiker]

Depends on your brewlength but for 5gal, sounds a little large. Then again I fly sparge so don't need the extra space. I reckon one of these would let you batch sparge up to a 10gal set-up. I use a 30L converted fermenter and am just about at the limit of fly-sparging for a 56L OG 1.045 brewlength.

If you can get one, its reasonably priced and you have the space, go for it, you won't have to upgrade if you're going from 5 to 10 gallon brewlength.

 

[rabbie]

I've recently picked up a 10 gal igloo which I'm using for mashing now. It's about 40 or 42 litres capacity I think.
For a 20 litre batch at 5% abv it's about half full, so a 57 litre box would be a bit big on the big side for 20 litre batches (unless you are doing very strong brews). Not sure that's a problem, but you'll end up with a thin grain bed and a lot of space above. A smaller cooler would retain heat better I think.
I noticed they had Igloo 5 gallon ones in costco for 20 quid the other day.
Just make sure you get one with an integrated drain, then you don't need to do any cutting. I managed to thread a hose tap from the outside to a flexi connector on the inside, no other fittings required. You might need a tank connector though.