LP Propane Plumbing for Brew Stand

[Chad_C]

Little background: I currently have a 2 burner stand, each burner has a 10 psi adjustable regulator on it, that I hood each to a separate 20 lb tank. The burners are typical 10" banjo burners. They are firing under keggles, and I typically brew 5 gallon batches, although I may possibly jump to 10 gallons in future. I am trying to get away from portable tanks, as the closest place to swap or fill is over 20 mins away from my house each way.

I am trying to figure out how to plumb my brew stand for LP propane. I am going to keep manual control vs automated. The main goal is to hook up to my house supply of propane. The second option would be to have a second tank for HP propane ~ 20psi.

I currently have a QD connection in my garage for the LP propane. It is supplied by the main tank at 11" WC. From there, I was considering using a 1/2" QD hose at about 24' so I can brew outside most days. I have ordered the LP orifices from Brewers Hardware here and these needle valves from Bayou Classic. I was planning on using 1/2" black pipe on the brew stand, and control the burners with the needle valves. After looking at pipe sizing charts, 1/2" pipe at 30' is good for about 160k btus at 11" WC, or roughly 80k at each burner. I hardly run both the HLT and BK wide open at the same time.

The second option would be to get a 100 lb propane tank, and run a 20 psi 1/4" QD hose to the brew stand. The supply would then be split and connected to the original 10 psi regulators I have for each burner. It looks like using a 1/4" hose at 20 psi would supply more than enough gas to run both burners, especially since each burner would be stepped down to 10 psi, but to do this would require a second tank. However, I can't really confirm this as I haven't found a chart online other than 11" WC charts. I could have the 100 lb tank filled with the regular house tank.

Would it be best to run the stand at 11" WC, or at 20 psi? Is one option inherently better than the other? Am I missing another option?

 

[thworted]

If it were me, since the low pressure hookup from the house system is there for the taking, I would go with a low pressure burner setup and see how you like it. I wouldn't think twice about it. Low pressure burners are much quieter than high pressure, and can be easily converted to an automated setup if you choose to do that in the future. You can always do the plan B high pressure setup if it doesn't work out.

I guess one advantage to high pressure burners is that they are better suited for outdoors use due to wind, but I have 2 low pressure burners with 24V furnace valves on my rig, brewing outside, mostly 10 gallon batches, no issues. I don't see going back to high pressure burners myself.

Only thing to be aware off the top of my head with a low pressure setup is the need for properly placed wind shields if you don't have those already, and those need to be carefully placed in order to block wind while allowing the burners to vent properly (that took some trial and error for me, but placement is fairly easy to optimize over a few tests).

 

[day_trippr]

A bg14 on NG at the typical domestic pressure levels will run around 50-60Kbtus - much lower than on propane, but sufficient for decent size batches.
The biggest problem most encounter once they have the correct orifice installed is the burner will tend to run rich as the gas velocity is so low it doesn't pull enough O2 into the plenum.

Most folks just live with it and try to tune the burners to avoid sooting up the kettle bottoms, but there are alternatives

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=538762
Cheers!

 

[Chad_C]

Thanks guys, I am going to give the LP route a shot, eventually. I ended up brewing this weekend using the HP setup and 20 lb tanks. It’s certainly doable for now, while I slowly gather up everything I need to make the conversation.

 

[DosGatosBrewing]

Any progress on this? I have a high pressure bayou classic, and would like to run it on the house propane (11" water column). I got it hooked up, but it wouldn't roast a hot dog with the lower pressure. I really like my burner, and may have to be content lugging propane tanks around, but I'd really like to use the 300 gallon tank buried 10 yards from my brew patio. We have that tank filled by a nice dude with a truck and 100' hose.

 

[Surly]

Any progress on this? I'd really like to use the 300 gallon tank buried 10 yards from my brew patio. We have that tank filled by a nice dude with a truck and 100' hose.

having been in the same exact situation I actually asked the nice dude with a truck....he gave me the advice I needed. Then, came back to install from the tank to my brewery door. His company wants to sell more LP. Home brewing with twin 170 BTU burners is good incentive.