Advice for Manual Propane Single Tier Brew Set-up

[DeNomad]

So some of my improvised first generation brewing equipment has finally kicked the bucket after 5 years. Bad news - really annoying surprise on brew day finding your copper cooling coil has split over the winter.

Good news, time to work on upgrades I've been putting off for three years. Only thing is I need some feedback. I want to come up with something relatively cheap and quick with the option to automate in the future. Need to stick with propane for now to keep things easy in case I move to a new house.

So what would you recommend for a manual propane single tier brew set-up? What would you change with your build if you could?
- HERMS or RIMS?
- Recommended threads on builds?
- I have 3 kegs, a stainless steel cooling coil and a march pump ready to go
- Best place to get propane burners in Canada

PS if your copper coil splits I recommend filling an empty cooler with ice, grab your march pump and some hoses and recirculate the wort. The ice will chill the wort through the hose, just takes a bit longer.

 

[wilserbrewer]

You can repair that copper coil with a little bit of solder, lead free of course.

 

[masamunexc]

I bought my original propane burner at Home Depot in Ontario for 30 bucks in-store. Price looks like its increased though. ( http://www.homedepot.ca/product/propane-burner-r65/863287 ) Its good for 5 gal batches, 10 gal it takes pretty long to bring to a boil but it worked. I recently bought a KAB6 banjo burner from OBK and its super powerful, too much really. The model lower is the KAB4 and its a reasonable price and would be perfect for up to 10 gal batches . ( http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/Bayou_Classic_KAB4_Banjo_Burner_p/kab4.htm )