Boiling on the grill?

I just thought of this randomly... Would it be possible to brew beer on a gas grill??? Say your stock pot doesnt get heated enough on an electric stove...

 

Doesn't work well. Tried it on second batch ever after swmbo said no more inside brewing. Took FOREVER to begin the boil and didn't stay at a boil unless it was super shielded. Also, most grills side burners aren't sturdy enough to hold a full boil.

 

Hmmm... That sucks. What would be a good outside burner?

 

Propane Turkey fryer is the most used.

 

You can get the turkey fryer combo (propane burner with 34qt al pot) for around $60 at lowes/THD/Menards. Or buy a burner from amazon for $30.

 

My SWMBO is a taxidermist. When it's been to cold outside for her while we're on the road, I've built a campfire outside, and boiled out animals so we could get the skulls/skeletons. That's a lot of boiling, but it can be done.
I don't think a grill is going to be big enough. I mean, it could be done, but a bonfire/campfire works pretty nicely.

Or just buy a hotplate. Haha.

 

Only 60 bucks!? Whohoo! Going to lowes today!

Is this the model you speak of:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=48651-58355-20020107&lpage=none

 

I have seen it done, but as others mentioned, its not easy. It will work better if you clear a path for the flame to reach the kettle (ie. clear away the lava rocks etc).
Lucky for me, my grill had a separate burner for pots.

 

Yeah, that's the one I have seen there. I've never used, it, but I've looked at it... for what it's worth.

 

Sounds gnarly... Hope she doesn't complain about the smell of beer brewing

 

I don't think she minds. But she'd have no right to complain if she did.
I've dealt with all sorts of ungodly death smells.

I think we're a good match. ha.

 

Tried the grill as an experiment and it didn't work at all. SWMBO got me a propane turkey fryer burner for my birthday and it rocks! I don't think I've ever opened it up all the way and it boils 3 and 4 gallons (I do 2.5 gallon batches) with ease. (And it sounds bad-ass too when you do crank it up!)

 

You probably already bought it, but I have that exact one and it works kickass.

I did full 5 gallon boils in the 7.5 gallon pot for a while, then bought/built a keggle, (keg, with top cut off, is now a pot). It boils the keg great too, (I've done 12 gallon batches, no worries). Only trick is the keg doesn't QUITE balance on the burner right. The keg rim is the same diameter as the burner ring. To fix this, I used a 4 dollar piece of steel from lowes, it's 1/8"x1" wide. I cut two 15" long bars from it and laid them on the burner ring, and those act as supports for the keg. If you have any questions about that in the future, PM me and I'll take a pic and send it.

All-in-all, I love the burner/pot.

 

If you can wait a month these things always go on sale right after Thanksgiving and also show up on Craigslist at the same time at great prices.

 

I had this same question - my grill has a side burner for pots. Will this actually work? I totally forgot all about this thing because I don't use it that often! I plan on starting out with just small extracts inside (or outside if i can do it on that grill!)

Thanks

 

I have one of these. Perfect for a keggle with inches to spare and really sturdy too. Google "SQ-14"

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http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-SQ14-Single-Outdoor/dp/B0009JXYQ4

 

I did my first batch ever on a grill side burner. It was from extract so maybe 2 gallons at the most. It was doable but remember a side burner is about 5,000 BTU where as a Turkey fryer starts at about 50,000+

 

What do you guys think about an infrared grill? Would that do the job?

I'm thinking something like this.