I finally said F-IT, enough is enough

[98EXL]

and I grabbed a 150,000 BTU Bayou burner at Home Depot today....going shopping for propane refills after work. Only reason why I'm shopping is because I know prices are different by $10 at some places.

Now I can pressure SWMBO into that SS brew pot she told me she was looking for I'm not cruel am I?

Next up - Counter flow wort chiller or Immersion chiller....to DIY or not DIY?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Why not get a plate chiller for $85 next? The price of copper these days makes this a very appealing option.

 

[98EXL]

Why not get a plate chiller for $85 next? The price of copper these days makes this a very appealing option.

I've been collecting copper from work (cat5e) and that is going to fund that project...or toy either way. I like building things a lot....plus I'm going to be picking up a lot of garden hose to move the brewery into the garage...and I could make a nice CFC

 

[98EXL]

so now I'm a little pissed.......

HD said this was a 150,000 BTU burner, on the little pricetag/SKU thing....turns out it uses the BG12 burner, which is 50,000 BTU's

Will this burner be adequate enough for eventually using a keggle on it? If not, I'm going to return it, since Amazon has the 55k and 150k cheaper shipped than what I just bought

 

[Grimsawyer]

so now I'm a little pissed.......

HD said this was a 150,000 BTU burner, on the little pricetag/SKU thing....turns out it uses the BG12 burner, which is 50,000 BTU's

Will this burner be adequate enough for eventually using a keggle on it? If not, I'm going to return it, since Amazon has the 55k and 150k cheaper shipped than what I just bought

It will be sufficient. It would work.... But the Tim Allen in me says ouh ouh ouh, MORE POWER!!! OUH OUH OUH!!!!! I have a 50k burner and it serves me well but it does take a bit to get 10+ gallons of water to boil.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

If it looks like this one with a 10 psi regulator (50K btu) you'll have more than enough heat. I boil 13+ gallons in my keggle easily without ever turning the burner up all the way. I start heating the keggle during the sparge and I'm boiling in 5-10 mins after the sparge is complete. To be honest, I really can't understand why everyone's so bonkers over the banjo burners. I think they're a Tim Allen waste of $$ and propane. They don't give any real-world advantage IMHO.

FYI - The only thing that makes it a 150K btu unit is a 20 psi regulator. If you don't think you've got enough, you can replace it later.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

so now I'm a little pissed.......

HD said this was a 150,000 BTU burner, on the little pricetag/SKU thing....turns out it uses the BG12 burner, which is 50,000 BTU's

Will this burner be adequate enough for eventually using a keggle on it? If not, I'm going to return it, since Amazon has the 55k and 150k cheaper shipped than what I just bought

I'd return it to Home Depot just on principal alone, but mabe that's just me.

A 50k-ish BTU burner would work fine for you, but the additional investment to go up to 150k or even 210k (which I got from AHS for $99) is fairly minimal and really almost required, imho, if you plan on eventually boiling in a keggle or doing 10 gallon batches.

 

[FSR402]

I have both the 50K and the 150K. I use the 50K for heating my mash water and the 150K for the boil.
To tell you the truth, I don't see a big difference between the two. The 50K only takes a few minutes longer to bring it to a boil then the 150K.

 

[EdWort]

I think they're a Tim Allen waste of $$ and propane. They don't give any real-world advantage IMHO.

Hey, I resemble that remark. How could you not love...

The Power of the Banjo Cooker!!!!
[youtube]IjoFXonPWfQ[/youtube]



Can you loan me 20 bucks for some propane?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Yeah, I knew you would.

BTW, do you know how many AG batches you can get out of a tank with that beast?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I'd return it to Home Depot just on principal alone, but mabe that's just me.

A 50k-ish BTU burner would work fine for you, but the additional investment to go up to 150k or even 210k (which I got from AHS for $99) is fairly minimal and really almost required, imho, if you plan on eventually boiling in a keggle or doing 10 gallon batches.

Did you read my comment above? Sorry, but that just isn't true. A cheapy ($10) burner with a 10 psi reg works just fine. Hate to tell you, because I'm sure you're very impressed with your burner, but you could have taken $90 of what you spent on it and invested it into another part of your brewery.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

To me, the advantage of the banjo burner is bringing up to temps faster. The majority of usage is on the boil, and the flame is so low to maintain a nice rolling boil that it's unlikely that I'm using any more propane than someone with a 50k burner.

I'm willing to spend a few more cents on propane to bring my wort to a boil in a matter of minutes, but to each their own I guess.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Did you read my comment above? Sorry, but that just isn't true. A cheapy ($10) burner with a 10 psi reg works just fine. Hate to tell you, because I'm sure you're very impressed with your burner, but you could have taken $90 of what you spent on it and invested it into another part of your brewery.

Yup, I read it. To each their own.

And I'm doing just fine with the money that I spent on my burner, thanks. It hasn't prevented me from investing in other areas of my brewery so far, and I do not anticipate that it will anytime soon.

 

[Marbee777]

Hey!

I have 3 65K propane burners on my new freshly built RIMS and 65k for the boil kettle isn't enough to get a constant rolling boil unless you cover...might lead to contamination but I left a crack opened and also wiped off the condensation every few minutes. I relaized I will need a 20psi regulator as one mentionned.

As for my wort chiller I bought that cornrose kit that came with an SS pale. I got 50ft of 1/2 copper tubing, coiled it and inserted it in the SS pale, I bought 5 bags of ice and filled up the pale, turned out the wort was droping in the primary fermenter at about 15C, should get nice results form it...I hope!

Here's my RIMS!:rockin:

It was actually my first AG last weekend, the RIMS works like a charm!

Cheers!!

 

[98EXL]

well, I guess I could see how this works out for me....I'm going to need a second burner anyway, and if this doesn't work well for me, there is the upgrade option later.

I should take it back on principal alone, but I'm lazy of sorts.....oh well, I'm happy either way I pulled the trigger, but irritated at HD

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Here's my RIMS!:rockin:

VERY NICE setup!! :rockin:

 

[Jim Karr]

I've got one of the smaller units, and I'm not excited at all with it. When I first hooked it up, I tested a fifteen gallon keggle full of water right out of the faucet, about 56 degrees.

It took that burner over an HOUR to bring fifteen gallons to a boil.

I've since bought and test driven one of the big banjo units, and it's amazing how fast it boils!

 

[Grimsawyer]

...I think they're a Tim Allen waste of $$ and propane. They don't give any real-world advantage....

The cool part of the banjo cooker is you can turn the flames down shorter and burn the fuel more efficiently so you don't leave black marks on the bottom of your vessels. That's the one thing I would get it for more than any other reason. And if you want to heat something up faster you can, but for the most part it would be working in the same parameters as a smaller 50k btu burner. and if you can get it cheaper than HD DO IT!!

 

[98EXL]

well, the bayou was cheaper on amazon versus HD. I did end up taking it back just on principal. So I'm going to get something this week from teh internets....I feel I'll get a better deal anyway, and exactly what I want