Best heat source for 5 gallon batches

[BrauMann]

Hello all! I'm "still haven't opened my brewing kit" new to brewing, but I already have a concern I need some help with. I have an electric stove, and it's a glass top electric stove at that. Would it be a wise investment to buy some sort of propane fueled open flame set up? If so, what would you recommend? Like I said, I'm a complete newbie and really need some help! Thanks!

 

[Dutchbier]

1) get an inexpensive turkey fryer or propane camping burner

2) get ( or make ) a copper immersion chiller

These two items will make your brew day much easier!

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Not really. Get a cheap 5 gallon SS pot that is magnetic (if yours is an induction cooktop). Do partial boil until it is a sickness.

Alternative, it is the post holiday season so you can likely get an entire turkey fryer kit with burner and pot for like $25 used on craigslist...or not.

 

[RPG27]

I'm also pretty new at brewing with only 4 brews under my belt. However, my advice would be to hold off on the 5 gallon batches until you have a better grasp at what you're doing.

My first brewkit was set up for a 1 gallon batch. The smaller size made everything from handling to actually brewing a lot easier. Also, you're probably better off doing smaller batches until you have some confidence that you can brew something that won't be terrible. Not to insult your abilities, but my first brew was not very good (actually only ended up with 3/4 gallon because of some errors) and I'm awfully glad I only had to toss 5 beers and not 5 GALLONS.

To answer your question, I too brew on an electric, glass stove top. I just did my first 3 gallon batch. I had to split up the boil size into 2 pots because I didn't have a pot big enough and I wasn't sure if the stove would heat up one huge pot. So to make a long story short, you CAN brew 5 gallon batches on a stove, but you may have to split up the batches.

 

[JeffD1]

Hello all! I'm "still haven't opened my brewing kit" new to brewing, but I already have a concern I need some help with. I have an electric stove, and it's a glass top electric stove at that. Would it be a wise investment to buy some sort of propane fueled open flame set up? If so, what would you recommend? Like I said, I'm a complete newbie and really need some help! Thanks!

First congrats on the brew kit and welcome to the obsession, i mean hobby. The best answer for your question is it depends. If you are going to get serious, an outdoor propane burner is a must. I don't remember what brand I have but any decent turkery frier type propane burner will work great (they run around $30 if I remember right).

However, you can definitely make it work with your stove. Especially when you are getting started, you are probably going to want to do partial boils. So you won't be boiling 5 gallons at a time. Instead you will want to make a smaller more concentrated beer (about 3 gallons) and then add 2 gallons of sterile water to it. Most stoves get hot enough to bring 3 gallons of water to a boil.

A lot of people progress to doing full boils (which is around 6 gallons for a 5 gallon batch accounting for boil off). For that you will likely need a propane burner.

My suggestion would be to start with a partial boil on your stove and see if the hobby is right for you. If you love it, go buy a propane burner. On a side note, watch for boilovers. They are very hard to avoid, especially on an electric stove. If/when it does boil over, shut off the burner and clean it up immediately if you ever want to get the stove clean again.

 

[nukebrewer]

Investing in a turkey fryer is one of the wisest investments a beginning homebrewer can make. Trying to boil even 2.5 gallons on an electric stove is such a pain.

 

[petrolSpice]

I have an electric stove and it works just fine. It does take about 45 mins to get 2.5 gallons of cold water to boil, but I'll just do something else while it's heating. For full 5 gallon boil you'd probably want something a bit more powerful.

 

[BrauMann]

1) get an inexpensive turkey fryer or propane camping burner

2) get ( or make ) a copper immersion chiller

These two items will make your brew day much easier!

