Edelmetall BRU Burner from Northern Brewer

[DrummoRC]

Now I found these on EBAY - thinking that I will skip both the Edelmetell and the Blichmann and go for one of these! Legs built in and double burners!!!! or TRIPLE!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CONCORD-Dou...454?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20dadb3c96

 

[CCBrewer]

Really Copper? It looks like a B*tch to keep clean.

and I have used bent square tubing for Deer feeders... They break with stress over time, corrosion will get to it in the end.


So they are using a German translation of "Precious Metal"?

I do not see the appeal of floor burners, it must be a Space issue.

Are the legs copper or anodized?

 

[kh54s10]

This stood out for me also. They are pre-kinked. Apply a little heat and 10-20 gallons of wort?????

I'll stick with my $45 SP10.

Well, their video does away with questions of holding weight.

I'll still stick with $45 Sp10 burners.

 

[texwake]

Just purchased the Edelmentall burner, their getting rave reviews. I'm sure they will come out with a replacement to extend the legs sometime, the product is only 6 months old or so. Figured I wanted to go with somthing different.

 

[Ginsahhn]

Just received this burner and I am geeked about it! Looks to be the same or very similar cast iron burner to blichmann and banjo burners. NB has a 250lb capacity (30 gallons-H20) on the edelmetall while blichmann states 150lb on theirs. The edelmetall is about 10lbs heavier which means more metal! Very solid construction and looks better than other burners on the market. Looking forward to a larger kettle and mashtun to really put this thing to work. I'm confident this burner will last well into a full barrel setup. The fittings for kettle size adjustment are thick and they attach between two ports and not just the outside of the stand with two tiny nuts. The ports are the top of thick steal legs which are inside the three copper legs...good burner through and through

 

[Roho]

Went through two of these and ended up with a Blichmann. Had issues with no gas flow and unable to light to very little heat output. All the shiny parts will burn off in less than an hour. Don't buy one. Midwest Supplies took care of me but still a huge hassle and almost ruined two brew sessions. It is definately an inferior product. The Blichmann puts out at least twice the heat as the Edelmetall.

 

[Theheadsn]

Bit the bullet and bought one of these. With the 20% coupon that NB is doing right now, on top of not having to wait almost a month to get the Blichmann burner, figured I'd try this one out. From what it looks like the burner itself is almost the exact same as the Blichmann one. For all the people saying other burners are quicker or slower, I think a lot of it is subjective. One this is a low pressure burner, so comparing it to say a Bayou Classic is comparing apples to apples. This seems, along with the Blichmann, that it needs to be dialed in before your first bowl. Never understood why people wont just fill their pot with water, then tweak all the things they need to BEFORE brew day. To each his own I suppose

 

[day_trippr]

[...]This seems, along with the Blichmann, that it needs to be dialed in before your first bowl.[...]

Say what now?

Cheers!

 

[Theheadsn]

stupid autocorrect ... I meant boil haha

 

[tehnick]

I ALMOST picked up one of these burners, but decided in the end to go with a Blichmann and spend the extra $10. I had seen them in person already, knew how they performed, and knew that it would be a good investment in the long run. I had previously tried a Darkstar burner from NB and it was a complete piece of ****. All I could get out of the damn thing was a yellow flame and I didn't appreciate the run around on troubleshooting it that I got from them. In the end I just went to the LHBS since it would have been the same price, and the dude there kicked down some extra yeast and StarSan for being a regular and keeping it local.

I plan on getting two more of the burners and bolting them into an automated brewstand. I'll rip off some of the blingmann ideas like their rotameters for regulating sparge flow and will probably use their controllers. I have a flow meter sourced for monitoring water so I can save on equipment with sight glass and will measure all dead space in the kettles and lines to dial it all in.

I think that in terms of practicality and the ability to expand that you can't go wrong with the Blichmanns if you want to take your brewing to a different level. It seems their products are well thought out for brewing, even though expensive. But you can't go wrong with stainless across the board.

 

[Theheadsn]

I plan on doing a video or at least taking pictures once mine comes in. The lack of both online sucks, so figured I'd help other people out. Does anyone by chance if they make a manifold or a way to convert this into a nature gas burner? Might end branching off my gas line and just running NG to it, could be easier in the long run.

 

[ITV]

I purchased the Edelmetall burner with the intent of using natural gas. My first attempt was to drill a larger orifice in the needle valve that came with the Edelmetall. I discovered that the needle valve was too small for this to work.

My next attempt was to order the Blichmann natural gas converter. http://www.brewandgrow.com/brew/equipment/burners/blichmann-natural-gas-conversion-kit.html
This worked out great. I had to drill and tap the burner on the Edelmetall since the threads on the Blichmann natural gas converter are larger.

As far as the copper tarnishing, I have sprayed clear lacquer on the Edelmetall before using it and it still looks great after 3 batches of beer.

I can heat 5 gal of water to 180 Deg. F in 30 minutes using a 1/2" gas line shared by my garage heater. I will have my Plumber son pipe in a 1" dedicated gas line to my garage in hopes to provide more BTU's to the burner.

Since I am new to all-grain, this is my first burner so I don't have any comparisons but I am very pleased with my setup.

 

[Theheadsn]

I can heat 5 gal of water to 180 Deg. F in 30 minutes using a 1/2" gas line shared by my garage heater. I will have my Plumber son pipe in a 1" dedicated gas line to my garage in hopes to provide more BTU's to the burner.

Coming from a fellow plumber, be careful doing this. Especially with your water heater gas line. You are more then likely going to starve either the burner or the water heater which will make it burn hotter then it needs to. Get your son to run the new line as soon as you can to prevent any long term damage. Short term you're probably ok.

