Natural gas brewing help

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dgrhodes

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I have been reading for some time now about brewing with natural gas, it seems like all the threads get started and end abruptly when talking about the methods they used, with no clear resolution. I'd like to start brewing with natural gas and I'm down to two choices:

1. Buying a banjo burner and the conversion from Williams brewing.

2. Buying a 10 tip jet burner and ball valve.

Does anyone have any definitive opinions on these two choices and preferences? Is there another option I'm missing?

Hopefully someone out there has experience brewing with natural gas and can explain why they like one better than the other of the two choice I listed above.

Thanks in advance guys!
 
I use a banjo with ng and it works great for me. I've read the tip burners are only best at full throttle. I just wanted something with more adjustment.
 
The principles between using Natural Gas and Propane are identical...

The major difference is the pressure at which they operate and the BTU content. Propane has smaller orifices as they typically run at a pressure of 11" water column (0.4 psi) and natural gas runs at a pressure of 3.5" water column (0.125 psi) so the orifice sizes are larger.

Banjo burners have adjustable primary air shutter which allow you to fine tune the gas air mixture if you're wanting to throttle back the gas. Where as the jet type burners don't have an adjustable primary air shutter and rely on the gas pressure to pull in primary air through a fixed primary air opening.

So depending on how adjustable you want your burner it determines which burner to get.
 
Well, I'm just getting my feet wet brewing extract batches, but within the next year I'd like to go all grain. So I think I'll start with the banjo burner and the orifice from Williams brewing. Would the jet burner be good for heating sparge water or just a straight boil that wouldn't need much fine tuning?
 
I'd just stick with banjo burners. The primary design of a jet burner is for a commercial wok.

If you've ever been in a commercial kitchen / restaurant you'll find all their gas garland stock pot burners are of a design similar to a banjo burner. They just have multiple orifices for each ring of the burner where the banjo has one orifice for the whole burner. Google "three ring burner" and you'll see what most cooks use in their kitchens.
 
I have 2 bg-12 burners and 1 6 in burner which originally ran on propane. I ordered a second of orifices and drilled them out to around 1/8 inch, before they were smaller than 1/64inch. I love brewing with natural gas, heats as well as propane but never have to worry about running out since I always do double 5 gal batches.
 
I use a 10 jet burner with NG and love it. Can be adjusted down very low with no sooting. It dose get hot enough on high to to turn the metal bars under my keggle cherry red. You never have to worry about running out of propane half way through a brew.
 
I currently use this Bayou Classic SQ14 for pressure canning:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JXYQ4/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think I'm going to email Bayou Classic to order a new orifice and attempt to drill this out myself before making any large investments. That way, if I screw it up, then I still have my functional propane orifice.

I'll keep you guys updated to let you know how this goes. One of the frustrations I've found with looking at natural gas conversions is that people don't follow up on their posts regarding conversions. If I go this route I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Ultimately I will be buying another burner at a later date. So if I were to go with a jet burner, I'm only planning on doing 5gal, maybe 10 gal batches at most, so I imagine that a 10 jet burner would be ok?

Also I assume that a banjo burner would be sufficient for a 10 gal batch.

Thanks everyone for your help! I appreciate it!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have 2 bg-12 burners and 1 6 in burner which originally ran on propane. I ordered a second of orifices and drilled them out to around 1/8 inch, before they were smaller than 1/64inch. I love brewing with natural gas, heats as well as propane but never have to worry about running out since I always do double 5 gal batches.

I realized my current SQ14 has a BG12 burner on it, I went out to look at it just a few minutes ago and found "BG12" staring me in the face.

Would you be willing to snap a photo of your connection to the burner and what it cost you for the orifice + shipping. The only orifice listed on bayou classic's webpage is a 1/4" and as I understand it, the bg12 takes a 1/8" orifice.
 
Update:

I got an email back from bayou classic for the orifice needed for the bg12. He gave me this link

http://www.bayouclassicdepot.com/5235_propane_burner_part.htm

Ill order this in the next few days and post an update.

