Gas or Electric?

[Strong_Brews]

I hope this is the right place for this post...

I just moved and my new stove isn’t giving me the big rolling boil I want/need for brewing.
Looking to see what you guys think about upgrading to Gas or Electric?

My local home brew store let me rent their Blichmann 10 gallon boilermaker G2 with the boilcoil and tower of power (120v). I had a really hard time getting it to boil. When it finally started boiling it was a very light boil. Maybe I was doing something wrong idk.

The photo is of the boil at its highest.

 

[MaxStout]

Gas or electric...you're going to find proponents lined up on each side of that one. You can buy a decent propane burner for around $50, but you'll need to brew outdoors or in a garage. You could continue to use your stove and use an electric bucket heater to assist in heating. You can go all electric with an element mounted in the kettle. This is more involved, but there are plenty of people here (I'm not one of them) who can walk you through that.

 

[Zuljin]

I like having a propane burner. Beer, fried turkey, crawfish, stir fry. So versatile.

 

[smurfjuice]

Big fan of propane myself.

 

[don_bran321]

Electric elements are the way to go. So convenient. You never have to worry about running out of propane. Keeps the heat in the pot and is decently safer than an open flame.
I would avoid using a stove top if at all possible.
When I moved to a propane burner (before Eherms) life was grand. 50 well spent.

 

[govner1]

Electric elements are the way to go. So convenient. You never have to worry about running out of propane. Keeps the heat in the pot and is decently safer than an open flame.
I would avoid using a stove top if at all possible.
When I moved to a propane burner (before Eherms) life was grand. 50 well spent.

Unless the power goes out!

 

[Dland]

Unless the power goes out!

 

[Soulshine2]

I built myself an electric rig(scavanged electric stove elements) , gravity too so I dont have to worry about pumps and such. I heated 2 vessels of water - one (8 gal) for strike water and the other (10 gal) to start heating for sparge while the strike water is in mash process, then does double duty as boil kettle . Yesterday was first time using it and no boil over , plenty of room for 6 gallon batch. Only thing I will change is using the 10 for strike and the 8 then for sparge so Im not handling the warmed water from one to the other kettle. Simple motion efficiency /safety. Still took 5 hrs for my brew day from heating water to draining BK to fermenter and partial equipment breakdown/clean up.

 

[Soulshine2]

View attachment 599383

nice brew rig....My son would be all over that squarebody of yours there in the background...what year and model is it...is it a CUCV?

 

[brew703]

I think it depends on your budget. I use a propane burner and have been for the past 4 years or so. But I am considering moving to electric (240V) set up. My main reason is to be able to brew in doors. It gets stupid hot down here in the south during the summer months and at times makes it difficult to enjoy a brew day when temps are above 100.

Complete set ups can run $1000 and up where a burner is $50 or so plus the cost of butane. But I'm in the process of selling my house and buying a new one so my electric rig will have to wait until next year. If you have the funds then I say go electric, just make sure it's 240v and not the 120v as you used in the boilermaker.

 

[Dland]

nice brew rig....My son would be all over that squarebody of yours there in the background...what year and model is it...is it a CUCV?

Yes to CUCV, that one is an '85, gen set is MEP-802a. It uses only .5 gal diesel/hr full load, so if I did have to brew off grid, it would still cost less than propane here. As it is, it is nice to do something with power produced by periodic load tests, most people just dump it in resistor bank.

To the general question, I thought gas was the only way to go, until I looked into electric. The cost of propane is quite high here, which is what prompted change over.

Adding electric to existing kettles cost less than $200 in parts and elements. Controller and sensors another $500. I figure the conversion will pay for itself in about a year in propane savings, which is 35-40 batches.

If someone is on natural gas, or has access to cheap propane, the equation would of course be different.

I now appreciate the increased heating precision, rapid response boil control (can easily turn down before boil overs and not use Fermcap S). It also saves time, as it heats faster and no more overshooting and correcting process water temps. And allows for safer indoor brewing, and is quieter and cleaner.

 

[Zepth]

You mentioned stove. Are you used to stovetop brewing? My stove died on me about 2 years ago. I would have loved to get a gas stove because time of use pricing added on top of high hydro costs is a deterrent for anything electric around here. Unfortunately I cannot afford a condo tower retrofit to get a gas line into my kitchen. Got an induction stove and very happy with it. That of course means compatible cookware / brew pot. My 2 cents if you're actually looking for a stove.

If you're looking for a brew rig setup, I recommend electric kettle.