Beer #3 in the Fermenter

[matt-tastic]

Last night was hectic, but I finally got everything brewed and its in the fermenter now. A Basic Nut Brown Ale was pretty easy, but trying to use a new propane burner, and chill with a newly acquired immersion chiller was a new step.

The Good: the immersion chiller went from boil temps (around 180-190 ish) to 80 degrees in about 17 mins. this was using a pond pump in water, then and Ice bath,

The Bad: My new propane burner didn't get hot enough to maintain a boil w/o the lid on my kettle. I hope most of the actual utilization for the boil occurred, and the wort is good, i guess we'll find out in a few weeks.

The Ugly (or where questions are): because i couldn't get a solid boil in my kettle, I just let my chiller soak in my star san mix while boiling. think that was enough? I was planning on boiling it for the last 10 mins, but i wanted to maintain my boil as much as possible.

Another question: my boil almost didn't happen. as hard as it tried, it took leaving the lid on to get to boiling temperatures with my new burner. i couldn't get a nice blue flame, but got a very steady orange one. my regulator is only 10psi, should i upgrade that first? The burner is pretty good, and I know i had plenty of propane in my bottle, i just don't know where the weak link is.

I also nearly forgot to proof my yeast, but it went well and the yeast were happily bubbling when i put them in the beer.

I've also got a theif-hole in my fermenter top now, i'm hoping it works and doesn't pop out of the lid when fermentation goes wild

Thanks!

 

[RM-MN]

Propane burners need the proper air mixture to burn with the blue flame and the heat they produce goes up dramatically when you achieve the blue flame. On the burner where the propane hose connects is a gap to allow air to mix and this gap has a piece that can be adjusted. Try that mixture without a pot on it and adjust until the flame turns blue.

 

[allenH]

Also make sure you "start" your burner correctly. My first time I tried for an hour and a half to boil 6 gallons and barely got a bubble. Started searching here and found out that with the newer tanks you need to start with the tank and regulator off, open the tank ALL the way and then open the regulator and light the burner. If I follow that sequence I can get 6 gallons to a rolling boil in about 25-30 minutes (starting with 75 degree water). If done correctly the burner should be pretty loud, I was surprised at the difference.

 

[matt-tastic]

Also make sure you "start" your burner correctly. My first time I tried for an hour and a half to boil 6 gallons and barely got a bubble. Started searching here and found out that with the newer tanks you need to start with the tank and regulator off, open the tank ALL the way and then open the regulator and light the burner. If I follow that sequence I can get 6 gallons to a rolling boil in about 25-30 minutes (starting with 75 degree water). If done correctly the burner should be pretty loud, I was surprised at the difference.

i boiled my water for specialty grains, then extinguished the burner while they steeped. the second time i did it the way you mentioned (by accident!) and got a pretty big flame up (still all yellow). I got scared and turned the gas off, but apparently that was the proper way to do it! Still think i just didn't have enough gas in the mix. I'll play with it again this week and see what i can get.

I also fiddled with the air intake, and got no discernible result difference in the flame. It is one of the $30 Bass Pro units, so i'm not expecting all the parts to be high quality.

 

[allenH]

I have the $30 Bass Pro fish fryer that comes with the tiny 2 gallon pot/pan.







It is the same basic burner as their turkey fryer, I think its 58k btu, I could be mistaken. Look at the bottom of your pot, if it is covered with soot, it was started incorrectly. My flame is not totally blue, but you can definitely see a lot of blue. It should boil hard enough to make a huge mess.