Choosing a burner on a budget

[BadWolfOregon]

I need to get a burner, possibly two, to get my brewery going on a more robust track.

I'm using converted kegs. Well, one euro style at the moment but I'll soon be adding at least one 1/2bbl, maybe two.

I need to find a reasonably priced burning that will bring 13+ gallons in a keg to a boil in a time frame that won't have me pulling my hair out. If I get a second, it will only need to get the HLT to temp in a reasonable time frame.

I had been looking at the KAB6 (which is really pushing my upper limit), and the Darkstar 2. From what I've read the KAB6 work really well with modifications, but I haven't seen anything about the Darkstars abilities with keg-based 10 gallon batches.

The other option would be that I'm contemplating building a wooden brew stand and could incorporate banjos like the BG10 for a marginal savings.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Drumminguy81]

I ran a couple bayou sq14 that worked great with my keggles. They include a stand that the keg sits perfect on very sturdy even with 15 gallons in them. The burners are bayou bg12 burners and never gave me any issue bringing 12+ gallons to boil. The whole sq14 can be found for about 40 shipped on amazon or other sites.

 

[WI_Wino]

+1 for sq-14. I use it on a 15 gallon kettle, not keggle, but it works great.

 

[EcuPirate07]

If I'm following you correctly, I don't think the dark star is even an option for you. I don't know what the diameter is on the euro keg but a standard keggle I don't believe will even sit on the dark star. 1. I think it will be too heavy and 2, the diameter of the dark star from looking at the specs are around 16.5". I ordered a burner like the dark star and had to return it and get the square base burner to even hold the keggle. Just throwing in my past experiences so you don't make the same mistake.

 

[BadWolfOregon]

Well, the SQ14is definitely better for my budget! I may need to build a little stand for the boil kettle to get it up high enough for a gravity feed through an immersion chiller, but I'll have a lot more money left over with this one!

 

[bendog15]

Bayou classic banjo. It's cheap. Also big, blazes crazy hot, and remarkably quiet for its size, way quieter than the dark star. Keggles fit on it just fine.

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Another vote for the sq14. I've been really happy with mine and the price is right. Seems relatively efficient with propane as well.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

So I was having trouble getting my stuff to boil fast enough here in the cold of canada, so I bought this:

http://propanegear.com/mr-heater-all-purpose-propane-torch-kit500-000-btu-hr/

I then bought a brass 1/4"NPT 90degree elbow and 3" pipe nipple so I could turn the head of it sideways, I mounted it under my old burner stand an voila! a 500,000btu jet burner for boiling my euro keggle. could bring 12gal of water to strike in 15 min, or full boil in ~20min...

Only drawbacks are that it is loud, its a little hard to regulate and burns a lot of propane... but its cheap.

Picture attached. I have since switched to electric.

 

[ImNoExpert]

This works for me. When I bought mine it was under $40. It sucks propane, but it is fast! I use it for my HLT.

 

[scaesare]

Been happy with the pair of Bayou Classic SQ-14's I've bought as well.


The size and sturdiness of the square surface is a big plus. The burner heats 10+ gal batches reasonably fast.

 

[dsaavedra]

+1 for the SQ14, I bought mine on Amazon and its been awesome!