Blichmann Shortage

[wedge421]

Didnt this happen to them before as well? Or was that a defect in the pots or something like that?

 

[surfingpl]

I ordered my Top Tier 3/1/2011. I understand what they are going through, and I am okay with it. I just wish the communication, including the copy on their website, was a little more forthcoming. I actually decided against building my own system because 1) I really do like the top tier design and 2) I could get it right away. I am not sure if I would have made the same decision if I knew it would be a month or more to receive my order. But, I am sure I will be very happy once I get my stuff. I hope for Blichmann's and their customer's sake the supply side issues will be worked out soon.

 

[Mojoe4]

Got my 20G kettle today. Looks great only thing I see is a scratch on the inside down the length of the kettle. Not a big deal to me at all.

 

[pfooti]

Nice. I got my 30gal pots today, along with the false bottom, hop blocker, hop rocket, and three burners. Just waiting on the stand, really.

 

[emjay]

Nice. I got my 30gal pots today, along with the false bottom, hop blocker, hop rocket, and three burners. Just waiting on the stand, really.

Man... I was happy to be expecting my therminator, hop rocket, hop blocker, and just a single 15gal pot - for stovetop brewing - with a hole plug kit (LHBS owner will be putting a lower hole for the temperature gauge, more appropriate for 5gal batches) by the end of the month, but now I'm just envious! Wish I could afford that

Instead, I'm slowly acquiring parts that I'll be able to eventually have a fully-functioning, largely automatic electric brewery. Since it will take me a while to be able to afford all that, but I want to brew better ASAP, I'm trying to plan my purchases out in as organic an order as possible, spending as much as I can afford to spend on brewing (allowing space in the budget for ingredients to keep brewing, obviously) on equipment that will be a part of the eventual finished BrewHouse of Worship, but that I can also use immediately with the rest of my equipment I already have without spending a dime on anything that won't have a place in my finished BHoW.

 

[pfooti]

That was my original plan, actually- a single pot which could probably serve double or triple duty during a normal brewday (batch sparge into a temp holding vessel, clean the pot and swap the fb for a hb and turn it into a boil kettle). Definitely a good way to do it, slowly evolve and upgrade. A weird turn of events led to a big ol' investment in brewing hardware, one of those things that you don't really plan for. So I took advantage. Big blingmann brewery shall be assembled sooner or later.

The bummer about the stand being back-ordered is that I don't have a regulator for my burners. I could probably cobble together a temporary setup while waiting on the TT to ship, but without the rest of the propane hardware that is boxed with the TT, my burners are just sad shells with no real way to get them propane. Alas.

Also- good move on getting your LHBS to punch the hole in the pot for you. I just drilled out a hole in one of the lids (for a sparge / recirc / whirlpool return), since I figured I'd rather disfigure a lid then a pot. It was (a) a pain, (b) really noisy, and (c) probably ruined the stainless right around where I drilled. Got pretty hot, despite a very liberal use of cutting oil. I had drilled out my old pot, but it was a much thinner gauge of stainless. Next time I have to do something like that I'll either have a brew store do it or invest in a good punch.

 

[doctorsbro]

That was my original plan, actually- a single pot which could probably serve double or triple duty during a normal brewday (batch sparge into a temp holding vessel, clean the pot and swap the fb for a hb and turn it into a boil kettle). Definitely a good way to do it, slowly evolve and upgrade. A weird turn of events led to a big ol' investment in brewing hardware, one of those things that you don't really plan for. So I took advantage. Big blingmann brewery shall be assembled sooner or later.

The bummer about the stand being back-ordered is that I don't have a regulator for my burners. I could probably cobble together a temporary setup while waiting on the TT to ship, but without the rest of the propane hardware that is boxed with the TT, my burners are just sad shells with no real way to get them propane. Alas.

