I will be getting my new brewing garage in a couple weeks and I’m thinking about what equipment I’m going to need.
I am upping my brew size to 15 gal batches and I’m looking for the best, highest efficiency propane burner to handle a pot big enough for 15 gal batches. I don’t think my turkey fryer is the best solution.
I will post shots when I get the property and the process but for now I am starting to compile equipment.
It will be a batch sparge system with a hot water heater for sparge water. The property is on a well so no chlorine to worry about.
I’m going to order 6 15 gal plastic fermenters and give them a try.
For about $80 a piece, 6 is going to run me around $500 and I can’t get a single stainless for that from what I’ve found.
My plan is to build a small room in my new shop with a window shaker air conditioner to keep it around 50F. That’ll be fairly easy for much of the year here. I want to put two of these in this cold room for doing lagers. I’m also planning to use the room to store grain. I have a freezer that I use today for a keezer that I will use for lagering instead.
Another 2 will be in the main area. I make a lot of pale ales, saisons, british styles and wheat beers so I thought I’d use two of these in rotation for ales. The other two I was just going to keep in storage because I have no idea how long these will last without scratching etc. They come from Iowa and I’m going to be there in a month or so and I figured since I’m driving back, I may as well grab a couple extra cause it’s worth it not to have to ship them even though I realize I’m tying $160 up in fermenters that I may not need for a year or two. My experience with pails has been that I get about 12-18 months out of them before I end up scratching them somehow. I did also consider designating one for pale ales only, one for saisons only, one for sours only etc but that may be over kill.
I’ve got a Blichmann burner, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend one. It’s built like a brick sh!thouse, gets the wort to a boil fast and seems efficient.
Blichmann burner looks very similar to a Banjo burnner; Is there a difference in the burner itself? Also I would like to hear thougths on gas vs propane and the rationale behind a high vs low pressure system.
I can’t tell you about pressure or gas vs propane. But, I had difficulty with the Banjo burner on a regular propane tank. Probably a defect vs. operator error? Tried 2 different regulators with no luck. Traded it in for the Blichmann and have not had an issure since day one. Had an issue with the regulator and John Blichmann replaced it for free even though it was no longer under warranty. I know the Banjo may be cheaper, but in the long run with customer service that Blichmann provides, it is a no brainer for me. Blichmann all the way!!!
Anyone with a Blichmann burner ever freeze up a propane tank? I had a pair of banjo burners and used to regularly freeze up the tank if it got below half full. This was not running it too high or running two at once. You can put the tank in a water bath to help this, but going to a natural gas setup was a more satisfying solution. The Blichmann burners appear to be the same, but wondering if they suffer from this.
[quote]John is a great guy - AND a Boilermaker!
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Got to meet him a couple weeks ago at the Bell’s Expo. Super nice, answered all my questions and BS’ed about beer for a few minutes. He also donated a burner, hoprocket and a beergun for the raffle. Of course, the guy who’s ticket got pulled ahead of mine snagged the hoprocket.
I don’t think I would risk the money on one of these. From the site you pointed to:
PLEASE READ: We know that these burners are hard to find, and when you do find them they are anywhere from $100.00 - $500.00. We found these burners and brought them in because we have had so many customers request them. HOWEVER, please note that these are NOT Bayou Classic burners. They are bought directly from China. We do not have the human resources to hook up and try each burner before shipping. The result is the cheaper price. STARTING 07/27/11, WE WILL NOT ACCEPT RETURNS ON THESE BURNERS OR ISSUE CREDITS. They are shipped AS IS. Each burner will be individually wrapped prior to shipping. Please have some type of knowledge about these burners prior to purchase. If you have experience with them, they are worth the price. If you do not have experience with building outdoor burners, then please stick with our PROPANE CAST IRON BURNERS. Thank you for your understanding
Right now they are on sale for $62. That is a lot of money to spend on something untested and nonrefundable.
