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what to upgrade first?
I started brewing in Jan of this year and I am now ready to start upgrading some of my equipment. I am not ready for all grain yet so i don't need any of that special equipment.
Brew ot or burner? I'm leaning more towards a new brew pot but still can't make up my mind. I only have a 5 gal pot right now, i would like to move up to a 15gal pot so i can brew 10 gal batches every once in awhile. And i currently brew on kitchen stove.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
A brew pot for full boils and a propane burner can't be seperate purchases IMO.
You need the power of a higher output burner to get 5-10 gallons to boil in a reasonable amount of time.
Some people talk about stradling two burners on a kitchen stove, but I think that is a dubious claim and somewhat unsafe.
Save up for both at the same time.
You make a great point, and I was starting to think about that. My good ol' stove just wont be able to produce the kind of boil i want and in a decent amount of time.
With any investment I make with my homebrew, i want to make smart decisions that will last longer than expected. I was initially thinking of going with a nice natural gas burner because i already have a line going outside my house for a grill--but I'm probably going to be moving in the next few months and i doubt i will have a sweet setup with NG outside. I've heard that some of the propane burners can get pretty noisy so I'm kinda timid on getting one right now, because that will easily piss off the neighbor lady--she already hates it when I use a leaf blower! haha.
I've seen that the Bayou Classic SQ14 is pretty popular burner--can anybody share some info on the noise level of this burner?
As far as a brew pot goes, I really like the BoilerMaker series - not much to hate about the kettles except the price. But as mentioned earlier, i would look at it as a pretty strong investment that would last me for a long long time.
If i go with both right now, I might go with just a turkey fryer pot with a propane burner. And just upgrade the pot later on.
Decisions..Decisions..Decisions
LB2015 wrote:
I've heard that some of the propane burners can get pretty noisy so I'm kinda timid on getting one right now, because that will easily piss off the neighbor lady--she already hates it when I use a leaf blower! haha.
Propane burners aren't that loud. Maybe if you have a wicked high BTU burner with a high pressure regulator and have it on full blast for the entire 90 min boil but chances are that's not the case. And its nowhere near as loud as leaf blower. You can't even compare the two.
I use the SQ14 and don't have anything bad to say about it. I've had it for about a year and have brewed 28 batches on it, 6 gallons and 10 gallons. I only turn it up high to bring my wort to a boil and even then its not very loud. Once you ease back on the propane once its boiling you'll hardly notice it. Maybe your first couple of batches because its new to you but its not something I'm concerned with or have even thought about until reading this post.
And while the Blichman kettles are nice and shiny, they are expensive. I bought my 10 gallon, aluminum sandwiched bottom, SS kettle at a big restaurant supply store for $109 and bought a $30 ball valve assembly for it. And my SQ14 cost me $50. The money I save on shopping around or building my own equipment goes towards buying ingredients. Its a win-win in my book.
This http://www.brewingkb.com/homebrewing/or … -4072.html was a thread we had earlier in the year, and there are a few more "new burner threads" popping about. I think 1n1m3g is very pleased now with his, and the link I posted for where I got mine is there as well. I didnt follow up with my review on what I bought- but it is cat's ass. Huge heat, very little consumption, and whisper quiet. Full open I can't even tell the burner is on! Only drawback is you need a stand to mount the burner to.
If 15 gallons is your target, a keggle conversion may be the natural choice to lean to- definitely oodles cheaper than a Blichman.
Yes, the SQ14 burners are very nice and I've been able to get 12+ gal of wort up to a nice boil quickly; brew days for me are in the 5 hour range now. These burners are also very quiet as FirePit stated and quite efficient on the propane. Also, as Thirsty states, the converted keg/keggle option is a good one. The kegs are cheap, if you know where to look and easy to convert if you are good with power tools. All kegs are pretty much stainless steel and will last you a lifetime of brewing. Cheers!
I currently do 7gallon boils on a single burner of a very old electric stove. Yes it does take a while, but I know how long I have so I do other things while I wait. I eventually get a full rolling boil without a problem. It's not ideal and I too am planning on switching to propane, but when I started last spring I didn't have the money.
Also I use a 15 gallon BoilerMaker for my MT; if you have the money it is fantastic. While the converted keg is the most bang for you buck, it's no comparison to a BoilerMaker. You could look at it this way; they are specifically designed for that purpose whereas kegs are certainly not intended to be used as kettles. The large bottom plate retains far more thermal capacitance which delivers more of a uniform temperature to the liquid. Things like the ball valve and volume gauge are just added bells and whistles. I realize most people use converted kegs, but that's my $.02.
brewchez wrote:
A brew pot for full boils and a propane burner can't be seperate purchases IMO.
You need the power of a higher output burner to get 5-10 gallons to boil in a reasonable amount of time.
Some people talk about stradling two burners on a kitchen stove, but I think that is a dubious claim and somewhat unsafe.
Save up for both at the same time.
What's so dubious about it? That's exactally what I do. Granted I dunno how well it would work on an electric cook top, but using two burners at once works just fine for me on a gas cook top.
I can get 7.5-8 gals of wort up to a decent boil in about 15 mins or so. I know it's not the 10 seconds flat that some of the propane burners will get you, but it's good enough.
Also, while I can't speak for all gas ranges, but with my last two stoves using 2 burners is safe to do. The gap between the front and back burners is narrow enough to keep the kettle stable with no risk of the kettle tipping over.
Maybe one of these years I'll consider buying an outdoor set up, but for now I'll keep brewing indoors. I'd rather not freeze my ass off in the middle January while boiling my wort outside.
Mortician607 wrote:
brewchez wrote:
Some people talk about stradling two burners on a kitchen stove, but I think that is a dubious claim and somewhat unsafe.
What's so dubious about it?
I have yet to see any brew pot of mine, that would entirely cover two burners on the standard kitchen cook top.
I wonder then if you stradle 50% of two burners, you aren't getting any more heat than just putting the one pot on one burner. Even at 65% coverage....it just seem like a waste. Not to mention the saftey factor of all that non covered burner going.
While we don't really think in these terms, the cost of the wasted energy of say 20-25% of uncovered burners would eventually cover the cost of a single turkey frier burner.... And you wouldn't need the pot, because you were already using it on two burners of the stove presumably in my example.
But maybe I am wrong. How wide is the base of your brewpot. Does it completely cover the two burners or is there a little exposed on each side of the pot.
brewchez wrote:
Mortician607 wrote:
brewchez wrote:
Some people talk about stradling two burners on a kitchen stove, but I think that is a dubious claim and somewhat unsafe.
What's so dubious about it?
I have yet to see any brew pot of mine, that would entirely cover two burners on the standard kitchen cook top.
I wonder then if you stradle 50% of two burners, you aren't getting any more heat than just putting the one pot on one burner. Even at 65% coverage....it just seem like a waste. Not to mention the saftey factor of all that non covered burner going.
While we don't really think in these terms, the cost of the wasted energy of say 20-25% of uncovered burners would eventually cover the cost of a single turkey frier burner.... And you wouldn't need the pot, because you were already using it on two burners of the stove presumably in my example.
But maybe I am wrong. How wide is the base of your brewpot. Does it completely cover the two burners or is there a little exposed on each side of the pot.
Honestly, the front burner is 100% covered by the pot, the back burner is I'd say 90-100% covered too. I'll take a pic a post it on my next brew day to show you if you want, but my kettle covers both burners almost completely, if not totally. I use a 10 gal kettle that I got from midwest. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products … rodID=4471 It seems that it's been discontinued, and it really holds 10 gals not the 9 that midwest says. I know because I calibrated a stirrer to the kettle so I could take volume readings.
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