Survey: Lets hear why you prefer Propane over Electric Brewing

[MaxStout]

I brew outside when it isn't cold, doing BIAB over propane. Wintertime I make 2.5 gal batches on the stove. If I were to go full electric indoors, I'd need to build in some kind of ventilation for all the water vapor, something I'd rather not do.

 

[corkybstewart]

I've never run out of propane in a thunderstorm! I also lived where electricity was not nearly as dependable as propane.

 

[PersonalBrewer]

I posted to this thread a couple of years ago.

Since then, I've had several good cash flow years and have thought about upgrading my system to electric. I've got space in the garage I could use.

After looking around and pricing various setups and thinking it through I've just decided to keep the propane setup, I like what I'm doing and enjoy it, it's as much a fun hobby as I've ever had.

I do brew in a bag, and have got 10 gallon batches in a fifteen gallon kettle down pat.

Maybe if I was physically unable to do what I'm doing it would be different.

However, I have not been able to taste the difference if I'm off temp a bit. If so, it's only for a while till I adjust.

I don't get into PH of mash, and finer details. I'm just drinking great beer that I like and having fun.

As a semi-retired old fart that's 74, I don't want it to be too much like work.

 

[firerat]

I use my mash and boil more than anything else as it's small, easy to set up, and I can use it in the tiny storage unit I call my brew shed. It rains here everyday for 8 months out of the year and I don't have a covered patio, so being able to brew in my little unit without messing with the pop-up tent is a huge plus.

That being said I prefer propane when weather permits. My BIAB setup is just more efficient reaching temps and I love using my 11 gallon pot. If I ever get out of this tiny toenhouse and into a spot with cover I'll likely use propane exclusively.

 

[wsmith1625]

Anyone using induction burners? I'm using propane and thought induction might be an easy upgrade. Once I read up on it, I hit a few snags and gave up. My kettle geometry is off and I like doing 5 gallon batches which require the larger 3500W burners. Has anyone worked around these issues?

 

[BongoYodeler]

Around here we get around 300 sunny, warm days a year.
I have a natural gas line running to my back patio where I have my gas grill and my brewing setup.
I bought the natural gas conversion kit for my Blichmann burner.
I have no easy access to 220v electric.
The choice was easy.

 

[corkybstewart]

Anyone using induction burners? I'm using propane and thought induction might be an easy upgrade. Once I read up on it, I hit a few snags and gave up. My kettle geometry is off and I like doing 5 gallon batches which require the larger 3500W burners. Has anyone worked around these issues?

I brew in converted kegs so I don't think induction would work on stainless steel pots, but I might be wrong. It's one reason we decided against an induction range for the kitchen.

 

[enkamania]

I am weird and love to brew outside. I do mash inside the garage now.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I am weird and love to brew outside. I do mash inside the garage now.

Your weirdness is my normal.

 

[VTX1300]

What weather? This is perfect! A propane fire outside. How things are meant to be.

 

[VTX1300]

I am weird and love to brew outside. I do mash inside the garage now.

So how do you brew outside in Seattle? I lived in Tacoma for three years and all I remember are the cold rainy season, the warm rainy season and the four weeks of summer. absolutely LOVED the summer, it's Just not long enough.

 

[z-bob]

I do a mix. (Propane is cheap to set up but expensive to run unless you buy your propane in bulk) I heat my strike water with a 5500W electric bucket. I generally bring 3 gallons to a full boil and add a gallon of cold water, and that gets me pretty close to strike temperature. The bucket boils the water so fast, I could boil several buckets if I was doing larger batches. In the winter I mash and boil on the natural gas kitchen stove with a 110V heat stick for an assist. In the summer, I use a propane turkey fryer burner instead of the stove, but I still use the heat stick to drastically reduce the amount of propane I use. I crank it up to get to a boil, then turn the gas way down and let the heat stick do most of the work.

 

[Transamguy77]

Propane for me all the way, way more convent and portable. Electric has way more going on, some aspects are appealing to me but not with the time, money or energy to switch.

