65 gallon kettle questions.

[terrazza]

What burner would you recommend for boiling 50 gallons wort in a 65 gallon tank?

Is 65 gallons large enough for such a boil?

My buddy and I are fabricating this kettle, so it's design can be any shape/size. Is there an ideal radius/height we should be concerned about?

 

[ACbrewer]

I think the pros us some sort of steam heating at this size. If you are going to use propane/flame I would suggest a larger height than diameter... My thinking (and it is just that)... is that kettle base should be no wider than the flame diameter and vice versa - otherwise you have heat going to the air (flame bigger than kettle) or having liquid overhanging the heat - where part of the wort isn't being directly heated..

Or I could be totally off base - except for the steam.. Heck there is a Brewpub/BoP place in Alexandria VA that uses steam for the 15 Gal BoP equipment.

 

[brewinsam]

Since you can fabricate the kettle, why not try to incorporate a heatsink to it like Jetboil camping cook systems?

I believe they call it a FluxRing, it sort-of surrounds the flame.

 

[Bobby_M]

Another way to increase efficiency is to build a center chimney into it similar to the "kelly kettle".