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Hey guys,

Quick question.

I moved recently and switched from brewing in the kitchen to the backyard so I'm just getting used to using the propane burner. How many brews would you expect to get out of a standard size propane tank? I've brewed twice and have done a lot of bbqing. I'm brewing tomorrow and am a bit paranois about running out. Think I should fill up tonight or am I good?

I think I would average around 6 brews with 60min boils on 1 tank.

I now have three tanks on the go - one for brewing, one for the grill and one spare for whichever runs out in the middle of something! Surprising how much propane and charcoal we go through in the run of a year.

I'm guessing I'm getting four brews to a tank with 90 minute boils.

Jimmy wrote:I think I would average around 6 brews with 60min boils on 1 tank.

Is that heating strike water and sparge water on it too? I get 3 or 4, plus grilling. 2 or 3 brews in the winter.

akr71 wrote:

Jimmy wrote:I think I would average around 6 brews with 60min boils on 1 tank.

Is that heating strike water and sparge water on it too? I get 3 or 4, plus grilling. 2 or 3 brews in the winter.

Yes, but I'm doing BIAB for the most part so there is no sparge water, just the full volume up front (~33l) . My burner is on for about 10-15 minutes to heat the strike water, then about another 20 to bring it to boiling from mash temp.

My experience has been similar to Andy's. I suggest that you get a second tank so that you always a have a full in reserve.

Yup I think that's what I'm gonna do. Otherwise the stress will kill me

KMcK wrote:My experience has been similar to Andy's. I suggest that you get a second tank so that you always a have a full in reserve.

Agreed. I have 2 tanks and between the two I'll always have enough to make it through a brewday.

Yeah a spare tank is the wise. I now have 4 on the go... haha. I've also found the bigger tanks at Costco (I think they might be 30lb... can't remember for sure) will last longer - well that's obvious, but given it's 1.5 times larger than a standard tank, I get closer to double the amount of burning time out of it. Must be something to do with loss of pressure and some propane left over when the tank is 'empty'.

Back to the actual topic - while this won't help you right now, something I find handy is to weigh the tank after you've just gotten it filled and then weigh it after brewing to give you an idea of how much you use each time. Then, also weigh it when the tank is empty (or to the point that the pressure is so low you have to get it filled). Then you can weigh it at any time and have a rough estimate of how much useable propane is left and how much time you will get out of it.

I would think the BTU rating of the burner may be a factor. On my system I can do 4, 10 gallon batches with one 20 pound propane tank. This time of year I can usually tell how much propane is left in the tank by the condensation line on the tank. I try to keep an extra one around just in case.

Jamie D wrote:I would think the BTU rating of the burner may be a factor.

True - it would be.

I ended up buying the extra tank luckily. the first tank quit on me with 4 minutes left in the boil

If u ever run out or unsure if u are empty just give me a shout I usually have two tanks



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Net heating value of propane is around 20,000 BTU/lb. Burner ratings are actually in BTU/hr at full capacity. Simply put if you run a 60,000 BTU/hr burner wide open for an hour you will burn about 3 lbs of propane.

sleepyjamie wrote:If u ever run out or unsure if u are empty just give me a shout I usually have two tanks



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Good to know, Thanks!

Same goes for you of course