Oooh, white! Better paint that bad boy blue. You’ll get better efficiency… ;D
I like the ball valve and stainless connector approach on my Home Depot cooler. But, they all work!
Dave
Yup, once you go blue there’s no going back!
Didn’t know where the blue cooler comments were coming from until I did a search. I guess I’ll have to pay extra for the blue, or my whole future of brewing is doomed to horrible failure 
One additional, related question: can a thermometer be installed into a rectangular cooler (the way I’ve seen in the round ones)? I would think that would be a problem, just given the size of the cooler. If so, how? If not, is the only alternative to periodically check the temp?
Thanks again for all the help. It’s nice to know that there are so many helpful people around here.
But having the clamps all different is part of the design and how I hit 137% efficiency!
Yes, you can install a thermometer but I prefer not to. If you install a thermometer you only know the temp in that one spot. I like to be able to move the thermometer around the mash tun to ensure I have even temp distribution.
In my opinion, and I could be wrong, you really don’t need a thermometer installed into the cooler. My cooler will hold the mash temp easily for one hour and at most i will lose two degrees over that hour. I would say once you mix your grains into the mash water and stir, check a couple of places in your mash w/a thermometer (I’m getting a thermapen soon), then close the lid. I put an old comforter around the cooler just to help insulate the cooler, but I’m not sure if that’s even necessary.
137% Efficiency! Ha, I just envisioned you jumping up and down yelling that like Doc Brown in Back to the Future…“88 MPH!”
Yep, all other colors are slightly defective. Or you could look at it as blue is slightly better! ;D
BTW-Not sure of your equipment, but a refractometer came late on my brewing wish list, per your earlier post. There is another thread on equipment upgrades in the equiment section which would be very helpful for you IMO. If you have everything listed in the thread already though, a refractometer is a very nice to have…
Dave
I get that my adding flubber to the mash. Changes the mouthfeel a bit though.
Last time I tried using flubber I couldn’t catch my mash tun!
I haven’t had issue with my five gallon mash tun cooler, but then I’m only on batch 4 of AG brewing, only brewing up to 5 gallons, and I’m not making rocket fuel. When the time comes to step up, I will. For now, it seems to be working just fine. It’s a five gallon igloo water cooler converted to a mash tun with braided stainless hose and copper coil. When I get around to building the ten gallon, I’ll probably use the false bottom method but might keep the braided mesh/copper coil setup as a backup.
Save the $100 and stick with the s/s braided mesh for $8.
If you’re fly sparging, you could put a little thought/investment into your lautering setup.
If you’re batch sparging, the lauter design doesn’t matter.
References:
If you’re fly sparging: http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD-1.html
If you’re batch sparging: www.dennybrew.com
I bought the 10 gallon because people said someday I’ll brew batches bigger than 5 gallons and need the extra space. I went the other way; I brew mostly under five gallons. So for me the ten gallon cooler is too big and I lose a little heat from the excess airspace. I’ve often thought about trying to rig up bags of some kind of insulation to hang in the airspace but never gotten around to it.
Personally I’d recommend unless you drink enough that you might reasonably expand to brewing more than five gallons at a time starting with a five gallon cooler. It’s not so prohibitively expensive that you couldn’t have both or sell off your five gallon cooler when you upgrade.
If you’re planning on brewing any high-gravity beers, 5 gal might not be big enough. Even at 0.8 qt/lb that would only let you mash about 17 lb of grain, or about 1.085 OG.
Good to note hoss! 
BTW I just brewed again with my braided mesh hose and I had a very good brew day.
Agreed - my 15 gal cooler is the bottleneck when I started to do really big beers or double batches. It doesnt hurt to size up, and its nice to have some headspace for stirring, pulling decoctions, adjusting temp with additional water, etc.
If you are looking to expand in the future, go with the 10g cooler. If you are looking to stay at 5g or smaller, then stay at 5g. I would go with the 10g for the reasons above:
-Ability to perform Hochkurz mashes and decoctions
-Ability to make big beers if desired
-Ability to jump to 10g batches
-10g batches are great when you are ready to start kegging
-Room for stirring without making a mess
Dave
I’m considering a red rectangular cooler. What kind of efficiency reduction should I expect if I do this instead of blue?
I’d guess your efficiency would be about -238%. It would in effect make grain disappear.