someone help me understand different type of gasses used to boil.

[jonbomb]

I have a grill the gas tank does not say what type of gas it is but for some reason i used it tonight for the first time to try and complete my first full boil... worst brew day i ever had. Completed my sparge around 9:20pm. Started boiling my wort but there is a problem its been around two hours now and still no signs of a boil at all. took some temperatures... reached around 200 degrees but still no boil. I just added the hops as scheduled. Started at 10 o clock and continued.

I Know you are suppose to have a full boil to complete a nice beer but it just wasn't happening.

I was thinking it was the type of gas i was using. I just took the tank from my grill we use so im not sure if it was a different type of gas but it did not give me enough heat to achieve a 4 and a half - five gallon boil. Someone please give me some information to cheer me up and maybe I can feel better about the end of my brew night...

 

[pineyguy]

I'm guesing you're using a turkey fryer? Boiling anything is just a matter of heat transfer, and it takes longer to transfer enough heat to boil 5 gallons than it would 2.5. If you can do anything to keep the heat from escaping into the atmosphere before transferring through the kettle, try that. I wrap aluminum foil around the bottom of the kettle to cover up the gap between the fryer stand and the kettle, and if it's windy I have about 1/3 of a 55 gallon drum that I cut up to put around the whole thing to keep the wind from blowing away the heat. I'm pretty new to brewing so I can't really say much about the hops additions, etc. I'd guess that boiling means boiling though. One thing I learned about all this so far is that I get to schedule the start time, and the brewing schedules the rest along the way.

 

[jonbomb]

Ok so I tried something .... I went outside and took the pot off the burner anmd turned it off the flame looked really low. I noticed the regulator conntected to the propne tank was not screwed in all the way. Not the black handle that screws them both together but the actual metal thing that holds the hose to the regulator.... I tightened it and relit it and wow what a different. still its been over an hour since i started the hops schedule and I'm going to get a boil now??? how will that effect my recipe??

 

[BigEd]

I was thinking it was the type of gas i was using.

It's propane and the gas is not the problem. What kind of burner are you using and what size boil are you attempting? A burner similar to the popular models in the link below will easily achieve a boil in the 10-15 gallon range.

http://www.bayouclassiccooking.com/outdoor-patio-stoves.html

 

[jonbomb]

All i know is that its a masterbuild burner that came with a turkey fryer kit. I bought just the burner from someone not the actual pot and I am not using aluminum.

 

[buffalobrewer]

i have a double burner bayou. Sometimes when I light it up I get a small flame like you described. reattaching the gas and relighting usually works. Sounds like the same problem you had. Do you have a lid? It cuts down on my time to boil (remove when close to start of boil). You might also try surrounding the pot with flashing to run the escaping heat up the sides to help get more of it used. If it's windy my time to boil shoots way up also.

how did your brewing night end up?

 

[jonbomb]

i have a double burner bayou. Sometimes when I light it up I get a small flame like you described. reattaching the gas and relighting usually works. Sounds like the same problem you had. Do you have a lid? It cuts down on my time to boil (remove when close to start of boil). You might also try surrounding the pot with flashing to run the escaping heat up the sides to help get more of it used. If it's windy my time to boil shoots way up also.

how did your brewing night end up?

Horrible.... I started the hop schedule and by 11:00 clock still no boil I put the burner on at 9:30. No boil by 11 o clock. It got close to it you can tell i checked the temp and i left the lid on. Other then the no boil problem everything else went fine.

 

[l1ranger]

its not the gas, as it is surely propane.

if your flame is low, something is keeping it from getting enough gas to make a bigger flame, this could be in the regulator or the burner itself
or maybe somethign else? not sure on that

 

[broadbill]

The venturi tube may also be blocked....propane flowing to the burner sucks in the air required for a strong burn. If its blocked (I've blown spider nests out of mine) then neither the propane or the air will come through correctly.

 

[Brewham]

Here's some good info on BTUs and boiling times.
http://www.lalagniappe.com/mall/lobbycookerfaq.htm

I think their calculations are optimistic but the science is there.

 

[prosper]

was it windy? Wind can blow away most of your heat if you're brewing outdoors without a windscreen.

Otherwise, your average ~50 000BTU turkey fryer should easily be able to get 5 gallons to a boil in about 20 minutes.