Running out of propane during boil

[Romex2121]

This is something i worry about when i start a boil and dont have a full tank , is there any ill effects to the wort if propane runs out during a boil and it takes 15 min. Or so to get wort back to a boil after having to run down and get tank filled or swapped out ??

 

[sleev-les]

I don't run propane for my boil (I'm on electric), but I have a 60,000 btu propane fire pit and I've run it for 4 hours and used about a 1/4 of a tank. I doubt your burner would run out with a full tank or even half a tank. Could always keep a spare close by and do a quick swap. I lost power during a boil on electric once and had to run and reset the breaker. I just added my down time to the boil once it got back up and called it a day. Never had any ill effects of the beer.

 

[seatazzz]

I've run out during the boil several times with no issues with the beer. I'm one of those "I am 99% certain there's enough propane left for the brewday" homebrewers. Every damn time I end up running to the store for more. Last time it was with 5 minutes and a hop addition left in the boil; I just said the heck with it and called it an extra whirlpool addition.

 

[balrog]

I'm sure *TECHNICALLY* it would alter the hop profile
Realistically 15 min won't matter much

I always have a spare tank. Always.

 

[RPh_Guy]

+1 The beer should be fine.
+1 I always have a spare propane tank on hand.

To reduce propane usage (and improve beer quality) you can reduce the boil vigor. Wort only needs to be boiled hard enough to keep it gently moving.

 

[DVCNick]

I actually have three propane tanks. If they are full (really full, not Home Depot swap "full") I believe I get 4-5 five gallon brew days out of one tank. When the last one is about half full, I go fill them up.

However once I'd done a tank swap out of convenience and that was my only full tank on hand. Started up my brew day with the last of an almost empty tank. During the mash, while heating sparge water, I ran out of gas, swapped to the full tank, and discovered that particular tank leaked badly at the connector for some reason. Obviously not good.

Had to run to the store quickly for a swap, and ended up mashing for about 1.5 hours, once I got back and got the sparge water heated the rest of the way. Didn't seem to have any ill effects, but I was really glad it didn't happen during the boil.

In the future, if I tank swap I'll connect it and open the valve just to make sure there are no such leaks to discover at a bad time.

 

[kh54s10]

I've run out a couple of times. I am sure the beer turned out a little different than it would have but since I rarely repeat recipes I would never be able to say how or how much.

Going electric so I won't have to worry about that unless I use the old system. I have 2 tanks.

 

[Romex2121]

Well sure the smart thing to do is have an extra tank .

 

[SEndorf]

To reduce propane usage (and improve beer quality) you can reduce the boil vigor. Wort only needs to be boiled hard enough to keep it gently moving.

Where do you find evidence of improved beer quality with reduced boil vigor?

 

[Spartan1979]

I have three propane tanks. One is in the BBQ grill, but it's there if I need it. If the BBQ tank runs out I put the tank that I've been using to brew on and then fill the empty. I always have at least one full one on hand (although I recently started brewing with electric).

 

[RPh_Guy]

Where do you find evidence of improved beer quality with reduced boil vigor?

Reducing "thermal stress" is a prominent goal in the scientific brewing community.

http://www.********************/uncategorized/low-oxygen-boiling/
^ cites Kunze

From Beer - A Quality Perspective by Bamforth
"In practice, brewers desiring more stable and resilient foam should attempt to minimize the severity of wort boiling within the constraints of their kettle design and the achievement of the other objectives of wort boiling including hop isomerization, protein precipitation and flavor enhancement."

Few articles as examples:
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...rt_boiling/links/5729bf0408ae2efbfdb9a30d.pdf

http://www.academia.edu/download/45993661/Wort_boiling_today20160527-17866-15m7xss.pdf

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1094/ASBCJ-2011-1017-01

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.476.4747&rep=rep1&type=pdf

https://www.mbaa.com/publications/tq/tqPastIssues/2002/Abstracts/0916-06.htm

 

[SEndorf]

Interesting articles.
Thanks for posting.

 

[jrgtr42]

That happened to me once.
That was the day I bought a second tank.
I now have 3. EVen though I Primarily run electric now, and one tank is on my grill, I keep them in backup.
Always have a backup. It's $20 - $30 plus a fill...
Pretty cheap insurance to keep the boil going - and you don't have to fill up as often.

 

[AzOr]

https://www.amazon.com/GASPRO-Dispo...ocphy=9061081&hvtargid=pla-375634169197&psc=1
This would get you by if you don't feel like getting an extra large tank. It should finish the boil at least. I carry this in my camper in case I run out (my old camper only had 1 tank).
It saved my butt on a few cold camping nights when my main tank ran out. The small cylinders would run the heater for several hours.

 

[Katman]

Grill size propane tanks weigh about 20LBs empty and about 40LBs full. Its easy to weigh them on a bathroom scale to see how much is left in the tank. If you checked one before brewing and then again after brewing it would give you a good idea on how much weight of propane you need to brew a batch. However having a second tank around does guarantee no interruptions on brewday.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Grill size propane tanks weigh about 20lbs empty ....

There's usually a "tare weight" (TW) stamped on the tank which tells you how much the empty tank weighs.

 

[AzOr]

https://www.amazon.com/GASPRO-Dispo...ocphy=9061081&hvtargid=pla-375634169197&psc=1
This would get you by if you don't feel like getting an extra large tank. It should finish the boil at least. I carry this in my camper in case I run out (my old camper only had 1 tank).
It saved my butt on a few cold camping nights when my main tank ran out. The small cylinders would run the heater for several hours.

FYI- these adapters are also referred to as steak savers. We should rename them “brew day” savers.

 

[tellyho]

= go electric