Burner?

Discussions about brewing equipment / design.
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arnold931
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Burner?

Post by arnold931 »

I am currently brewing partial mash kits in a 5 gal pot on the kitchen stove. I eventually want to go to AG (probably still 5 gal batches) but not yet. In the meantime my wife is "encouraging" me to brew outside when the weather is nice (or maybe even when it's not :) ). I think all I need to buy right now is a burner. Correct? Any suggestions knowing that I will eventually be heating a 10 gal pot? thanks.
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czubak
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Re: Burner?

Post by czubak »

Most burners will get 7+ gallons to a boil after a while, some faster than others. I used a standard turkey fryer burner (BG-10) and pot for years with no complaints other than the "jet" burners are loud! I started with extract/partial mash and went AG a couple years ago.

I think there are BG-10, BG-12 and BG-14 burners. Or Small, Medium and Large. Some of the cheap ones are not as sturdy once yo get larger kettles and all that hot fluid in there so be mindful. The Blichman's are awesome and $150 which in reality is not that much and they are tough to out grow in output and kettle size. Bayou Classic also has some sturdy burners.

BIY sells the blichman for the same price as online so you can see it first hand and if you like it, you can support the local guy. Home Depot, etc will have turkey fryer setups to look at also.
Chris Zubak
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brianhall1024
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Re: Burner?

Post by brianhall1024 »

I know bought a turkey fryer at Target. The burner sucks as the set screw was stripped already when I bought it. But it got me started brewing with a 30qt aluminum pot to boot for less than $60.

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tony b
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Re: Burner?

Post by tony b »

As I plan my brew room, I'm looking at various burners as well. Challenge is that most don't work with natural gas (or at least their lawyers tell them to say that - Midwest Supply, as I enquired at the NHC Expo!) Most of the good advice that I've gotten so far is to stick to banjo styles, as the jets have very high BTU ratings, but are waaaaay too loud for indoors, but would work OK in an open garage.
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czubak
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Re: Burner?

Post by czubak »

You can change the orifice or drill them out to work with NG.

You also have low and high pressure propane. I can get into what I know if needed. I run low pressure on 3 BG-14's and do 10 gallon max batches. Works great for me, but I would love to be on NG or even better electric
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Matt F
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Re: Burner?

Post by Matt F »

I know you can get the Hurricane burner (that's what I use) and Blichmann with natural gas fittings from the shops without home modification. The Blichmann is really cool. They are not rated for indoor use and a plumber will not be able to install them for you. A plumber is allowed to run natural gas pipe to your brew room without legal issues. I have been running a Hurricane on gas for about 8 years in my basement without issue. Don't get overly hung up on BTUs. More BTU equals more gas burnt. I don't even run mine wide open when boiling. It would be too much power for my 10 gallon batches. Mine is rated at 60,000 BTU and I have never felt like I needed more. I start heating my boil kettle once I get 4-5 gallons of wort collect for a 10 gallon batch and it usually wants to start a boil before the sparge is done. Go electric for you HLT. It is one of my favorite upgrades and was really cheap for me since I use my fermentation controller I had already to control the electric heating element.
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JimF
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Re: Burner?

Post by JimF »

tony b wrote:As I plan my brew room, I'm looking at various burners as well. Challenge is that most don't work with natural gas (or at least their lawyers tell them to say that - Midwest Supply, as I enquired at the NHC Expo!) Most of the good advice that I've gotten so far is to stick to banjo styles, as the jets have very high BTU ratings, but are waaaaay too loud for indoors, but would work OK in an open garage.
Blichmann burners can be converted to NG. They sell the orifices.
Matt runs a banjo style on NG and can give you details...

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czubak
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Re: Burner?

Post by czubak »

JimF wrote:
tony b wrote:As I plan my brew room, I'm looking at various burners as well. Challenge is that most don't work with natural gas (or at least their lawyers tell them to say that - Midwest Supply, as I enquired at the NHC Expo!) Most of the good advice that I've gotten so far is to stick to banjo styles, as the jets have very high BTU ratings, but are waaaaay too loud for indoors, but would work OK in an open garage.
Blichmann burners can be converted to NG. They sell the orifices.
Matt runs a banjo style on NG and can give you details...

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I run the banjos as well and if/when I go NG it's a simple swap of the $7 orifices...orifii? :?
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JimF
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Re: Burner?

Post by JimF »

That is all Matt did. He posted a link to the 1 he uses. You might be able to search for it in the forums.

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Jim Fuller
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czubak
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Re: Burner?

Post by czubak »

http://www.brewershardware.com/Burners-and-Accessories/

I run their propane ones now and like the valve to control the flame. I will do the same if I go NG
Chris Zubak
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