cheapest place to buy a cooler this time of year?

[bkov]

time to upgrade my mashtun, where do you think is the cheapest place to buy a cooler this time of the year? I currently have a 34qt, looking for slightly bigger, probably a 40qt/10g, possibly a 52qt

 

[gungadin]

At this point with christmas over, big box stores are only about a month off from setting up for spring, and probably aren't blowing out coolers like they would have been in October. Try looking on craigslist maybe?

 

[HOPCousin]

I got a 5 gallon igloo from Dick's Sporting goods and they had plenty of them. Any big sporting goods chain will carry the orange igloo coolers year round.

 

[Catt22]

Coolers should be easy to find most any time of year. Wally World, Kmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Bass Pro Shops, Target. Coolers are not really just summertime seasonal items anymore, but you should be able to find them a little cheaper this time of year.

 

[skyebrewing]

They only had a couple as it was the off season, but home depot had the 10 gal round igloo coolers for 39 bucks. If you have one nearby, its worth a check

 

[Golddiggie]

Check out Lowe's too... If you have one in your area, it's worth swinging into and checking around... I saw some there the other day that would be good for the task.

 

[lumpher]

i'd go for a 60 quart. that'll allow you to do big 5's and decent sized 10 gallons later. too much head space isn't really much to worry about. I have a 58 quart rectangular igloo that i used up until recently, and would've hated anything smaller. i use a sanke mash tun now, and love it

 

[Golddiggie]

I picked up my 70 quart Coleman Xtreme (green) cooler years ago from Sam's Club (when there was one in my area, it's gone now)... Converting it into my mash tun before this weekend's brew-day... I figure that the 70 quart size will let me mash all my 5 gallon batches, and let me do some 10 gallons when I get to that point. Since it holds about 17 gallons, it could handle my big brews in 10 gallon batches (maybe)... If not, I'll pick up a 100 quart (or larger) cooler to use...

I look forward to the day that I have a place where I can set up for brewing 5 or 10 gallon batches any time of the year without issue... Of course, by then I'll also be kegging...

 

[TheYoshi]

I picked up an orange rubbermaid 10gal at home depot for somewhere between $30 and $40, has been working great and that wasn't on sale. If you don't see them right away ask, they sometimes stick them up on a top shelf during the winter months. Mine was found in around the section where they have grills and such.

 

[lumpher]

I picked up my 70 quart Coleman Xtreme (green) cooler years ago from Sam's Club (when there was one in my area, it's gone now)... Converting it into my mash tun before this weekend's brew-day... I figure that the 70 quart size will let me mash all my 5 gallon batches, and let me do some 10 gallons when I get to that point. Since it holds about 17 gallons, it could handle my big brews in 10 gallon batches (maybe)... If not, I'll pick up a 100 quart (or larger) cooler to use...

I look forward to the day that I have a place where I can set up for brewing 5 or 10 gallon batches any time of the year without issue... Of course, by then I'll also be kegging...

my 58 qt igloo handles 11g batches of around 1.062

 

[Golddiggie]

my 58 qt igloo handles 11g batches of around 1.062

Most of my brews are far above 1.062 on the OG... I'm pretty sure the 70 quart will cover any 5 gallon batch I brew... Might not be enough when I start doing 10 gallon batches though... Especially if I do some big brews with 30+ pounds of grain in them.