Costco Brew Sculpture $150?

just found this while looking for something to do full boil extracts. looks awesome and might be a cheap way to upgrade to AG in the near future. Anyone have anything bad to say about this or anything good to say? please help me decide if i should spend some extra money this month.

Here's the link!

Costco - King Kooker 30" Outdoor Propane Patio Cart

wow thats long. idk how to make it small but it works. copy and paste.

you know, I don't know anything about brew sculptures but that looks like it'd work. in fact, it looks like it was made with the homebrewer in mind

That is pretty slick. Especially if you don't weld. Shipping is even included!

IMO, that stand is pretty flimsy and those are two of the least desirable burners available. One is a jet burner and the other a diffuser. Both are relatively inefficient. You can buy the burners and regulator for about $50, so basically you would be paying $100 for the flimsy stand. IMO, there are better alternatives.

IMO, that stand is pretty flimsy and those are two of the least desirable burners available. One is a jet burner and the other a diffuser. Both are relatively inefficient. You can buy the burners and regulator for about $50, so basically you would be paying $100 for the flimsy stand. IMO, there are better alternatives.

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That's exactly what I was thinking.

Moose777 said:

That's exactly what I was thinking.

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Nothing says you can't weld in some bracing.

...guess i was way off...like i said earlier, i know nothing about brew scupltures

Sawdustguy said:

Nothing says you can't weld in some bracing.

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I think the advantage of buying a brew stand like this is the fact that you don't have to weld because you might not have the tools to do so. If you did have the tools you could make the whole thing yourself and to your own liking.

I agree that the burners aren't ideal.

Scut_Monkey said:

I think the advantage of buying a brew stand like this is the fact that you don't have to weld because you might not have the tools to do so. If you did have the tools you could make the whole thing yourself and to your own liking.

I agree that the burners aren't ideal.

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True. but it would be tuff to build a sculpture for a $149.

Nothing wrong with the top burner. I've used three of them for years on my stand(s) and they work great. The bottom burner is the one that is so inefficient.

...and what's this in the description: Four Color Labeled Box ???

Lil' Sparky said:

Nothing wrong with the top burner. I've used three of them for years on my stand(s) and they work great. The bottom burner is the one that is so inefficient.

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I disagree on this. I have one of the diffuser type burners and it is the only one of my three that spikes my CO detector and it happens pretty quickly. This tells me that it's not burning very cleanly or efficiently. It also doesn't work well at very low flame levels. Additionally, it doesn't distribute the heat very well either. IMO, there are better burners available for about the same cost. Burners are like grain mills. Everyone loves the one they have regardless of how well they perform. The one burner that I think is superior, but seldom seen is the Eastman Outdoors Revolution burner. Unfortunately, they won't sell you the burner without the stand and the stand is less than ideal for us home brewers. I plan to buy one anyway and cannibalize just the burner unit:

Eastman Outdoors Cooking Hardware, Accessories & Flavoring Systems

How efficient is a regular burner? I have a jet burner and I can do about 4 brews with it.

Julohan said:

How efficient is a regular burner? I have a jet burner and I can do about 4 brews with it.

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First you have to define a regular burner if there is such a thing. Batches per tank depends on a bunch of variables, so that's not much help either. The batch size, ambient temp, duration of the boil, direct fired mash or not etc., etc. will all affect your mileage. All tanks are not filled to the same level either which complicates the whole issue.

Different strokes for different folks. If you are happy with your burner then there is no need to get a different one and 99% of the time this will be the case. Same for grain mills, thermometers and pretty much all other home brew equipment.

Well, what type of burners are for efficient?

I can see your point and appreciate the advice.

I'm personally not interested in the stand, but I learned a long time ago that if you buy cheap you'll end up buying twice.

homebrewer_99 said:

I'm personally not interested in the stand, but I learned a long time ago that if you buy cheap you'll end up buying twice.

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I definitely agree with this. However, sometimes its hard to throw down a ton of cash for high quality equipment when you're not quite sure if it's the best solution for what you are doing. This is why craigs list rocks. You can find rather nice equipment for cheap.

Julohan said:

Well, what type of burners are for efficient?

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IMO, the multi-hole cast ring type burners are the most efficient. I have two of these. One is set up for low pressure and one for high pressure with an adjustable regulator. The Bayou Classic SQ-14 is equipped with this type of burner:

BURNER CAST LOW PRESURE MULTI-HOLE 6 - Agri Supply

Amazon.com: Bayou Classic SQ14 Single Burner Outdoor Patio Stove: Patio, Lawn & Garden

I've seen, but not used one of these and the design looks to be superior:

Eastman Outdoors Cooking Hardware, Accessories & Flavoring Systems

I like the full range adjustability and even heat distribution.

This is the one that I have and don't like at all:

CAST IRON BURNER COM - Agri Supply

The other popular burners are the Banjo, Hurricane and the multi-jet designs. The Banjo and Hurricane burners put out a huge amount of heat and IMO, are overkill and use a lot of fuel. The multi-jet types seem to be particularly problematic as they have no means to adjust the air/fuel ratio. They only function well at wide open throttle for this reason. Like the Banjo and Hurricane burners, they put out a huge quantity of heat. Way more than needed IMO.

Now then, wait awhile and you will see that those who have the Hurricane, Banjo, Multi-Jet and diffuser type burners will come to their defense and tell you that they love 'em. It's guaranteed! So, the bottom line is that it doesn't matter which burner you choose as you will love it regardless. Isn't that comforting?

Outside of the efficiency of the actual burners, there is something you can do to optimize whatever burner you have... you can surround the stand (except the very bottom 2 inches or so) and around the bottom of the kettle with some sheeting like old duct work. I did this last winter and just by cutting down on winter winds I vastly improved time-to-boil and lowered the amount of gas I used. In the summer, I can bring wort to boil very very quickly using my smaller bayou classic cast iron burner.

Good advice! I try to avoid brewing outside for just this reason. Sometimes, like when doing a group brew, brewing outdoors is unavoidable. Mostly I brew in my garage to stay out of the wind. This is where the electric brewing guys have a big advantage except that most of the time 220 isn't available at the group brews either. Even a light breeze or gusts can interfere with the burners. I'm in the process of adding wind screens to my MT burner. I use a stand alone burner set up with a solenoid gas valve and pilot flame under the MT. The pilot flame likes the wind even less than the burner.

Cat22, I'm not going to discount your experience. The jet burner you have may very well burn dirty. But I'll submit that your experience may not be typical. I, and a lot of other brewers on this board use them regularly without issue. I use them at low pressure settings to gently heat my direct-fired mash, and it's a nice blue flame, and also at high pressure setting to boil 13+ gals and to heat my HLT. I've also used the ring burners like the ones on the SQ-14 stand. No real problem with them except they blow themselves out at much lower pressures than the jet burners do, which really isn't an issue unless you're working with larger batches.