Help me choose a burner

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DrugCoder

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I have been doing extract kits for a while and have been working towards going all-grain. I have a keggle ready for the larger boil volumes, but now I finally put it on my old turkey fryer burner only to find out that it doesn't fit. Soooo.......

I need a new burner. My first thought is to go with Blichmann because I would like to move to a top tier system some day. The main drawback to that is price. I like the looks of the new Anvil burners, but as someone here brought up the top supports don't have anything to prevent a keggle from sliding off if bumped.

So, what are your thoughts? I have no guarantee that I will end up going with a top tier system. Please feel free to suggest other manufacturers or models.
 
Lots of folks modify a burner to fit a keggle using a few pieces of steel across the top.

Sorry no experience with the burners you mentioned.

Have you considered electric?

I apologize in advance for thread drift, IMHO I feel you would be much better served with a 15 gal kettle, and electric would be the bomb :)

No disrespect to keggle lovers, I just feel they make marginal kettles. And for less than $100 one can get a shiny new 15 gal concord kettle. Jmo
 
Yeah I've seen people use the thicker charcoal grate from the kettle style grills and u bolt them to the turkey fryers so keggles will fit. I went with the bayou classic square patio burner. Think it was around $50 on Amazon. Used it for the first time this past week on my new keggle BIAB setup. I had no complaints.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456060416.240966.jpg
 
Can only speak for the Blichman that I bought. It's the best purchase I've made for brewing. Nice and quiet with good gas mileage.
 
Plus 1 to the blichmann, and I agree the anvil looks nice, but I too worry about not having pot stops.
 
I started with the bayou classic. Then I bought the blichmann - way better in every way. Wish I'd bought it at the start...
 
+1 Blichmann Top Tier burner. Best purchase I've made. So quiet and soooo fast compared to my bayou classic. So efficient....The money you save on propane will pay for itself in a year or so depending on how much you brew. Wish I wouldn't have wasted the money on the bayou. Now don't know what to do with it.
 
I am an all grain brewer and I have a keggle which I have been using for several batches now. Personally I enjoy the robust durability of the keggle and if you buy a stepped bit and an electric drill, there are limitless possibilities to modify and customize. The only slight disadvantage is that whirlpooling is not quite as good with a dimpled bottom. But to your point, it seems like you are trying to purchase a product that will suit your purposes now and for future expansion. In my opinion, this is hard to do. I purchased a Bayou Classic SP-1 jet burner and I absolutely love it. However, the keggle doesn't fit properly on the burner. So I took the grill off my Weber bowl BBQ and placed it over the burner and the keggle is nice and stable. I didn't need to bolt or weld anything. This was about a $22 fix thanks to Home Depot. My point is, maybe it would benefit you to buy a cheap quick fix and save some money while at the same time you are learning your new brew process with the keggle? Maybe after a few batches you realize you want to go a different direction? That would be a lot easier to accept for about $22 then to have gone all in on a complete system and later realize it doesn't suit your purpose.
 
I dont understand you issue it seems to me once you place the keggle on the burner the mere weight of it should hold it there , except for a earthquake or a errant tackle from a young football player. Maybe logan has the answer for the short term, I am sure the blichman would work but I don't see it as needed.:)
 
I use the Bayou KAB4. Has the same burner as the Blichmann but I don't think the construction is quite as good. It IS however half the price and puts out an insane amount of heat and it's whisper quiet. I know everyone says Blichmann and I'm sure it's a great burner, but this is a reasonable alternative.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JXYQY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
Last edited by a moderator:
After lots of research, I bought the blichmann for my new keggle a few months ago and wouldn't consider anything else, great burner, quiet and sips the propane...
 
I went Tim Allen and built one with these...
Super Hot Propane Multi Jet Burner- 32 Brass Jets

Manufacturer: Cajun Classic
10 1/8 in outer ring diameter
4 inch inner diameter

For those super hot boils, and heck, even roofing tar or asphault, this Super Hot Propane Multi Jet Burner- 32 Brass Jets can get those temps up there! This Super Hot Propane Multi Jet Burner with 23 brass jets has approximately 10,000 btu's per jet. So you can still achieve up to 230,000 btu's with this Super Hot Propane Multi Jet Burner!

I can almost assure you no one has one that will make heat like mine... :) Its so cool, turn it up and its a ball of flame 2 feet round and about 4 feet high, like a jet engine.... so cool.....

It would boil 100 gal in less than 15 min if you wanted.

Its real fun to have one.. but it doesn't make any better beer.. still....
 
I bought the Edelmetall™ Brü Burner, haven't used it yet (ups will drop off Monday) I picked this one over the blichmann bc it was a little cheaper and then Northern Brewer had a deal where I got 20% off 1 item. They have the same specs for the most part. I had the same flat square bayou burner and noticed I wasn't getting a full boil and my efficiency was suffering. Anytime I tried to increase the heat the flames would go out on one side or the other. So if your seriously thinking of upgrading don't waste your money on the cheaper stuff bc you will upgrade that sooner or later too.
 