Also- good move on getting your LHBS to punch the hole in the pot for you. I just drilled out a hole in one of the lids (for a sparge / recirc / whirlpool return), since I figured I'd rather disfigure a lid then a pot. It was (a) a pain, (b) really noisy, and (c) probably ruined the stainless right around where I drilled. Got pretty hot, despite a very liberal use of cutting oil. I had drilled out my old pot, but it was a much thinner gauge of stainless. Next time I have to do something like that I'll either have a brew store do it or invest in a good punch.

I highly doubt you hurt the stainless in any way, especially from the heat, you have to remember that people weld stainless which is much hotter than a crappy drill bit will get it, for those of you wanting to drill a pot all you need is a cordless drill and a stepped drill bit, it will make short work of any holes you need to drill, id stay away from hole saws on a thin stainless pot, when it grabs it will just bent/tear it to shreds if not carefull.

 

[ruffdeezy]

I emailed them about the Toptier and they said a batch of legs were scratched and that they will hopefully catch up with shipping by the end of this week.

 

[WTF_Brewing]

I just ordered a 15 gallon boilermaker today from AHS. I guess we'll see, but I won't be needing it for another month or so anyway. Hopefully it ships by then.

My boilermaker showed up today

I'm not home, but the wife says it looks great! I can't wait to put it to use:rockin:

 

[pfooti]

Still waiting to hear about my toptier.

 

[surfingpl]

Yeah, it's been a month since I ordered my top tier. Still no eta.

 

[bumstigedy]

I got my 10 gallon boilermaker early last week. NB got me a scratch and dent one for 10% off. It looked great! The only problem was that they forgot to put the dip tube in so I had to get NB to contact blichmann and ask them to send me the dip tube. I finally have the dip tube so I'm good to go now!

 

[ruffdeezy]

Been over 3 weeks now for my Toptier. Actually starting to get really annoyed since the website still says in stock and ready for immediate shipment. To me that means they will ship it out in a business day or two.

 

[ruffdeezy]

Actually they have changed it to in stock and ready for fast shipment.

 

[ruffdeezy]

Toptier has shipped and should be here Friday. It's gonna be a fun weekend!

 

[bumstigedy]

Glad to hear that you are finally getting it!
Let us know how the assembly goes and how you like brewing on it!

 

[pfooti]

Yep, mine shipped too. I'm split between "woot" and "about dang time". 7 weeks is a long wait.

 

[ruffdeezy]

Yeah I'd be pissed if it were 7 weeks for me.

But will probably be worth the wait.

 

[Mayday99]

Ordered a Blichmann burner on 3/13 and still nothing. I really went back and forth between this burner and one of the bayou classics. Obviously second guessing it now

Not really pissed at the on line retailer, Blichmann should be the ones sending their customers an update since they already have my email (and money).

 

[Mayday99]

Ordered a Blichmann burner on 3/13 and still nothing. I really went back and forth between this burner and one of the bayou classics. Obviously second guessing it now

Not really pissed at the on line retailer, Blichmann should be the ones sending their customers an update since they already have my email (and money).

 

[ruffdeezy]

Ordered a Blichmann burner on 3/13 and still nothing. I really went back and forth between this burner and one of the bayou classics. Obviously second guessing it now

Not really pissed at the on line retailer, Blichmann should be the ones sending their customers an update since they already have my email (and money).

Their burners are mint. You won't be disappointed once you finally get it. I also ordered on the 13th. Maybe email your retailer and ask whats up because Blichmann does not notfiy the customer of the tracking number, they notify the retailer.

 

[emjay]

Their burners are mint. You won't be disappointed once you finally get it. I also ordered on the 13th. Maybe email your retailer and ask whats up because Blichmann does not notfiy the customer of the tracking number, they notify the retailer.

How do the burners stack up against some of the better bayou burners and whatnot?

All I've read on them is what's available on the Blichmann site, and since I'll be moving soon to a new place WITHOUT my semi-pro gas stove (it's an electric range), but a much better property/yard for outdoor brewing, I'll be needing a burner in a little while.

