Jon, fantastic build, an inspiration. I can not achieve what you have done, but am about to build a much more modest 10 gallon version. Like many others I will be using low pressure propane and the BG14 burners, with the Honeywell furnace control valves, standing pilots, with 2 x 15 gal. heavy duty Morebeer kettles for HLT/MT, and a 22 gal. Brewbuilt BK. These kettles all have nearly identical width. I am struggling with some frame and propane design issues, and would appreciate your feedback. Basically how can I design a frame, wind shields, etc. and get these burners to perform well under all conditions, so that I can control my temperatures during the brew day. The goal is to make great beer, I try and keep that in perspective. I want this to be my last build, and then just get on with brewing happily ever after.
I've brewed a couple batches on a friends Brutus system, and there were some temp. control issues that seemed related to his keggles sitting directly on the 2" steel frame. The massive frame in conjunction with the keggles and their skirted bottom seemed like an awful lot of thermal mass to deal with, soaking up a lot of BTU's, and then when the propane burner turned off all that metal kept dumping stored heat back into the keggles and mash, making it difficult to achieve any constant temp. Is that your experience on Brutus systems you've had, is all that framing a big heat sponge? If so, I am thinking about making a grating system for my kettles to sit on, such as a kitchen stove, instead of kettles sitting directly on the 2" frame. Or support the kettles in some other way, such as a short stub of 2 x 2" radiating from the frame inward toward the burner. It seems more appropriate to apply the flame to the kettle bottom than against all that 2x2" framing. And not have the frame blocking the flow of flame, exhaust, and heat. Grating would be supported by a somewhat wider 2x2" frame, allowing for better air flow and ventilation at the base of the kettles. This brings up the problem of the grating warping with heat. The height of the grating could be easily adjusted via bolts in the corners, acting like mini jack stands.
I also see you've used the Brewers Hardware frame design, along with their unique wind shields. This frame design only supports the kettle on three sides, and is supposed to allow burner exhaust to vent out the back of the frame. Is this frame design necessary now that you've come up with the turbo air supplement? How would you compare it to a typical Brutus frame, or with using a grating system to deal with the exhaust issue. From the video it seems if i add the air supplement a lot of the flame wash up the sides, burner exhaust issues, heat going sideways into the frame, etc. goes away, and the heat goes more directly up to the kettle bottom.
With all that said, what is your recommendation for framing, wind shield, kettle support and such?
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