Grill brewing?

So, SWMBO declared that I can't brew in the house because it SMELLS bad?!!!! I could not and cannot grasp what her senses are telling her. I love the smell of boiling hops. Anyway, since I don't yet have a propane burner, someone suggested I try boiling on the grill. Take out the piece of metal that is covering the flames etc. I told them it wouldn't work. I have a 30 aluminum turkey fryer, has anyone tried this with success?

Also, I'm going out to buy the necessary items to build a mash tun today. Going to follow this guide: http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/mashtun.htm. Any suggestions/thoughts? Can I use regular 3/8" tubing for the whole build, or do I need some high-temp tubing?

 

I got the same smells bad speech from my girlfriend. I feel your pain friend. I did move outside with a hot plate temporarily. I can't tell if you are talking about a propane grill or a charcoal one. The propane would be fine, just try and get the heat up enough for a good boil. That said, I don't think its a good idea to put an aluminum pot on a charcoal flame. Its hot enough to melt your pot (if there was no liquid inside to cool it). Its unlikely that it actually will, but not worth the risk to me. The other problems with charcoal are lack of oxygen getting to coals and developing cold spots. You might run into a lot of problems with keeping the heat consistent. You would have to monitor it constantly. Get yourself a nice hotplate for about $10 at walmart or something, heck, get two. You can find cheap propane burners on craigslist or if you're desperate, Ebay. Another option is installing a hotstick into your kettle. I've seen many threads illustrating this method for small batch brewing. There are a multitude of how to's on the subject as well.

 

Thanks, I forgot to mention that it is a propane grill. It seems like the flames wouldn't be high enough or something lol. Maybe it'll work, I'll try it. Also, I can't understand people not liking the smell hahaha.

 

It's been brought up in a few threads in the past and I think the consensus was that it wouldn't work. The grill wouldn't get the pot hot enough to boil effeciently and side burners wouldn't support the weight. Worth trying if you want to throw a kettle of water on and see what it does though.

 

Yeah, I figured as much

 

Well HBTers i actually tried to brew on my grill a few years ago, it is a few steps up from a base model propane grill (been so long dont remeber the exact BTU rating) has three main burners and a side burner.

I tried the side burner, reinforced with a couple of spare 2x4s i had laying around to take the weight of the kettle, turned the burner on high, not enough power to boil the water.

Next i tried all three main burners on high, still wasnt enough to boil the water. I tried to get it to boil for more than 90 minutes i beleive and after the temperature plateaued i gave up.

Then decided to just brew indoors, make the house smell like boiling hops and piss off the SWMBO instead of wasting the batch.

So in short, if its a low or mid range propane grill i doubt it can brew beer.

 

Brew inside when she's not home? Get a cheap turkey fryer propane burner?

http://bayouclassiccooking.com/

Their doing a 20% off sale today

Enter code BlackFriday20

 

Still seems a bit pricey for a burner..

 

problem solved no?

 

Well, I have the kettle but not the propane burner.

 

Here's the one I use.

$40 + Free Shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000291GBQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

even if you could get a boil on a grill, it would be a pain in the ass (always worrying about the grill collapsing from the weight as well)
Buy a burner, they arent that much. You will be glad you did after wards.

 

Or just buy an new girlfriend!

 

+1....Was going to recommend the same thing.

 

Alrighty, might commit to getting this. Would a burner that comes with a turkey fryer kit suffice? I may just try to find one of those on sale since thanksgiving has passed.

 

OIC
misread it..

 

Grow some nads homeboy, and brew in the damn house. Seriously. I would understand if you were wrecking the kitchen but because it smells bad? Tell her to get over it.

 

Agreed... My wife tried to pull that $hit on me as well, and I told her fine, I'll buy the stuff to brew outside, but she couldn't paint her nails inside anymore either because that stinks as well. Needless to say I still brew inside and still have to smell her nail polish.

 

i use turkey fryer propane burners like the ones mentioned in this thread for 5 gallon full boils. no issues, and no stinky house. i did my first partial boil on the stove and it took forever to get the water up to temp. propane does it quickly, i think my burners are somewhere around 45,000 btus.

 

We men like to talk big and put the woman in her place. I recommend going with the burner outside if you like getting laid. If not, better figure out how to please yourself with brewing gear.

 

HMMMM¿

nevermind..........

 

I got THIS ONE at Academy. It will boil five gallons but it does take a while.

 

That's the one I have now. It sucks balls man, but it does work.

Let me elaborate on that,

It only sucks balls because it takes almost an hour to boil 6.5 gallons of wort from 150* F or so. I don't like it because it adds an hour onto my brew day. Anyways, if you have the time and don't want to spend much money, go for it!

J

 

spend a little money on a burner, you will not regret it and even for a real nice one it is one of the cheaper all grain or full boil pieces of equipment

 

This. I've never boiled inside, but I do everything else inside. The wort draining from the mash tun smells awesome to me. One of my roommates hates it, she thinks every batch smells awful. One of the other girls thinks hops smell like green beans.

 

Really? $50 seems pretty good.

 

Sounds like its time for a new SWMBO to me

 

problem solved?

 

I can definitely see how non-brewers would think that brewing smells bad. I went on a tour of the Sierra Nevada brewery a few days ago with some non-brewers, one of them used to live near the Anchor brewery and he said he remembered it smelling like tomato soup. To them it's just a weird smell, to us it's the smell of impending greatness. I don't think it would matter what it smells like, I'd still convince myself that it smelled great.


I'll chime in against the grill. I'm sure it gets plenty hot enough, but the heat is far too spread out. If you had a custom made pot that was exactly the size of the grate surface, I bet it would work just fine.

 

Problem solved. Good advice McKBrew!

-OCD

 

The propane turkey frier works like magic. Do that option. Seriously, its great. You can find them in lots of sizes, with matching kettles and easy fittings. Some complain about them being slow, but that is nonsense. Mine works great, I don't see any reason to get a "better" system in the short term. Also they are friggin' everywhere... check out lowes or Home Depot. I got mine for 50 bucks, its a 6 gal. aluminum pot. I fitted it with a ball-valve and couldn't be happier with it. The propane tanks are readily available too at any gas station or convenience store. Propane is cheap, easy and clean.

Anyone estimated how many brew sessions they get out of one full propane tank???