Boiling 12 gallons...

[bobbyc]

...takes a lot longer than 5 gallons. My first shipment of grain & hops got lost by UPS, so the HBS resent. I got the second shipment, then the lost package came up. Those nice folks let me keep both of them! Hooray!

So, I figured I'd just do 10 gallons (Victory Hop Devil clone).

Man, it took about an hour and a half to bring to boil 12 gallons. I need a new burner Any recommendations? I'm not positive, but I think mine is only 55K BTUs.

So this post is a vent, a "hooray I got extra ingredients" and a question, all rolled into one. Magic.

Still boiling...lemme go see how things are going...

 

[Dnorris201]

Wow, You can't get much better than that. Never tried to boil 12 gallons before, so no help there . I will be brewing tomarrow, hope this weather holds out.

 

[chillHayze]

Sweet! Go for at least a 170K burner. Just ask the bird about this one.

 

[the_bird]

:rockin:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009JXYQY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[thebull]

Just put this one together yesterday and it's sweet. 210,000 BTU. $65.00 and no shipping from Amazon.

 

[bobbyc]

Wow. Nice. Considering I have a $200 Amazon credit at my disposal, I think I've just bought myself a Christmas present.

Couple questions:

They mention it's for use with 20# LP tanks... I assume thats the standard?

I've got a converted keg as a brew kettle... anyone have any experience using one of those on this burner?

 

[the_bird]

Yes, 20# is the standard.

I used mine with a converted keg this weekend. You have maybe a half inch of extra room all the way around, maybe a quarter-inch. It fits, it's stable, but if you knock into it I could see the keggle toppling over. So, I'm going to get my father to weld on a some little pieces to keep the keg from moving around.

 

[bobbyc]

OK cool... whenever I see something like, "uses 20# LP tanks", it makes me think its not the standard.

That's good news about the keggle. The current burner I use, the keg fits super-snug. It's nice and stable, but can be a pain to get on and off sometimes.

Do you have any rough estimates of bringing water to boil? My little burner took over an hour to bring 12+ gallons of 152F water to boil. It was sad. Maybe I had it turned too low or something...

 

[brewhead]

r u doing all grain? if so as soon as i get about 2 inches of wort in my kettle from the sparge i put some flame to it. by the time i'm up to 15 gallons run off - it's at a good rolling boil.

 

[Buford]

So, I figured I'd just do 10 gallons (Victory Hop Devil clone).

I'm an extract brewer, and from your volume I'm assuming you're all-grain, but what is your recipe? Victory HopDevil is the only IPA I've ever found a liking for. I would say it's because they're in general too bitter, but drinking English IPAs and not finding them bitter enough belies that. I think it's just that HopDevil seems to have a good balance with the maltiness and the hoppiness.

I'm making an IPA at the moment, but I don't know if I'll like it or not.

 

[Hopfan]

I use the same burner you have and I did a double kit in my keggle. It only took about 45 minutes to get it to boil. Still, I also ordered the banjo burner and it arrives tomorrow SWEET. Brewing this weekend after I take the boys to breakfast with Santa.

 

[Chimone Theo]

I Also boil in a Converted keg which i get a ton of milage out of.
First it heats my mash water quite rapidly.
During my mash I get 10 gal. of sparge water ready and put in buckets or cooler 5 min. before end of mash.
Right after I get the first runnings into my now empty keg, I sparge the mash with the water and start the flame for a good head start. By the time my sparge is done I almost boiling.

So much time brewing is wasted waiting for water to heat. From flame on to pitching, I can brew 10 gal. in 3:45 min. by myself. Geat a good burner, A Good cold home brew and let the flames go!

 

[Yuri_Rage]

You don't happen to have access to natural gas, do you?

My burner (see Mega Burner in my signature) is 200,000 BTUs, and I never have to worry about running out of propane.

Sadly, I haven't seen a propane version, and this thing would be SCARY (as in hurt yourself) if you tried it on propane.

 

[bobbyc]

Wow Yuri, that thing is quite frightening.

Well, my girlfriend just bought me the aforementioned 210K burner for Christmas! I can't wait to fire this puppy up. I don't think I'll be brewing on my wooden deck anymore, though Gonna have to relocate to the driveway it seems...

 

[perry]

Hey, back to that burner from Amazon... I just ordered one, impulsively and stupidly (because the burner I have now works fine).

I know a 20 gal. tank is the "standard" but will a 5 gal. tank work? I called my propane people and damn near choked at the cost of a 20....

I suppose I could run it off my house propane (a 250 galon tank) but I assume I'd have to fit the burner with its own regulator... Anyway, anyone tried it with a 5 gal. tank?

Thanks, p

 

[aseelye]

Perry: It's a 20 pound tank, standard size as fits under a bbq.

-Aaron

 

[perry]

Thanks, Aaron. You're right, that tank works great.

For what it's worth, the thing arrived last night, and this morning I hooked it up and brought 12 gallons of ice-water (my hose was frozen and blasted out all the little chunks) to a serious rolling boil in fifty-one minutes. Prettty impressive, given that the breeze was blowing. Heating a 160 degree wort will be a snap. Tomorrow is ten gallon day!

65 bucks and no shipping... that's pretty impressive, too.

Thanks to whomever put that link up there.

p