questions regarding direct fire 1bbl brewery

[J311gonzo]

Hello, I'm beginning my build of a single bbl brewery. I've aquired three fifty-five gallon stainless steel drums similar to the ones in the link below.

https://www.usedstainlesssteelbarre...al-304-used-stainless-closed-head-barrel-9mm/

However I am not sure of the thickness of the steel. I want to use a 32 tip natural gas burner underneath both the HLT and the BK...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADPCSMA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

as for the MLT I was planning on insulating it and maintaining temps with a HERMS coil if needed. My questions are do I have to worry about this burner burning a hole in the bottom of my kettles and what do you think I'm looking at time wise to get 30-35 gallons of wort up to boil??

as always thanks everyone!

:rockin:
-J

 

[rcsoccer]

It looks like the thickness of the steel is 0.9 mm. Not very thick, IMO, but it should work. Most brew kettles are only a maximum of 3-4 mm thick on the bottom. I think they would be fine with that burner, but it will probably take a while to get it up to a rolling boil. I would recommend starting the burner when as soon as you start your run-off with a fly sparge. You should be up to a rolling boil by the time you have your full boil volume. This will all depend on the sparge time. Set a timer when you do your first brew.

That burner should probably work ok. Make sure you have a high pressure regulator attached to it. I would think that the burner you are referencing will do the job. Again, you are going to have to give it a try to figure out how long it will take. I would say that it wouldn't burn through the bottom.

Have you built the system yet?