How many BTUs should I get?

I am looking to buy a propane burner, but not sure how many BTUs is recommended or sufficient for batches up to 10 gallons? I have seen burners that offer 210,000 BTUs. Are they propane guzzlers? What are the benefits of high or low pressure burners?

Just trying to balance the BTU output with the operating cost.

Circle C Brewer

A 210,000 BTU burner will use four times as much propane as a 50,000 BTU one, wide open. It will also heat your water/wort four times as fast.

I use a 55,000 BTU turkey fryer without any problems, but for ten gallon batches more would be better.

I have a 60k btu and can boil 25 gallons, it just takes awhile, about an hour. For 10 gallons I'd get a 100k btu burner, thats what I'm getting next just to save time. If you have natural gas to your home I'd go that route, cheaper, easier, never runs out.

Does anybody know where to get natural gas burners?

Keep in mind that you can have TOO much power. A banjo burner will easily send flames up the side of your vessel, and that's all wasted heat/propane. Get something that provides an intense, controlled flame that is easily kept under the kettle. I've been hearing good things about the SQ14. I have 2 banjos, but since I'm building a new rig, I'm looking for something a little more efficient.

If you're buying just the burner, keep in mind what it will take to mount it. The bajo IMHO is the biggest PITA to mount. The BG10 (high pressure 170k burner for $15) is probably the easiest.

I have not dealt with these folks, but this is by far the best price I have seen for a natural gas burner:

http://www.cpapc.com/store/32-Tip-Round-Nozzle-Jet-Burner-P470C244.aspx

I got this burner stand at Costco for 175 bucks. 40.000 BTU and i do 15 gal batches. Takes a little longer but it's nice and mellow. no boil overs.. I like it cause i can gravity feed my sparge water..

Stinkonamonkey said:

Does anybody know where to get natural gas burners?

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http://www.cpapc.com/store/32-Tip-Round-Nozzle-Jet-Burner-P470C244.aspx

dont forget youll also need a pressure regulator like on your stove and safety valve would be a good idea as well.

I purchased a 440,000 BTU 44 array Jet Burner for my 55 gal kettle. Im taq welding an additional ss plate to bottom for fear of melting my kettle... is this overkill (the burner)? I plan on hardlining a pump to circulate, potentially during the entire boil. should I try to plug some of the jets? Im using natural gas.

jmastagetoblasta said:

I purchased a 440,000 BTU 44 array Jet Burner for my 55 gal kettle. Im taq welding an additional ss plate to bottom for fear of melting my kettle... is this overkill (the burner)? I plan on hardlining a pump to circulate, potentially during the entire boil. should I try to plug some of the jets? Im using natural gas.

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...I also have a 55 gallon kettle, and I'm looking also looking at a 440,000 BTU 44 array Jet Burner. But the one I'm looking at says it's geared towards propane. See here : http://www.glaciertanks.com/Jet_Burners-Jet_Burners_Cast_Iron_440_000_BTU_44_Tip_Propane.html

You mentioned something about "melting" the kettle??? I didn't even realize that was a possibility. I saw a "Banjo Burner" (I think that's what they're called) online (See here : http://www.homebrewing.org/18-Propane-Burner--220000-BTU-_p_3214.html) but the problem with that one is that it's only 220,000 BTU's.

It feels as if I won't be able to buy a ready-made solution and that I'll have to build my burner (I.E: buy the stand separately, buy the burner/jets separately, etc) simply because of the size of my kettle. And I guess I'm focussing on the burner BTU's as my starting point, and will work around that.

I've Googled a few BTU to Gallon boiling calculators out there, but I'm getting mixed results. All I want (for now) is to invest in a burner that will bring 55 gallons to a boil (efficiently).

As I'm still playing around with the calculators, can somebody confirm for me if the 440,000 BTU jet burner would suffice for my 55 gallon tank?

If you are boiling outdoors, a heat shield around the burner and kettle can have a huge influence on how large a burner is required.

Without a heat shield, even a mild breeze can carry away much of the heat output of a burner.

most of the heat is gonna hit the bottom of the pot and bounce off. A 55 gallon pot doesn't have 2x the bottom surface area that a normal 22 gallon pot would have. Assuming your using a drum, the bottom is also gonna be thin so circulating as jmastagetoblasta was planning is a good idea also.

It would certainly be enough btu to boil, just take a long time and use a lot of gas and not be efficient. I would suggest looking at adding electric to the mix.

No body else has done it, so I will enter the obligatory "rise of the zombie thread" comment.

YMS_1975 said:

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You mentioned something about "melting" the kettle??? I didn't even realize that was a possibility.

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This I gotta see! I'd be impressed by any natural gas or propane burner that can melt a stainless pot, outside of a forge. I would expect the heat to boil away all of your wort long before that is a concern. If you have boiled away your wort, you are no longer brewing, and may be more interested in a metalworking forum.

ThreeDogsNE said:

No body else has done it, so I will enter the obligatory "rise of the zombie thread" comment.



This I gotta see! I'd be impressed by any natural gas or propane burner that can melt a stainless pot, outside of a forge. I would expect the heat to boil away all of your wort long before that is a concern. If you have boiled away your wort, you are no longer brewing, and may be more interested in a metalworking forum.

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Well I'll pass on the "metalworkingforum" for now, but why do people suggest that the pot could melt? This is not the first time I've read this.

Is this a popular myth?

YMS_1975 said:

Well I'll pass on the "metalworkingforum" for now, but why do people suggest that the pot could melt? This is not the first time I've read this.

Is this a popular myth?

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I think it's more hyperbole than myth

fantomlord said:

I think it's more hyperbole than myth

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I see.

For a minute there I was thinking how flimsy are these kettles?! I just shelled out $960 for a 55 gallon Blichmann Boilermaker 2 (G2).

Thanks man.

Heat applied to the bottom of the kettle is transmitted to the wort inside, not retained in the metal. Stainless steel is not as good a conductor of heat as copper, but is a sufficiently good conductor that we use it to hold wort while we boil it. It would take a very impressive torch to manage to heat the stainless steel to it's melting point, somewhere around 1400*C, while the pot still contains wort, which is a water based solution that will boil at 100*C. Once you boil it dry, all bets are off, as you might be approaching 2000*C then.