This week John Blichmann from Blichmann Engineering joins me to discuss gas burners and electric heating elements for beer brewing.
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[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/beersmith/BSHB-183-Burners.mp3]Topics in This Week’s Episode (58:12)
- Today my guest is John Blichmann. John is CEO of Blichmann Engineering a premier developer and supplier of both home and professional brewing equipment.
- John explains some of the characteristics of an ideal heat source for brewing.
- We start with a discussion on gas burners including the basic gas options: propane vs natural gas.
- He explains how gas burners are rated and also why some of the BTU numbers published by manufacturers are somewhat misleading.
- John walks through the basic pieces of a typical gas burner.
- He tells us how to adjust your gas burner for best overall performance.
- We switch to electric heating elements, and he explains the three basic types: surface, immersion and induction.
- We talk about power ratings and the basic power requirements for typical home brewed batches.
- John explains the basics of electrical safety including why you must have a GFCI circuit breaker to brew safely, and how to get one installed by a professional.
- We discuss control options for maintaining temperature both with electrical and gas systems.
- John briefly explains some of the typical controllers you will find in a homebrew system.
- He gives us his closing thoughts and also mentions an upcoming controller that Blichmann is releasing soon.
Sponsors
- Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!
- And also Anvil Brewing Equipment. Anvil is a new line of kettles, burners and accessories from John Blichmann at Blichmann Engineering. They make top quality brewing equipment built to last a lifetime.
- Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Mobile software and the new DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.
Thanks to John Blichmann for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!
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