It looks like the bg12 is a 50,000 BTU burner, which according to the chart means I should work my way up to a no 31 bit, since my gas comes off my meter at 7" WC.
 
Great, thanks for the pictures... Looks like a good setup.

I ordered two orifices incase I screw one up, I got them shipped to me for 13.98. I think they were 3.99 ea with $6.00 shipping.

Does the ball valve give you pretty fine control of the flame? I figured I'd need to use a needle valve to adjust it.
 
Ball value works great, got all the hardware from Home depot. Just calibrate them at night so you can see the flame and adjust the air intake and then mark the setting on the ball values.
 
Ok, great, I'll use simple ball valves instead of ordering expensive needle valves. That will save some dough.
 
My NG is @ 7" W/C, I'm using the 10" banjo. I drilled my orifice to 7/64ths". I couldn't be happier. Make sure you use a drill press to drill out the orifice, and as above start a size or two below what the chart calls for. I imagine I could go up to an eigth, but it's working like a charm right now.
 
No need to use a drill press since I didn't have one. Held the drill in one hand and the orifice in the other hand, started with a small bit and worked my way up, there is nothing exact to be done here, you are just enlarging a hole to let gas flow thru.
 
sachsebrewer said:
No need to use a drill press since I didn't have one. Held the drill in one hand and the orifice in the other hand, started with a small bit and worked my way up, there is nothing exact to be done here, you are just enlarging a hole to let gas flow thru.

I prefer precision when dealing w combustibles : )
 
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1387423291.151224.jpg
Update:

Hey guys, finally got my orifices in and drilled. I may have made the first one too big, because I have a bit of a yellow flame when I turn the valve down, but it's not too bad. I'll post some better pictures later when it's daytime. Any questions, let me know.
 
I'd just like to say that I'm glad I found this thread as it has given me some more ideas on the next evolution of my current system. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a 2 pot boiler system at a restaurant auction for $12. It works well, however it is WAY under powered on a household 3/8" NG line.

This thread has got me thinking about buying a set of propane orifices for it and going back to the bottle. It'll make me more portable in the long run as I have to move with work fairly often, and can't be sure if I'll have NG at our next place.
 
No problem, hope it helps. If you need to retrofit what you have you won't have any problem finding the pieces you need at lowes to convert the flare fittings to regular iron pipe fittings and vice versa. If you need help with anything let me know.

I'm in the middle of my first brew on this burner. As it stands, It took 35 min to bring 9 gals of 55 degree water to a boil as a test earlier today.

I took a 25 ft section of 1/2" air hose and ran a hose barb off my garage heater line which is about 10 ft of half inch, reduced from 1" about ten feet from the meter. I'm very happy with the results.

I'd recommend anyone doing this use a numbered drill bit set. I only had a standard set and with my current setup I may have over drilled a bit.
 
you can use air hose with NG? I thought you needed the gray NG hose.

I'm torn between propane or NG. Either way, I want to go electric, but right now I have NG at the house
 
you can use air hose with NG? I thought you needed the gray NG hose.

I'm torn between propane or NG. Either way, I want to go electric, but right now I have NG at the house

I have been using air hose for years. Rated for 200 psi. You can stand on it and it won't compact. Rock solid. Since it isn't hooked up 24/7, and I am always there when it is in use, I have no concerns with its safety.

I have used a banjo burner with the Williams orifice as well as 3 20-tip jet burners in my current configuration. My only issue with the jet burners is keeping the gap on the spark ignitor just right. I imagine that would be easier on a banjo burner with a larger cast iron surface area for me to work with. I have no issues turning the jet burners down. I direct fire my MLT with one with no scorching issues.
 
I've used a garden hose for my gas line for years... Cheap, but might not be to code... I'm still here...
 
you can use air hose with NG? I thought you needed the gray NG hose.

I'm torn between propane or NG. Either way, I want to go electric, but right now I have NG at the house

Natural gas is MUCH cheaper, and you never run out. Down here in TX, electricity is too expensive. With Seattle's proximity to Grand Coulee Dam, electric might be the way to go.
 
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