Failed Boil

[prongs_386]

Hi everyone,

I've just made the jump to all grain, my equipment for boiling is as follows:

Italian spiral burner from beerbelly.
50l aluminium stock pot with 4mm wall thickness.
Standard bbq gas bottle with the standard low pressure regulator.

Today i tried to boil some water off to build up my oxide layer on the pot but I never reached boiling point. I had the gas bottle open all the way as well as the tap on the burner and after 30 minutes I had used up a 3rd of my gas bottle and I estimate the temperature was around 70 by then. I was only trying to boil ~3 litres.
Also my regulator was not the same size as the connector to the burner so i used a reducer I had lying around.. not sure if I need a special reducer but I used teflon tape.

It was a bit of a windy day and I noticed a lot of the time the flames were turning red rather than a constant blue. I just wanted advice on what normal behavior I should expect such as time to reach boil and also whether I should be using a medium pressure. If I should use the medium pressure does anyone have a tip on the best place to buy one? I'm from the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

I really appreciate any help with this. Its really frustrating because I just got all my grain and hops and everything else is ready to go!

 

[bum]

LP reg on a 3L boil is way more than enough. Sounds like the wind is the culprit. Just use some non-flammable material around the burner to shield the wind and you should see better results. I run a spiral with a LP reg with a 36L kettle and have trouble keeping my boil-off rate as low as I'd like.

 

[user 10246]

what sort of reg? I think you have to use a medium pressure for those burners

 

[browndog]

Hi everyone,

I've just made the jump to all grain, my equipment for boiling is as follows:

Italian spiral burner from beerbelly.
50l aluminium stock pot with 4mm wall thickness.
Standard bbq gas bottle with the standard low pressure regulator.

Today i tried to boil some water off to build up my oxide layer on the pot but I never reached boiling point. I had the gas bottle open all the way as well as the tap on the burner and after 30 minutes I had used up a 3rd of my gas bottle and I estimate the temperature was around 70 by then. I was only trying to boil ~3 litres.
Also my regulator was not the same size as the connector to the burner so i used a reducer I had lying around.. not sure if I need a special reducer but I used teflon tape.

It was a bit of a windy day and I noticed a lot of the time the flames were turning red rather than a constant blue. I just wanted advice on what normal behavior I should expect such as time to reach boil and also whether I should be using a medium pressure. If I should use the medium pressure does anyone have a tip on the best place to buy one? I'm from the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

I really appreciate any help with this. Its really frustrating because I just got all my grain and hops and everything else is ready to go!

Something definitely wrong there Prongs, Sounds like the wind was playing havock with your flame. Try it again on a windless day or use a wind break if neccessary. Also, how did you set up your stand? how close wad the burner to the bottom of the pot?

cheers

Browndog

 

[prongs_386]

Something definitely wrong there Prongs, Sounds like the wind was playing havock with your flame. Try it again on a windless day or use a wind break if neccessary. Also, how did you set up your stand? how close wad the burner to the bottom of the pot?

cheers

Browndog

Thanks everyone for the replies.

The stand came with the burner and the height can't really be configured, it can be seen at BeerBelly. I would say the burner sits between 5 and 10cm below the pot.
I guess I'll give it another go tomorrow.

 

[Eater]

Try a wind shield as already suggested
Was there a lid for your pot at all?
I tend to get up to boil with lid on, then partial covered pot (strike and sparge water not so much, final/hop roiling definitely with lid)

 

[bjay]

Prongs

It does say it will not run properly with standard low pressure reg,, So maybe ya have to get the high pressure one

cheers
bjay

 

[kfahy]

I run with the Italian Spiral from Beerbelly and have an al pot 4mm walls. When i got the burner i also got the medium pressure, fully adjustable reg http://www.beerbelly.com.au/burners.html and i reckon it is close to the best thing in my brewery.

 

[seemax]

It should work work a LP reg , the website does actually state this...


Italian Spiral Burner

A powerful burner with a sturdy frame, suitable for larger boils. Quieter than the NASA burner with better flame spread, can be used with either the LP adjustable regulator for up to ~70 litre boil

The wind would be a big factor, use some cement pavers or similar as shields around the stand and it should improve things.

 

[MHB]

Have a look at your fuel/air mix as well (thats the aluminium sleeve just in front of the gas jet) try for a nice clean blue flame. Its quite possible to have a lot of yellow quite cool fire that wont do a lot of heating.

MHB

 

[bjay]

I got this from the beerbelly website

(Please note that this burner requires a high performance regulator & will not operate effectively with a normal BBQ type regulator.)

But it does say it can be used with a lp reg

bjay

 

[np1962]

I got this from the beerbelly website

(Please note that this burner requires a high performance regulator & will not operate effectively with a normal BBQ type regulator.)

But it does say it can be used with a lp reg

bjay

Actually says a Low Pressure Adjustable Regulator. This is not a BBQ regulator!
You will not have sufficient gas to power the Spiral Burner for boiling with a BBQ reg. Could call a BBQ reg an Extra Low Pressure Regulator.

 

[prongs_386]

Have a look at your fuel/air mix as well (thats the aluminium sleeve just in front of the gas jet) try for a nice clean blue flame. Its quite possible to have a lot of yellow quite cool fire that wont do a lot of heating.

MHB

Aha, I didn't realise that I could adjust that sleeve... pretty stupid of me. It was wide open so I've shifted it now.

I guess i'll also put in an order for the medium regulator.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[crozdog]

Have a look at your fuel/air mix as well (thats the aluminium sleeve just in front of the gas jet) try for a nice clean blue flame. Its quite possible to have a lot of yellow quite cool fire that wont do a lot of heating.

MHB

When Barls brought his new italian spiral & med reg to my place for a brew day - we had to adjust that slider to get it to burn properly.

When we did, the thing took off & a chunk of my concrete patio blew out!!

So Prongs, make sure you have a steel plate or hebel blocks under your burner - the suggestions for wind guards will help too.

 

[barls]

still sorry about that croz

 

[oldbugman]

as soon as I read this post I thought of the concrete cracker!

 

[geoff_tewierik]

I struggled to get a boil, on a windy night, with my Spiral Burner and a LP Reg. Upgraded to a HP Adjustable Reg and never had an issue since.

 

[prongs_386]

Did my first all grain on friday! The burner was awsome with the MP regulator. Had a wall of flame when the valve was wide open, I didn't actually get too much difference from adjusting the sleeve, apart from going from completely closed to open. It was a pretty windy day so more air was probably getting in through the top of the burner.. But even with the wind the burner worked out really well so I'm very pleased.