I love seeing the electric setups you guys have, it just doesn’t appeal to me. And as far as weather goes brewing in the summer I know I need to start later in the day so it’s a bit cooler as the brew finishes up and I don’t mind the cold so brewing in the winter I actually enjoy and the wort cools pretty quick with the cold ground water.

 

[memphisbrews]

I brew on a propane three vessel HERMS system, a propane BIAB system and a Picobrew Zymatic which is electric. The HERMS system is BCS controlled and mostly automated but a pain to clean. The other two systems are much easier to use and cleanup is a fraction of the effort.

At this point in my life, I think that the simpler the better. If I were to start brewing from scratch, I would get one of the automated BIAB electric systems like the GrainFather but they were not available 10 years ago when I built my huge system. I brew in my garage but if you live in an area where you can setup a basement brewery, that sounds ideal. If you can get a 240V system setup it would be even better.

This is a really fun hobby and there is no reason to over complicate it unless that is just what you enjoy (that was me before having kids).

 

[jrgtr42]

Anyone using induction burners? I'm using propane and thought induction might be an easy upgrade. Once I read up on it, I hit a few snags and gave up. My kettle geometry is off and I like doing 5 gallon batches which require the larger 3500W burners. Has anyone worked around these issues?

I use induction. I didn't change anything from my previous propane rig except how I'm heating water.
I upgraded my kettle- which I was thinking about doing anyway.
Many stainless steel pots will work with induction - they usually are labeled as such, but the quick and easy way is if a magnet sticks to the bottom, you're good.
My old Graniteware pot even works on my induction.
I find the time to temp is much faster than my old, mid-range propane rig (I do still keep that for other uses and if I want / need to be portable.)
From tap to strike is around 20 minutes, and less than that from sparge to boil - I batch sparge, and if I'm not careful, my first runnings are boiling before the sparge is timed out.

 

[hooper]

Buying propane is not fun. Modified my propane burner to use natural gas. Put a quick disconnect in the gas line at the A/C unit. Run a 50 Ft hose that I use in the garage or out the back window to brew in the backyard. Gravity feed from a 10 gallon Igloo to a 10 gallon Spike kettle to 6 gallon batches. Electric looks intriguing but my system works and I'm not into pumps and hoses.

 

[enkamania]

So how do you brew outside in Seattle? I lived in Tacoma for three years and all I remember are the cold rainy season, the warm rainy season and the four weeks of summer. absolutely LOVED the summer, it's Just not long enough.

Actually, wind is a bigger problem than rain. I don't mind a little rain. I can always run back in the garage.

 

[wsmith1625]

I use induction. I didn't change anything from my previous propane rig except how I'm heating water.
I upgraded my kettle- which I was thinking about doing anyway.
Many stainless steel pots will work with induction - they usually are labeled as such, but the quick and easy way is if a magnet sticks to the bottom, you're good.
My old Graniteware pot even works on my induction.
I find the time to temp is much faster than my old, mid-range propane rig (I do still keep that for other uses and if I want / need to be portable.)
From tap to strike is around 20 minutes, and less than that from sparge to boil - I batch sparge, and if I'm not careful, my first runnings are boiling before the sparge is timed out.

I'm doing 5 gallon BIAB batches, so strike water volume without a sparge is between 8-8.5 gallons. Can your setup handle this? I'm very interested in what equipment you have. Thanks.

 

[jrgtr42]

I'm doing 5 gallon BIAB batches, so strike water volume without a sparge is between 8-8.5 gallons. Can your setup handle this? I'm very interested in what equipment you have. Thanks.

I have a 10 gallon kettle. I'm not sure if it will handle that volume water plus however much grain - I do traditional 3-vessel brews.
Guessing a 12 - 15 kettle might be a better idea.

 

[beernutz]

Just dropping in to add that 20# propane refills are $9.99 at Costco.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Propane heats faster and is more portable then electric, if neither of those are what you’re after than go electric

I don't necessarily think that's true. I was using a 200,000 BTU Bayou Classic SAB4 ( a very high output burner) and switched to a 240 induction burner. I heat up faster to strike and from mash temp to boil with the induction burner.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Wow...you can tell who lives in a region with perpetually nice weather. All the comments about brewing outside. I brewed a batch in my garage (propane) during the Polar Vortex. It was -30F outside and, due to the propane and CO risk, I was forced to keep the garage door partially open. That was brutal and really drove me to electric. Without electric, brewing in Dec-Feb is an adventure where I live. We Iowans are a hardy bunch, but it takes a lot to sit in sub zero temps waiting for strike water to heat or the boil to commence.