Can you take a picture of the NG tap on the burner? Would love to see how yours came out. As far as the lacquer, is it just the rattle can kind? And did you tap it all off or just spray over the outside finish? Surprised its actually holding up to heat

 

[ITV]

My garage heater is a wall type 30K BTU room heater not a water heater which came in handy when I brewed in 20 deg. weather. My son needs to extend to my main gas line (1") for a tank less water heater. He will T off of that to feed my garage with a 1" line for the burner.

The clear lacquer is the rattle can type and I sprayed both the inside and outside, I removed the burner itself to avoid getting any lacquer on it. I noticed that the screws were not all very tight (some were snug) so I made sure to tighten all of them when I reassembled the burner.

Attached is a picture of my burner in action.

 

[Theheadsn]

Looks good thanks for posting the picture.

How do you like it so far? Quality and heating ability?

 

[ITV]

Looks good thanks for posting the picture.

How do you like it so far? Quality and heating ability?

I am very happy with my natural gas converted Edelmetall burner. The original needle valve that came with it (for use with propane) I felt was too flimsy since the valve is smaller in diameter. The Blichmann natural gas converter valve feels much more rugged and the control from the needle valve works great for controlling the temperatures.

Since this is my first burner so I can't compare it to others but I am happy with bringing wert to a full boil in 45 minutes. I will have to wait until my new gas line is installed to see if I can improve on the heating times. I also like how quiet this burner is.

 

[BeardedBeerMan]

.

Attached is a picture of my burner in action.

Is that a half barrel keggle? I recently procured one myself and my current burner (an old 35K BTU Camp Chef burner, that I have to use a grill grate to set the keg on) does not have enough oomph to get ~7 gallons of wort to a boil - it seems to just max out at about 200 degrees. Even with a lid on.

I've been torn between purchasing a new burner or an actual kettle and just using my current burner. I figured if a new kettle would sit on the stand without the use of the grate it would be more likely to achieve a boil (and don't most kettles have a chunk of aluminum in the bottom to help heat better?)

 

[ITV]

That is a half barrel keggle. My keggle does not have a chunk of aluminum in the bottom, it appears to be 100% stainless steel.

Attached are photos of it in action heating 10 gal batch of beer at Two Brothers on National Brew Day. I was running my burner on propane that day and used up approx. 1/4 tank of propane. The Edelmetall has plenty of BTU's to bring a 10 gal batch to a full boil.

 

[BeardedBeerMan]

Awesome!! That makes up my mind, now if Northern Brewer would just run that 20% off again... Had a feeling I should have just bought it then!

 

[Genacide]

For those looking to pick one of these up Midwest is currently running a promotion that you get free leg extensions when buying the burner.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/pages/promos/buy-a-bru-burner-get-free-leg-extensions.html

 

[Vesteroid]

I have both burners. I picked up the NB when I got a coupon for 20% off and that sealed the deal for me. If I had it to do over I would buy the blicmann. In total its a better burner for 10 dollars more (but that 20% off got me).

Funny thing is I went with the mega pots 10 gallon all gran set up on that 20% off sale too and hade a blicman 10 gallon already for my boil kettle.

On the pots, the blickmann feels like a lighter gauge pot, or maybe its the bottom but its lighter....BUT the fitting on the blichmann are WAY better than what came with the mega pots. the bulkheads are so floppy I went to brewershardware and got real bulkhead and valves to replace what came on the mega pots.

I finally got them not to leak, but the darn thing moved all over the place when you worked the valves.

I am not sure how much more it would have cost them to upgrade the bulkheads, but say it was 30 bucks, it would have been money well spent.

 

[Trippel-A]

I got the Edelmetall BRU Burner with leg extensions. I need a brew day now to get it cooking. But my impression from assembly is, good design, good materials, poor craftsmanship. I really like the style and all, and all the metal parts are very sturdy and thick. Robust! But poor craftsmanship shows when the screw holes don't line up for the leg extensions, and things like that.

 

[Trippel-A]

I finally got a chance to use my new Edelmetall burner. It's great. I think the actual burner component is the same as in the Blichmann, so I'm not surprised that it's powerful and quiet and very easy to control with the needle valve. And the housing does a good job shielding from the wind. It wasn't terribly windy on Saturday, just a little gusty. It will be interesting to see how it does in stronger wind.

Unlike with my old turkey fryer, there is no constant flaring, no need to keep relighting, and no thick layer of carbon left on the bottom of the pot.

Also, in my garden, where the pavers aren't perfectly level, 3 spread legs are better than 4 straight legs. It is extremely solid and sturdy.

Finally, some of the copper near the flame did turn a little iridescent by the end of the day, which is pretty darn good looking.

I did learn that with a propane tank approaching empty, I couldn't get it hot enough to keep 12 gallons of wort at a full, rolling boil. I had to swap out the tank before the tank was empty. Which is kind of a bummer. But I'll use what's left in the tank to heat mash water or something next time.

 

[jpmess]

Question for you trippel. How were you using the needle valve? To fine tune the flame or to increase it? I did a test boil last night and it worked well but I just the left the needle valve open all the way. I used the regulator to increase or decrease the intensity of the flame. I agree with you, it has decent materials but poor craftsmanship. I tested it with 5.5 gallons of water at 62 degrees and it took 32 minutes to boil. Outside temp was 55 degrees. No black soot or anything on the kettle. The tank was low so I don't know if that made a difference or not.

I also did get a pretty wicked smell off the burner though. It smelled like the clear coat on the copper was burning off. I'm going to use it a few more times to burn anything else off.

[yt]icrod55voHA[/yt]

 

[Trippel-A]

@jpmess I agree about the fumes. Probably the clearcoat. I used the needle valve to fine tune and kept the regulator on the gas open. I also had issues with a low tank, as I mentioned before. It definitely didn't take me that long to get 12+ gallons to a boil, though.