Burner recommendation for a newb

Good evening, gents-

I've been brewing extract for several months and am making the jump to all-grain. I have everything ordered/arrived with the exception of a propane burner. I;m faced with the decision of the super high btu (200k +) burners that do the boiling quick, but that people say really go through the propane quickly. On the other hand, theres the 60k BTU, 10 psi style burners that dont eat the propane but a lot of folks complain that they take an hour to get 8 gallons to a boil.

I suppose I'd prefer to go with the more-time, less-propane method, but...

Does anyone have a recommendation? I mean, I'd like to get away with a $50 Bayou SP-10 or SQ-14 or something, but if its just gonna cause headaches, then I should get something more powerful. But if one of those banjo's will be overkill for 7.5 gallons of wort AND waste a bunch of gas, then I'd rather save the money.


Any recommendations? Thanks in advance. I've been reading the forums for LONG time now.

morebeer has a $75 burner today that looks pretty nice if they're telling the truth... anybody tried it?

Camp Chef several years ago changed the regulator to 10PSI max causing them to de-rate this burner to 60K BTUs from 125,000 btus. We tested one of the 60K burner and regulator combinations and were able to boil 10 gallons of water from 66F in 35 minutes.

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I used to have a basic propane burner and it was borderline junk. I made the jump to the Blichmann burner with the leg extensions. It is pretty impressive. Super beefy, powerful, good height, gets things boiling quickly, "reasonably" priced and just looks good. I get 4-5 batches on one tank.

I don't have much of anything that is "name-brand" but I did bite the bullet on a blichmann burner a few years ago and have absolutely nothing bad to say about it. I heat my HLT electrically, so all I'm doing with it is boiling post-mash, but it is really good on conserving propane, easy to adjust the flame, etc.

That said I'm sure you could get the same burner without the Blichmann name for cheaper somewhere.

jgaepi said:

I used to have a basic propane burner and it was borderline junk. I made the jump to the Blichmann burner with the leg extensions. It is pretty impressive. Super beefy, powerful, good height, gets things boiling quickly, "reasonably" priced and just looks good. I get 4-5 batches on one tank.

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+1 Blichman makes a great burner. I've got two for running simultaneous BIAB brews. IMHO the leg extension are a must. All told it will run $189, but I get 4 brews out of a tank of propane. Low propane is the way to go, a quite burn, not like the jet engines...

Man, I've sort of come to the conclusion that if it says Blichmann, its out of my price range. The Blichmann is $150.

Has anybody tried the burner on homebrewing.org ($75)? http://www.homebrewing.org/14-Propane-Burner--220000-BTU_p_1190.html

Claims they're getting 220,000 BTUs from a 10psi regulator.

Blichmann is worth the money

I got one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000291GBQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It boiled fast and was cheap (mine was $33.44 from Amazon Warehouse).

My SQ14 rocks! I have been wanting to get the Blichmann cause I know it rocks too. But I just cant justify the cost right now given that the SQ14 is kicking it with my 5 gallon batches. When I move to 10+ gallons, I may come back to the Blichmann if I feel I need some more kick!

jmiliz said:

Blichmann is worth the money

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I dont doubt it, man. All that Blichmann stuff looks like the Ferrari of homebrewing.

Nagorg said:

My SQ14 rocks! I have been wanting to get the Blichmann cause I know it rocks too. But I just cant justify the cost right now given that the SQ14 is kicking it with my 5 gallon batches. When I move to 10+ gallons, I may come back to the Blichmann if I feel I need some more kick!

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bombcar said:

I got one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000291GBQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It boiled fast and was cheap (mine was $33.44 from Amazon Warehouse).

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Are those two pretty good about conserving propane? How many brews do you fellas get out of a tank? About how long to go from 150 degrees to a boil with 8 gallons?

The first burner I bought was a Blichmann, and I love it. I purchased the longer legs for it also. It is really great for draining into your fermenter.
I wanted a second burner, and bought a Camp Chef burner. I don't like it as well, because it is really loud.
I decided to build a two burner brewing stand using unistrut. I also decided not to incorporate the Camp Chef burner into the design. So, I ordered my second Blichmann to put into the stand.
I can't say enough about how good they are. If you are going to go with a Top Tier stand, then don't hesitate and buy a Blichmann. If are unsure about how you might brew in the future, I would still recommend that you buy the Blichmann. It is one great burner.

Mark

Phisher said:

Are those two pretty good about conserving propane? How many brews do you fellas get out of a tank? About how long to go from 150 degrees to a boil with 8 gallons?

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I don't know. I got one boil at least out of a tank so far. From 160 mini-mash to a full boil was ten minutes or less; I'd have to check my notes which are not here. Definitely a huge improvement over the stove; and I don't feel bad about this burner because if I move up to bigger things I can repurpose it to something else.

Right, So for 5-10 gallon batches you cant beat This Baby. and about 100+ people on amazon agree with me. highly recommended.

Phisher said:

Are those two pretty good about conserving propane? How many brews do you fellas get out of a tank? About how long to go from 150 degrees to a boil with 8 gallons?

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My SQ14 does pretty good with propane usage I'd say. I can get a good 4-5 batches from a 20# cylinder and these are All Grain batches where I'm heating strike/sparge water as well as working the boil.

I havent yet timed 8 gallons but I did time 6 gallons from ~130 degrees to boil in right at 30 minutes.

If you get the SQ14, which I think is great, you will probably want to add a windscreen. Not only does this help prevent the flame from burning out but I believe it also helps with heat loss and makes the burner more efficient. That's my.02 anyway...

Dont be leary of adding a windscreen, its rreeaall easy!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/my-bayou-classic-sq14-windscreen-addition-330988/

Nagorg said:

My SQ14 does pretty good with propane usage I'd say. I can get a good 4-5 batches from a 20# cylinder and these are All Grain batches where I'm heating strike/sparge water as well as working the boil.

I havent yet timed 8 gallons but I did time 6 gallons from ~130 degrees to boil in right at 30 minutes.

If you get the SQ14, which I think is great, you will probably want to add a windscreen. Not only does this help prevent the flame from burning out but I believe it also helps with heat loss and makes the burner more efficient. That's my.02 anyway...

Dont be leary of adding a windscreen, its rreeaall easy!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/my-bayou-classic-sq14-windscreen-addition-330988/

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I think I'm going to do that with my burner - thanks!

I'm also going to upgrade my 5 psi regulator to this 0-30 adjustable regulator: http://www.homebrewing.org/0-30-PSI-Regulator-For-Propane_p_1003.html

Thanks!

You guys are looking (well, typing) at the proud owner of a new SQ-14. Thanks for all the input, gang.

All-grain here I come!

The one I linked has a windscreen built into it.