2nd brew, first on propane

The weather was nice enough here in Indiana for me to try a boil outside in my garage using a turkey fryer so that's what I did. Brewing up a milk stout from Brewer's Best. I plan to primary for 2 weeks, then drop in cocoa nibs and vanilla beans soaked in bourbon for my secondary.

Brew Day observations:
---Brewing on propane yields a much faster boil but possibly less control (vs an electric stove) as I did have some burnt extract on the bottom of my brew pot.
---When you start a boil, make sure it's good and boiling. I got mine boiling, then added the DME, lactose, and maltodextrine then need another 5-10 minutes fiddling around with the temperature settings to get back to boiling but not boil over (see previous comment about less control and burnt extract).
---Totally blew past the 150 needed for my steeping grains and got it stabilized around 180 for 20 minutes. At this point I'm thinking I just need more time on the propane to dial in my control
---I cannot wait to get an immersion chiller as this "sink full of ice" is for the birds.
---OG was at 1.052, recipe called for 1.057-1.064, not too worried about it though
---I'll be keeping this one in a downstairs closet as opposed to my upstairs closet where temps stay in the 60's, upper 50's at times

Overall:
More time with the propane burner is needed to fine tune control, but I do love the quicker boil time.

Pictures to follow.

controlling the burner does take practice.

as soon as you can, buy a second propane take.

I remember going from a glass top electric stove to an outdoor propane burner. It's a totally different experience and does take some getting use to. If you didn't already, you might get it boiling then kill the propane and add your extracts then once they are well mixed in get it rolling again. Congrats on your second brew!

Is your fryer new or gently used, ..... ?

Sometimes all it takes is a new regulator hose setup, especially if the fryer is used already.

They usually go bad first especially when fryer was used to cook and deep fry and the heat from the burner can cause issues with the regulator and hose.

You can see (1 "steeping the grains" (2 "fancy boil picture" (3 "let's cool it off" (4 "wort in a bucket"

Try killing your heat before adding extract next time. Just turn the propane tank off and then add all your fermentables, take a good 10 minutes stirring to get them all dissolved evenly, then kick your heat back on.

Since your moving the pot to cool anyway bring the pot up to steeping temp on the stove then move out to the burner for the boil. I started doing this to save on filling the propane tank, it just made sense to me.

Everyone's suggestions about killing the propane entirely before adding fermentables in, good tip. ChefRex, I really like your steeping tip.

If anyone else has garage brewing/propane burner tips I'd love to hear them.

I did the same thing on my second propane attempt scorched my Hef like said above kill the flame and add your extract then bring back up to boil... also another option is if you have a smaller s/s pot or come across one at a yard sale, is to do your grains on stove top while your main kettle is coming up to temp. I do my grains in a 16 qt s/s pot no bag, I've got a 1952 O'keefe & Merritt stove I get the water to steeping temp add grains and leave it on the griddle between the burners the stove is always warm, I only lose like 5 degrees in 30 min. then use my extra large strainer then and add to the main kettle and I'm off and running!

Walking_Target said:

Try killing your heat before adding extract next time. Just turn the propane tank off and then add all your fermentables, take a good 10 minutes stirring to get them all dissolved evenly, then kick your heat back on.

Click to expand...

I was going to mention this... but this cat beat me to it.

Gary

Walking_Target said:

Try killing your heat before adding extract next time. Just turn the propane tank off and then add all your fermentables, take a good 10 minutes stirring to get them all dissolved evenly, then kick your heat back on.

Click to expand...

I've also found this works really well. Learned the hard way after a big boil-over on my first batch. Haven't had any problems since with my turkey fryer.

Also, where are you in Indiana? Fort Wayne here. I'd love to get with some other people and brew somethin awesome.

ChefRex said:

Since your moving the pot to cool anyway bring the pot up to steeping temp on the stove then move out to the burner for the boil. I started doing this to save on filling the propane tank, it just made sense to me.

Click to expand...

I do this when I'm making extract batches. Ill steep on the stove while setting up my burner and table on the patio.

Put together my two vanilla beans and 4 oz of cocoa nibs in bourbon last night. Gonna let these bad boys soak for a week then dump them in. Figured I'd take some pictures, do they convey how much of a pain in the ass it was to scrape out the beans at first. They are sticky.

Checked my FG after two weeks, 1.020. Kind of worried since it was sitting at 63F but it's within finishing range. Quick calculations give me 4.2% abv which is a little lower than I wanted but within style guidelines (if you're going for that sort of thing). Dumped in my bourbon, nibs, and vanilla bean mixture, will give it two more weeks.

Raw beer tasted awesome btw, malty goodness. Pics will be forthcoming.

ChefRex said:

Since your moving the pot to cool anyway bring the pot up to steeping temp on the stove then move out to the burner for the boil. I started doing this to save on filling the propane tank, it just made sense to me.

Click to expand...

I did my first outside boil last week, and I steeped inside on the electric stove, too. As you say, just seems to make sense; it's a good way to save a little propane. What I really wanted the propane for is the long boil that was starting to take a toll on my stove.

OP: good move on the propane, I waited till my fifth batch to take the plunge. Now get that wort chiller!

mrh1965, I look forward to brewing on propane in the future but as far as wort chillers go, I stumbled upon an article on the "no chill" method, read about a bajillion more articles and forum posts, and am going to give it a try for my next batch. No chill eliminates the need for me to get a wort chiller and to buy ice to try and cool down my brew in the sink.

I'll definitely be report my results back.

Raw milk stout...mmmmmm....so tasty even uncarbed.