First Beer Batch - Bought Bayou Classic SP10 need advice. Anyone use this?

[mwalsh5]

Hello all,

I am about to set off on the journey of beer making and I am pumped. So the wife bought the Northern Brewery deluxe kit that comes with the glass carboys. No frigin idea what I am doing yet. I decided to buy the Bayou Classic SP10 to get a quick boil and boil outside once the nice weather finally hits here in Boston. I bought the Irish Red Ale as my first kit for the beer. So have a few questions.

This burner I bought I heard is a beast so I need to let the paint burn off with a test burn for a while. How hot should I run this thing as far as the temp dial, half way etc? The grains that I use for steeping because this is going to heat the water in a hurry I assume the 170 degrees would be reached pretty quickly. Should I steep for a little while at a very low heat to let them sit for a while? Then once going to a boil for the 60 minutes what dial setting should I use for the rolling boil? I read about 90 minute boils but that seems to be more geared towards pilsner type beers.

Thanks all, looking forward to using this community and getting my first batch going. Any advice is much appreciated on the questions with this burner.

 

[WDT]

Congrats and welcome to the hobby.

My advice right now would be to fire up your burner and put a full pot on with just water. Boil for one hour and note the difference in volume. That way you know your boil off rate (helpful with how much water to start with).

Also, read all the stickies on this forum!

 

[kilted_brews]

First off, welcome to brewing and to this forum.

Secondly, I have no experience with your burner so I can't tell you specifically where to set it to get the results you want. You can fill your boil kettle with the same amount of water that you will be using to brew with, turn on the kettle, and watch to see where you feel like a good set point is. I honestly adjust my flame throughout the boil due to wind, low propane pressure, etc. You should be watching the kettle closely to avoid boil overs anyway, so flame adjustments are just a part of the game.

Finally, your specialty or steeping grains usually need to sit in 150-168 *F water for around 30-45 minutes. During steeping, temperature is secondary to contact time. I would bring your water up to around 162 or so, kill the heat and add the grains in a muslin sack. Watch your temperature and if you need to turn the heat on low to stay in range, go for it.

After you steep and before you boil, make sure to remove the grain bag before bringing the wort above 170 *F or you will extract tannins from the husks.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[stvo]

Welcome to the fold.... I have your burner, works well... follow the directions that come with the burner for setup you'll get the setting right (dont worry it will make some noise) and def do a test boil for the paint. I usually steep my grains in about a 1-1/2 gals of water on the stove no bag at the same time I've got 4-1/2 gals going on the sp-10. This is assuming you can do a full boil. Get your grains to temp then remove from flame and let them sit for 30 min then strain them into your boil kettle bring to boil and follow kit additions your good to go!!! Have fun!!

 

[s4l]

I have this burner and love it. I found that I can throw my grains in the pot and leave the valve about 1/3-1/2 open and it will slowly heat the water. Once 20 minutes or 170* is reached (I hit both around the same time), open the valve to 3/4-full (depending on how much gas you want to burn) and it will quickly get to boiling. Once at boil, I used 1/4-1/3 open on the valve to maintain the boil. It is a bit noisy, but nothing crazy. I burned around 10 lbs for my steep and boil, but that was measured on an uncalibrated scale with me holding the tank.

 

[Travestian]

I also have your burner. I did a dry fire of the burner to "peel" the paint off. After that is done set the oxygen port (where the propane is going into the burner) so that you get a nice blue flame. This will help you to reduce the gas needed to get a good temperature. I love the burner and the jet like sound I get from it. I've had no issues with it so far and expect to get about 4 all grain batches out of the tank.

 

[mwalsh5]

Awesome, thanks all appreciate the great information. The kit I have is the Irish Red kit from Northern Brewery it says 2.5 gallons to start then steep for the 20 min or until the water hits 170 deg then bring to boil and then add the malt syrup etc. at different stages through the 60 minute boil. I guess my worry was if this beast burner heats really fast I want to get enough steeping time in. Kilted Brews I will use that advice, get the temp up to around 150-160 if it happens to quick then lower the heat so I can get steeping time in efficiently. But it sounds like from some others I should hit the 170 deg around 20 minute just need to get used to my burn settings. Lots to learn but pretty psyched. I will need this community to give me advice as I go. Going to do my first brew next weekend. Bought yesterday a piece of cement backing board to place on my wood deck to make sure I don't burn the deck with this burner. I think it was a good idea.

 

[mwalsh5]

Thanks I will try these burn settings on the burner. How long did it take to get rid of the paint and smell? Did you just leave the burner on full throttle for a little while and it burned off or do I need something on the top of it kettle etc?

 

[mwalsh5]

I also bought this gravity testing kit so need to figure out what the hell I do with that piece of equipment lol.

 

[mark_a]

Thanks for the infromation
i just bought this burner as well
looking foward to using it
wish me luck

 

[s4l]

Awesome, thanks all appreciate the great information. The kit I have is the Irish Red kit from Northern Brewery it says 2.5 gallons to start then steep for the 20 min or until the water hits 170 deg then bring to boil and then add the malt syrup etc. at different stages through the 60 minute boil. I guess my worry was if this beast burner heats really fast I want to get enough steeping time in. Kilted Brews I will use that advice, get the temp up to around 150-160 if it happens to quick then lower the heat so I can get steeping time in efficiently. But it sounds like from some others I should hit the 170 deg around 20 minute just need to get used to my burn settings. Lots to learn but pretty psyched. I will need this community to give me advice as I go. Going to do my first brew next weekend. Bought yesterday a piece of cement backing board to place on my wood deck to make sure I don't burn the deck with this burner. I think it was a good idea.

If your pot is large enough, you should do a full 5 gal boil. You'll find it makes a better beer.

Thanks I will try these burn settings on the burner. How long did it take to get rid of the paint and smell? Did you just leave the burner on full throttle for a little while and it burned off or do I need something on the top of it kettle etc?

Mine is still peeling after my second batch. I just let it burn off while I'm brewing that way I don't waste excess gas for nothing. I've also not noticed any smells.

 

[Travestian]

Thanks I will try these burn settings on the burner. How long did it take to get rid of the paint and smell? Did you just leave the burner on full throttle for a little while and it burned off or do I need something on the top of it kettle etc?

It didn't take long to get rid of the smell from the paint. With continued use and a pot on top paint will come off from other areas as well. It's just a matter of time but the extra peeling doesn't smell bad.

I just orderd a second one of these burners for my brew stand. Amazon offered me a deal to get a $50 gift card just for signing up for their credit card. I said, "thank you for the free burner!"