Starter brew rig from costco...

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rustang64

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So I found this online (haven't seen one in person), and it looks like it might be a cheap way in for some who are looking for a starter brew rig. Would need some tweaking but might be a decent way into grain brews for relatively cheap. Anyone actually seen these in person and know if they are cheap-o construction or if they might look like they would work?

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...ang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC11000-Cat22101&topnav=
 
Saw a thread on these a little bit ago. I think one of the burners has a really low BTU rating, but the guy used it for a direct fire mash tun.
 
the website says one burner is 60K and the other is 105K. my turkey fryer is 55K and i get 7 gallons to a rolling boil, so i imagine this would be good for at least 10 gallon batches. nice find.
 
You can find cheaper cajun cookers on amazon with better reviews, and no timer that turns the burner off every 20 minutes.
 
You can find cheaper cajun cookers on amazon with better reviews, and no timer that turns the burner off every 20 minutes.

turns itself off every 20 minutes? i wouldn't touch it. i have a dual turkey fryer from academy, and love it. cost around $100
 
The only poor reviews I could find on this were for the combo with the pot. Concerning the burner itself it received consistent five of five reviews. No timer mentioned in any reviews or specs, perhaps you have another version in mind? And nothing this cheap with the stand and all that I have found.

And if all else fails Costco accepts it back no questions asked with full refund including shipping and handling.

Seems like no risk to me :p
 
Yeah that twenty min timer comment is bunk. That's a completely different model designed for steaming and flash frying. Due to this credibility hit I can only assume the "cheaper cajun" burner didn't come on the stand like this does either. If it does, I'd love to see some links because I can't find anything like this for this price that I don't have to build myself.

I'm going to order one. Seems the biggest complaint with this particular model is it arriving damaged from poor packaging. But again, Costco eases any and all concerns. I'll let you guys know how it turns out :p
 
Can't get the link to work, but I bought a King Kooker 2-tier burner and it has been working well for me...

Does it turn off every 20 mins? I can't find anything on this particular model to validate what appears to be complete misinformation.
 
Why? That is an awesome price for something that is quite sufficient for someone starting off.

Very $hittty burners is the main reason I do not like it. It's also no bargain at $150 and the frame appears to be rather flimsy as well. I would buy two Bayou Classic SQ-14's for about $100 long before I would consider buying that junk. Not saying it won't work for a novice brewer, just that there are much better alternatives out there both functionally and price wise.
 
They seem fine based on the thousands of reviews they are getting on Amazon. Mostly concerned that you seem to see something in the picture that determines how flimsy the frame is when you haven't actually tested it or even seen it with your own eyes. Is this the same deductive reasoning you are applying to the burners?

I ask this not to be a jerk, but for those of us just getting started we rely on the advice you give and have no choice but to defer to your experience and wisdom. But if that advice is baseless then it's not very helpful. Especially when you are claiming something is "junk" largely based on what you assume...from a picture.

Again I humbly request if there are better options out there please give an example. I look at this as a easy gravity setup for someone (me) with no welding skills. Only thing I have seen comperable to this are the "art" teired systems sold by morebeer and such, and of course what skilled people make themselves. That's not an option for me, so if you can actually show something that is a better alternative in both functionality and price wise I would be eternally grateful. As someone who is new to all of this, I honestly do not know the difference and would appreciate some non-biased and honest advice.
 
Looks fine for a starter set. It has a bolt together angle iron frame, a jet burner on the bottom and what looks like a bg10 on top. If for some reason it doesn't work out take it back to costco. On the king kooker site it's listed as a boiler so it should take the weight just fine.
 
They seem fine based on the thousands of reviews they are getting on Amazon. Mostly concerned that you seem to see something in the picture that determines how flimsy the frame is when you haven't actually tested it or even seen it with your own eyes. Is this the same deductive reasoning you are applying to the burners?

I ask this not to be a jerk, but for those of us just getting started we rely on the advice you give and have no choice but to defer to your experience and wisdom. But if that advice is baseless then it's not very helpful. Especially when you are claiming something is "junk" largely based on what you assume...from a picture.

Again I humbly request if there are better options out there please give an example. I look at this as a easy gravity setup for someone (me) with no welding skills. Only thing I have seen comperable to this are the "art" teired systems sold by morebeer and such, and of course what skilled people make themselves. That's not an option for me, so if you can actually show something that is a better alternative in both functionality and price wise I would be eternally grateful. As someone who is new to all of this, I honestly do not know the difference and would appreciate some non-biased and honest advice.

It makes absolutely no difference to me what equipment you buy. Do whatever you like. You asked for my opinion and I gave it to you. I'm done here, goodbye.
 
Catt22 said:
It makes absolutely no difference to me what equipment you buy. Do whatever you like. You asked for my opinion and I gave it to you. I'm done here, goodbye.

He only asked if you had personal expierience with the equipment or where making judgments based on the pictures. Its a very reasonable request, and by your reply I'm betting its the latter.
 
It makes absolutely no difference to me what equipment you buy. Do whatever you like. You asked for my opinion and I gave it to you. I'm done here, goodbye.

Yes, it's obvious you are opinionated there was no question of that. The point is if you are going to give that opinion and come to conclusions it'd be nice if you were actually saying something meaningful. Anyone can be critical, led by arrogance. But with a post tally like yours I would hope you'd have an opinion that could be trusted.

For some of us every little cent counts. For me personally something like this would take me "to the next level" with a station I could actually brew at outside rather than move between the stove the bathtub. And at what appears to be a reasonable price. And being new to all of this, I put a certain amount of trust in someone with 4k+ posts. Wow...that person must really have something to say. Nope, nothing constructive apparently.

Again, not to be a jerk...but you have impressionable and vunerable set of newbies here looking for sincere advice and all you can do is flame the product. And doing so without a single alternative after claiming "much better alternatives out there both functionally and price wise." Why even bother?
 
All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/hows-brew-stand-243489/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/costco-brew-sculpture-150-a-135321/

For my two cents, it doesn't look as sturdy as the 3in welded tube brew stands....but those things could seriously support a dump truck. The lower burner is apparently not very efficient. But hell, it might work just fine for you, and if it shows its limitations and you want to upgrade in a year or so, you're only hundred and fifty bucks and some propane into the deal. I think that if you are just brewing 5gallon batches...this could be a pretty good deal because it makes it easy to heat and move around your vessels and gravity-siphon from HLT to MT to BK (Although it would better if the big burner was on the lower section, I think). It would get more difficult with 10 gallon batches because 1) they are heavy to lift and move around, and 2) they might be a bit heavy for that stand (but maybe not i obviously have no idea).
If you DO get the stand, check back in and let us know if you like it.
 
Firstly thank you for your helpful post hillhousesawdustco, and thank you for the adult response.

Secondly, it's disturbing how much more mature Catt22 was two years ago in this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/costco-brew-sculpture-150-a-135321/index2.html

Not quite sure what has happened since 2009 but I do apologize for any part I may have had in it.

I've actually decided not to purchase this so will not be able to review it after all. After some discussion with my neighbor it turns out he has a mig welder setup and offered to help me to put something together. I figure with 10 bucks in wire for the welder and 40 bucks for a banjo burner that leaves me 100 bucks in steel to build something more precise for my needs. And for this I must give Catt22 both thanks and credit for at least provoking extra thought and consideration, even if he didn't display it himself.
 
This thread obviously got a bit bizarrely heated, but Catt22 DID advise that he "would buy two Bayou Classic SQ-14's for about $100" rather than get the costco stand... so I'll just count this as a happy ending where everybody gets a little satisfaction, and hopefully you get to make some great all grain brewskies.
 
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