This also brings another interesting point up, how should I chill it? I know that the fastest chill time is crucial to prevent contamination, so what would work best for a beginner?
I would very much like to get serious about this and continue to make bigger and bigger batches, I have wanted to since early high school (I'm 24 now). I finally decided to dive in after touring the Boulevard Brewery and falling in love with the smells emanating from the place and talking with a couple brewers. The fact I couldn't by the Session Saison has a lot to do with it as well, so I want to make my own!
I will take everyone's advice and start small, I bought the 30 quart pot but I can return it for the 20.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[nukebrewer]

Keep the 30 qt. It will come in handy when you want to do a full boil in (hopefully) the not too distant future.

 

[Dutchbier]

Great thing about this hobby: there are many ways to brew good beer. I did about two months of reading/ forum lurking before buying my gear. I knew I did not want to do any stovetop stuff. I did not start with a kit. A friend gave me a burner and pot to get me started. First purchase was a better bottle and a wort chiller. First batch was 5 gallon full boil with a burner and a chiller. Could not imagine doing two separate stovetop boils or trying ice baths in the summer. So read up, try to watch somebody else brew, and then buy the gear that works for you.

 

[Zuljin]

I did many three to four gallon and split batches on a coil type electric stove. The nicest thing was being able to use two or so gallons of make up water to help cool the wort.

Then, I got the cheapest turkey fryer Cabelas had. It was a good decision.

But, if you've already got everything you need to brew right now, do it with what you've got. See how you like brewing before buying more stuff. Or buy it now and if you don't keep the hobby, you still have a propane burner.

 

[JeffD1]

This also brings another interesting point up, how should I chill it? I know that the fastest chill time is crucial to prevent contamination, so what would work best for a beginner?
I would very much like to get serious about this and continue to make bigger and bigger batches, I have wanted to since early high school (I'm 24 now). I finally decided to dive in after touring the Boulevard Brewery and falling in love with the smells emanating from the place and talking with a couple brewers. The fact I couldn't by the Session Saison has a lot to do with it as well, so I want to make my own!
I will take everyone's advice and start small, I bought the 30 quart pot but I can return it for the 20.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Home Brew mobile app

A wort chiller is a must have in my opinion, especially for full boils. It isn't too bad to cool 2-3 gallons with an ice bath, but it is kinda a pain and any more than that is arguably impossible. I would recommend making a wort chiller. The copper isn't very cheap, but they are easy to make and you can save some money making it yourself. Any diu project also adds additional pride in your final product.

 

[sumbrewindude]

The SWMBO cracked a glass top trying to do some canning a few years back.

If all you have is a glass top, and already have the pot (keep it!), look into a propane burner. Turkey fryer's are okay in a pinch, and if you can find one cheap enough (~20 bucks) it would be a reasonable investement. A much better option is to get something like the NB DarkStar: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/the-dark-star-burner.html

Yeah it's 50 bucks, but it's designed to do what you want it to do - boil.

Cooling can be done a bunch of different ways, from an ice bath to an IC, to even No-chill if you're feeling adventurous.

Burner's more important. Without that, you're fighting an uphill battle.

 

[BrauMann]

Thank you for all the input, this is honestly helping a lot! I've been running over the possibilities all day in my head. So, since I have the 30 I'll invest in a burner. It will get use camping even if I decided not to brew any longer. I'll look into a DIY wort chiller, it sounds like a fun project!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[BlindPidgeon]

Hey Brau', it sounds like you may have already made your decision, but I'll still offer my two cents.

I've been brewing five or six 5 gallon batches each year for the last four years on my glass-top electric stove, and I've been perfectly content with it. I've been utilizing the partial boil method, and simply adding water to top up and help cool off the wort. I did, however, make my own wort chiller three years ago from parts bought at a hardware store and my LHBS. It ain't pretty, but it gets the job done quickly.

For me, the chiller was a necessary purchase, but the propane burner can wait.

Good luck. Have fun. Don't be afraid to experiment. Don't stress too much about the details other than having everything sanitized, every time. It's damned cool when you hand someone something you've made yourself, and they have that surprised look on their face and say, "Wow. This is better than I thought."