Ran out of propane, what should I do?

So its 11:00, I live in the middle of nowhere and I have run out of propane after dropping my first hop addition into my honey imperial porter. Evidently my tank has a leak and I have no gas and nowhere to get any. Am I screwed or can I put a lid on it, and resume tomorrow when I get off work at noon. Totally pissed because this brew was going pretty epic. Thanks for the help.

Cover with the lid, and start tomorrow. It will be boiled for an hour anyway, it will be ok.

Can you pull the tank off of your grill?
Borrow from a neighbor?

First response makes me feel better, I seriously live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, the nearest place to get a fill is the feed store 15 minutes away and they close at 5. I can start up at 12 tomorrow, I just really dont want to destroy this one. I suppose this is a great time for the RDWHAHB principle.

Yes, if you were boiling for an hour, covering with the (sanitized) lid for a day will lose nothing (except the heat). You can start over the next day, bring to a boil long enough to sanitize your wort chiller (15-20 min, chill & pitch). If the temperature is low enough, you might even try no-chill, and just put it in the fermenter and pitch (I say that, but I can't recommend it because I"ve never done it). I can tell how full a 20 lb. propane tank is.....down to a point. Then I use the bathroom scale to tell me if I've got enough to do another batch. If you think you've got a leak, take it to a tank exchange place.
The 20 lb. tanks are handy, in a sense, but also require constant monitoring. I'm thinking about having my propane supplier run another line from the 1K gal. bulk tank that sits 25-30 ft from the garage...that way I can dispense with those grill tanks altogether, and the gas will come much cheaper.

rico567 said:

... I'm thinking about having my propane supplier run another line from the 1K gal. bulk tank that sits 25-30 ft from the garage...that way I can dispense with those grill tanks altogether, and the gas will come much cheaper.

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hey Rico!

I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday - getting an extension from the big tank in my back yard (which only feeds the stove and a space heater in the sunroom) into the garage area which is where I'll be doing all my brewing going forward.

Do you have any idea what I should expect in terms of expense/complextity? Is there such a thing as getting an "outlet" installed onto the wall near the garage and then hooking up a gas line to my burner when I need it?

The propane tanks are bulky and expensive, and until I get better at not running my burner at full blast, it last only a batch-and-a-half, soon to force me into buying second tank, which I'd really rather not do.

Thanks for any thoughts!

aledawg

+1 to the above. Oh, and buy a spare tank for next time!

When I used propane I had two tanks. If you were closer I would sell you one cheap.

As to extension from existing large tank, although I never had one I thought that indoor propane was low pressure vs. high pressure for our little tanks. I might be wrong but you should check that out before doing it.

Granted this does nothing for the OP...but was a great $20 investment for me...

http://www.amazon.com/GasWatch-TVL212-Propane-Level-Indicator-Safety/dp/B000S5S3M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1254494313&sr=8-1

Only thing to watch is the gauge will say you have less if you read it after a long brew...granted the cylinder had frost all over so that might explain something.

As for the OP, next time you are out and about, check your local gas stations. Most in my area (boonies of NJ) are 24/7 and about half have the Blue Rhino exchange program.
<Granted the one 5 minutes from my house charges $35 for an exchange which is near robbery...compared to the $15 WallyWorld exchange 20m away...but you hey>

A spare tank is real handy. You'll never go through an entire tank in one session so when you run out of one, you can start on the other and then refill the empty before your next brew day. This will also keep you from swapping near empty tanks because you're afraid you'll run out.

Aside from hard-to-determine hop utilization, there should be no side effects from just covering it and leaving it as long as you already started your boil. You could drop it in a sanitized fermenter if you're really worried but personally I wouldn't bother.

aledawg said:

hey Rico!

I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday - getting an extension from the big tank in my back yard (which only feeds the stove and a space heater in the sunroom) into the garage area which is where I'll be doing all my brewing going forward.

Do you have any idea what I should expect in terms of expense/complextity? Is there such a thing as getting an "outlet" installed onto the wall near the garage and then hooking up a gas line to my burner when I need it?

The propane tanks are bulky and expensive, and until I get better at not running my burner at full blast, it last only a batch-and-a-half, soon to force me into buying second tank, which I'd really rather not do.

Thanks for any thoughts!

aledawg

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First, I HAVE installed propane appliances, but I would never recommend it to anyone whose skills and background I don't know. Always go professional. If I go with a line from my bulk tank, my supplier will install it. I no longer have access to a flare kit (the tools for making the ends on the copper tubing), and I'm not trying to install a tee and other hardware onto the line from the big tank. For purposes of calculating expense, you'll be installing the line, probably 5/8", the associated hardware, including a regulator. I don't have any idea how much all that will cost, but keep in mind that it will pay for itself in cheaper gas, depending on how much you use. I don't think my supplier will charge me anything for labor, particularly as I'm also interested in installing a catalytic propane heater in there to be served by the same line.

rico567 said:

First, I HAVE installed propane appliances, but I would never recommend it to anyone whose skills and background I don't know. Always go professional.
...

I don't think my supplier will charge me anything for labor, particularly as I'm also interested in installing a catalytic propane heater in there to be served by the same line.

Click to expand...

Thanks Rico, appreciate the insight and advice! I will never even attempt to hook something up to this tank - I like the placement of my house and garage where it is now, and not up in the stratosphere somewhere...


aledawg

i've also installed propane & natural gas equipment, and unless you know exactly what you're doing it's best to leave it to a pro who has the tools and knows the codes..

that said, you can save some money if you dig the trench yourself. your gas supplier can tell you where to dig and how deep, and what you need to backfill with (usually pea gravel, then dirt)

they'll need to install a second regulator on the tank, it can be a high pressure regulator for your burners but if you intend to run a heater in your garage, you'll need another low pressure regulator for it as well.

Before I brewed on Sunday, I went to the store and bought a 2nd tank. $50 hurts, but I am glad I did so, as my 1st tank ran out as I was bringing the wort to a boil. This way, I don't waste money on propane I don't use by swapping partially full tanks out of fear of running out of gas.