Also, I had no idea portability was a thing. I have never hauled my gear somewhere else to brew and really don't ever see myself doing that. I am in a brew club and I've never heard of any of them taking their brewing rigs on the road. Apparently some people do it though.

I will say this. I've read a lot about different brewing rigs here and if I've heard anyone say they would like to go back to propane after trying electric, I don't remember it. Those people would be a massive minority.

 

[LittleRiver]

... I had no idea portability was a thing...

I brew at my shop, where I've set up three different areas for brewing.

One is on the loading dock with a great view across the valley to the mountain. The second is just inside the loading dock door, I use this one in cold or "iffy" weather. The third is underneath a shed roof on the side of the building, for rainy days.

Propane gives me a lot of flexibility.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I brew at my shop, where I've set up three different areas for brewing.

One is on the loading dock with a great view across the valley to the mountain. The second is just inside the loading dock door, I use this one in cold or "iffy" weather. The third is underneath a shed roof on the side of the building, for rainy days.

Propane gives me a lot of flexibility.

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Nice view. After years of hauling my gear up from storage to the garage to brew, I finally have my own dedicated brewing area. I have zero interest in hauling my gear to different places to brew. That being said, I still have my Bayou Classic SAB4 burner and propane tanks if I needed to for some reason, but I'm guessing they'll never get used again (unless my electric rig fails).

 

[shoengine]

So how do you brew outside in Seattle? I lived in Tacoma for three years and all I remember are the cold rainy season, the warm rainy season and the four weeks of summer. absolutely LOVED the summer, it's Just not long enough.

Easy. Temps are between 80-40 for the majority of the year. We have one week of snow every few years and maybe a week above 90 a year. Rain? That's nothing.

 

[LuckyBeagleBrewing]

I do 10 to 20 gallon batches and I live in a deregulated state where the electricity rate is through the roof. I only use electric for the rims system. For the big boils I still get the most out of my propane.

Maybe if I could ever afford to cover the whole house with solar panels I might consider electric.

 

[VTX1300]

Actually, wind is a bigger problem than rain. I don't mind a little rain. I can always run back in the garage.

I was living in Tacoma and working in Bremerton. I do remember many white knuckle trips across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge due to high wind. Did a lot of those trips on a motorcycle, Dam scary ride!

 

[Lalo_uy]

Not easy to run electric over 2500W here in Uruguay.
Most houses have 3600W input limit.
Going over that is expensive.
There are many people with BIAB system, but no more than 30L.
Propane in the other hand es cheap and ubiquitous. A 13Kg balloon give me 3 run on my 50L 3 vessels .

 

[wilserbrewer]

Ok you are either going w a 25 gallon pot propane fired, or an electric 7.5 gallon Mash and Boil system.

your two choices couldn’t be further apart lol.

you do realize how huge a 25 gallon pot is?
I would find a 20-25 gallon pot inconveniently large for 5 gallon batches.

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

No preference for propane at all, but I would like to point out that electric brewing need not include all of the bells and whistles most often presented in the forum here.

I would prefer a stupid simple 2000w element on a 20 amp gfi 8-10 gal kettle manually controlling temps as everyone does on a propane system, over brewing with propane.

Cost is very low, just an element mounted in a pot or a heat stick and a cord, and get fancy with a basic switch to turn on and off. With a low wattage set up, there is really no need to turn it down....inexpensive and easy. A little patience required.

Propane is simple, a tank and a burner is all that's needed. A lot more to think about with electric.

My electric setup allows indoor and outdoor brewing and is very simple - a 15 gal SS Kettle sitting on a 3500W induction plate.

Bear in mind in the EU electricity is way cheaper than gas and 240V/15A is a standard power outlet.