Thanks for all the input! I figured there would be a slight preference for Blichmann but I wasn't expecting such a landslide. I think I will go with the Blichmann. I'll post pics once it arrives!
 
RunNakeDnECU said:
I bought the Edelmetall™ Brü Burner, haven't used it yet (ups will drop off Monday) I picked this one over the blichmann bc it was a little cheaper and then Northern Brewer had a deal where I got 20% off 1 item. They have the same specs for the most part. I had the same flat square bayou burner and noticed I wasn't getting a full boil and my efficiency was suffering. Anytime I tried to increase the heat the flames would go out on one side or the other. So if your seriously thinking of upgrading don't waste your money on the cheaper stuff bc you will upgrade that sooner or later too.
Click to expand...

I bought an edelmetall for the same reason you did.
wish i would have spent a few more dollars and bought a blichmann.
Its 10x better than my old bayou classic burner, but its very hard to get it to light and i sort of feel the flow adjustment might be a cheap pos.
 
I have a keggle and the SQ14 - fits perfect, very stable. You cannot beat this burner for $50. I know 4 other brewers at least who use this burner.
 
I've got two Blichman's and one SQ14. The SQ-14 is a good burner but the Blichmann's rule the roost! I'll say that the Blichmann's might be too much burner for smaller kettles though... How big is your kettle in gallons and diameter?
 
Add another vote to the Blichmann camp.

I've only used it for one brew so far though, and it's my first (and hopefully only) burner mind you.
 
Grannyknot said:
I bought an edelmetall for the same reason you did.
wish i would have spent a few more dollars and bought a blichmann.
Its 10x better than my old bayou classic burner, but its very hard to get it to light and i sort of feel the flow adjustment might be a cheap pos.
Click to expand...

I just lit it up to see how it worked. But did you mess with the air dampener to get a good air running through it. I'm gonna play with it a little tonight to see how it works.
 
Grannyknot said:
I bought an edelmetall for the same reason you did.
wish i would have spent a few more dollars and bought a blichmann.
Its 10x better than my old bayou classic burner, but its very hard to get it to light and i sort of feel the flow adjustment might be a cheap pos.
Click to expand...

Ok so I just played with it. Are you opening the valve near the air dampener all the way. (The little gas valve near the burner and dampener.) cause once I opened that then lit it the damn thing went jet engine on me. This is a pic without the gas full blast.

 
RunNakeDnECU said:
I just lit it up to see how it worked. But did you mess with the air dampener to get a good air running through it. I'm gonna play with it a little tonight to see how it works.
Click to expand...

I've had mine about 2 years and have tried every combination of air/gas mixture possible. I'm not sure if i just have a bad gas valve or what. Besides that, i'm happy with the burner. Its reduced my brewing times & propane consumption considerably. I only said I wished i'd have spent a little more because I doubt the blichmann would have the issues with ignition that i've experienced.
 
Grannyknot said:
I've had mine about 2 years and have tried every combination of air/gas mixture possible. I'm not sure if i just have a bad gas valve or what. Besides that, i'm happy with the burner. Its reduced my brewing times & propane consumption considerably. I only said I wished i'd have spent a little more because I doubt the blichmann would have the issues with ignition that i've experienced.
Click to expand...

I hear ya. Maybe they worked out some kinks since then. Haven't had a chance to brew with it but I believe I'll be happy with it. Especially from where I'm coming from.
 
RunNakeDnECU said:
I hear ya. Maybe they worked out some kinks since then. Haven't had a chance to brew with it but I believe I'll be happy with it. Especially from where I'm coming from.
Click to expand...

curious, have you lit it with a kettle on top of the burner?
my issue seems to be that a kettle traps the propane in a confined area, when you ignite it, it makes a pretty large combustion, which quickly sucks up all the oxygen, which kills the flame. I'm not smart enough to diagnose exactly what is going on, that's just my take on what is happening.
 
KAB6! It's an awesome banjo style burner in a no frills 20 in. stand. Once the air flow is set properly, I get a gorgeous array of blue flames that efficiently heats whatever I put on top of it. Best $89 I have spent on brewing.
 
johngg123 said:
+1 Blichmann Top Tier burner. Best purchase I've made. So quiet and soooo fast compared to my bayou classic. So efficient....The money you save on propane will pay for itself in a year or so depending on how much you brew. Wish I wouldn't have wasted the money on the bayou. Now don't know what to do with it.
Click to expand...


^^^^This! Probably my best investment when I started 5 years ago. It's continued to serve me well as I've expanded my system.
Quiet, efficient, reliable.
 
govner1 said:
^^^^This! Probably my best investment when I started 5 years ago. It's continued to serve me well as I've expanded my system.
Quiet, efficient, reliable.
Click to expand...

Great re-sale value on my 2 top tier burners after I went all electric too.
 

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