Edelmetall or Blichmann

[Morrey]

I have one and IMHO I don't think youre gonna find a better IC. That being said as your wort temp gets closer to actual water temp it takes longer and longer. Sorry I'm no fluid dynamics expert somebody probably knows the science behind it. So youll need a pre chiller or a way to cool it down to pitch afterward. I have a ssbrewtech BME conical which has a coil in it and that allows me to get to pitch pretty quick. Without it other things would have to be done. Ice water batch or like I said a pre chiller (a coil in a bucket of ice water prior to the IC.

Well, we are in the heat of the summer and this is to be expected. It is only a few months of the year, so I can stick with the ice bath recirc system that works pretty well once I get down below 90. If the Hydra can shave 5-8 minutes off my total time I am dealing with now, it is worth it to me. Then, when my water supply temps lower in the fall, all will be fine. In this hottt weather, I am taking advantage of the temps to do some Gose and Berliner Weiss sours. Roll with the flow. I am pretty well sold on that Hydra.

 

[Murphys_Law]

Just received my Blichmann with extensions. Thing is much heavier than my Bayou and I can't wait to fire this baby up! It will also be nice not having to mess around with cinder blocks any longer!

 

[unviewtiful]

Well, we are in the heat of the summer and this is to be expected. It is only a few months of the year, so I can stick with the ice bath recirc system that works pretty well once I get down below 90. If the Hydra can shave 5-8 minutes off my total time I am dealing with now, it is worth it to me. Then, when my water supply temps lower in the fall, all will be fine. In this hottt weather, I am taking advantage of the temps to do some Gose and Berliner Weiss sours. Roll with the flow. I am pretty well sold on that Hydra.

I use the Hydra for 10 gallon batches and I live in southern Arizona. This weekend it was 105 F outside and I got my wort from boiling to under 70 F in about 11 minutes. I start off with the hose on full blast straight into the hydra until the wort hits ~120 F at which point I hook up my prechiller sitting in an ice bath with 40 lbs of ice ($4 at the local ice hut or at Costco). If I keep everything moving, 11 minutes is no problem. Jaded has all sorts of testing data and recommendations on chilling configuration, so follow their recommendations and you'll be able to chill very quickly.

Just received my Blichmann with extensions. Thing is much heavier than my Bayou and I can't wait to fire this baby up! It will also be nice not having to mess around with cinder blocks any longer!

But cinder blocks give the brew house so much character!

 

[Murphys_Law]

But cinder blocks give the brew house so much character!

I think those same blocks were part of my stereo stand at one point, too!

 

[Murphys_Law]

Fired up the Blichmann today - just boiled some water to test the new equipment. All I can say is: Wow!

Went from cool ground water to boil in no time and the thing doesn't sound like a Harrier Jet is landing on my deck!

I'm taking her on the maiden voyage tomorrow and looking forward to brew day!

 

[Morrey]

Fired up the Blichmann today - just boiled some water to test the new equipment. All I can say is: Wow!

Went from cool ground water to boil in no time and the thing doesn't sound like a Harrier Jet is landing on my deck!

I'm taking her on the maiden voyage tomorrow and looking forward to brew day!

One thing (besides the quiet operation and quality build) is the propane efficiency I'm getting. I have completed 3 mashes/boils for 5.5G batches plus one additional mash for a lacto sour I am preparing to boil later today. Provided (almost 100% certain) I make my 60 min boil with the remaining gas, that will be 4 full batches on one 20# propane tank. I am very impressed with this purchase!!! Good luck today!!

 

[Murphys_Law]

I used to turn up the volume on my Bluetooth speaker just to hear. No more! Need to dial in my boil off rate with the burner and new kettle but I have zero regrets with this purchase!

My tank was about half full so I'm looking forward to seeing how efficient this thing is.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I have a blichmann with the floor burners so I can't coment on the other brand. I CAN say it would probably be less expensive to custom build one using the exact same burner from Amazon. The burner plus the extensions are probably less than you could go to any welding fabricator and have them make you a stand with heat shield for less than you'd pay to have the Blichmann mailed to you. It just won't have the cool look of the blichmann everyone knows. It will have the same burner though.

 

[Morrey]

I finished my fourth 60 minute boil (plus single infusion mashes) on the same propane tank with my Blichmann burner. Hard to tell but there is a tiny bit of gas left...maybe enough to do another mash before swapping.

I fill my tanks at a local hardware store, and I honestly think the tank gets filled more with this system opposed to the pre-filled tanks you can buy in locked cages at various stores. The hardware store charges per gallon, so they are not stingy with the gas as would be the case in pre-filled tanks. Plus, I figure there may be expansion and safety issues with pre-filled tanks. None the less, 4 brews on one 20# propane tank ($10 fills) is pretty darn sweet!!! Go Blichmann!!!

 

[day_trippr]

I have a blichmann with the floor burners so I can't coment on the other brand. I CAN say it would probably be less expensive to custom build one using the exact same burner from Amazon. The burner plus the extensions are probably less than you could go to any welding fabricator and have them make you a stand with heat shield for less than you'd pay to have the Blichmann mailed to you. It just won't have the cool look of the blichmann everyone knows. It will have the same burner though.

Pics, or it's never happened

No fab shop near me would price their work that cheaply...

Cheers

 

[DurtyChemist]

Pictures of my blichmann burner?

Square tubing isn't too expensive. It shouldn't take an hour to cut and weld it up for a professional. Order the burner, give them the dimensions you want and bring your boil kettle to explain exactly what you want and see what they say. I bet if you offer a guy $50 he would do it as a side job if you bought the tubing or they used their scraps.

 

[day_trippr]

So you covered - just the legs?

My floor burner came with legs, wind screen, and pot rests.
I don't think any shop around these parts could do a one-off fab of all that and be competitive...

Cheers!