Is there any reason to get the Blichmann burner when I don't intend on ever getting a toptier stand? Capability, flexibility, and quality are my main concerns. Cost isn't much of an issue, within reason (it'll actually be largely subsidized due to the inept stove!). At least as far as the price of the burner itself goes - efficiency is definitely something to consider, but I mean it in the strictest sense of the word. As in, I'm okay with high propane usage as long as a good percentage of the BTUs actually goes towards heating the wort, on both good and bad (ie windy) days.

You seem to really like Blichmann's burners, and I'm just wondering what I can expect from it that will make me love it. I mean, most of what they make is great stuff and I would assume this is too, but aside from a set of Blichmann gloves I bought on a whim a while ago, before I even ordered the stuff I generally had a much better understanding of not only the product itself, but of what sets it apart from the competition as well. The only propane burners I've ever used were the ones that sit under the grill on big, traditional barbecues, so a lot of the difficulty for me is probably just complete ignorance regarding banjo-type burners. Sorry if that suddenly makes it a ridiculously loaded question!

Is it even possible to spend a bit more for an even better product? The tiniest bit of help would still be greatly appreciated.

 

[poislb]

Didn't want to start a new thread so since its blichmann related I will just ask. Anyone who has a blichman floor burner does it have any wobble to it when you place it on the ground? If so can you adjust it so it sits level with no rocking. Just wondering if I got a bad one or if it seems to be the theme with blichmann. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Mayday99]

Their burners are mint. You won't be disappointed once you finally get it. I also ordered on the 13th. Maybe email your retailer and ask whats up because Blichmann does not notfiy the customer of the tracking number, they notify the retailer.

Yeah, I ordered from Brewmasters Warehouse and already shot them an email, they explained about the shortage and expected the burner to be sent out soon.

The main reason I went with this burner over the less expensive bayou was that supposedly the Blichmann is more efficient. I live in the Northeast and propane is expensive ($13 for refill, $15-$20 for exchange), so this should pay for itself quickly. That and having stainless vs. smelling that awful paint from Bayou swayed me.

I am brewing this weekend (Ruination clone), guess it is the old Turkey burner again for now.

 

[Mojoe4]

Didn't want to start a new thread so since its blichmann related I will just ask. Anyone who has a blichman floor burner does it have any wobble to it when you place it on the ground? If so can you adjust it so it sits level with no rocking. Just wondering if I got a bad one or if it seems to be the theme with blichmann. Any advice would be appreciated.

Mine never wobbled, it worked really well. But I now have the blichmann stand so I no longer use the legs. I thought I read some where on the forum that Blichmann got a bad batch of legs recently. You might want to look into that.

 

[poislb]

Mine never wobbled, it worked really well. But I now have the blichmann stand so I no longer use the legs. I thought I read some where on the forum that Blichmann got a bad batch of legs recently. You might want to look into that.

Thanks for the heads up, i contacted blichmann about the issue. Hopefully in the next few days i will get an answer. Could not find any posts on here about the bad legs. Thanks again.

 

[Mpez]

I ordered my Blichmann floor burner from Northern Brewer on 3/20, It was dropped shipped from Blichmann and I had it by 3/30.

As for the burner, no wobble. I am really liking how quiet it is even when the gas is fully opened.

 

[SourHopHead]

Looking at the end of April for my 20gal & HopBlocker. Therminator was in stock at LHBS.

 

[kappclark]

So, is the Blichman situation a supply problem or demand problem ?

I was thinking of starting w/ a 20G for HLT, but I guess I can wait.

 

[pfooti]

Both, as I understand it. Their supply chain apparently had some issues at a time when demand was spiking up.

I've since gotten all my stuff and put everything together. It's a real hoot to go from a macgyver 5-gallon setup to a half-barrel stainless and shiny one.