The Clumsy Brewer – Still waiting, musings on fuel, and finally, a contribution from the dogs.

No word from the plumber. The dogs have stayed in the yard. I have to admit, life would be simpler with propane.

It's been a busy week, but not for the brewery. My plan to let the plumber take some time evaluating the BTUs has worked splendidly. Not a peep.

I have had time to ponder the advantages of propane. I had the feeling some brewers I communicated with were rooting for propane, kind of like someone might root for a sports team. Looking back, I can certainly see advantages.

Propane is much easier to set up. Finding burners with a variety of BTU output is easy. Ready-made solutions are abundant. I think it's the high pressure, hi-energy density of the gas that makes it so flexible.

Propane is mobile. You can move a system across the yard as easily as to another zip code. Propane is much cheaper to get going, and it's much more likely to work on the first try.

Natural gas is a hassle. You have to figure the BTUs and distance, or it either won't work or be dangerous. There are fewer low-cost burners available, especially with variable BTU output. You have to design your own solution and hope it works.

We had some activity on the Yahoo email group last week about a problem with a natural gas setup. Luckily, several knowledgeable Falcons responded. I didn't respond, but I appreciated the discussion. Be assured I took note of email addresses and phone numbers. I am not proud.

Natural gas offers only two advantages, as I see it. Once it's set up and working, it's cheaper and easier to supply.

So I'm sticking to my dream of a natural-gas powered brewery. Partly out of laziness, but also out of curiosity. There has to be a way to make it work.

I think part of the reason the plumber hasn't responded is he's worried about whether the setup will work when it's done. He wants to double check my plans. He doesn't want to set up a brewery that doesn't work.

Since I don't have much else to talk about this week, I thought I would lay out those plans in more detail.

There's four lines to consider.

The first line runs from the gas meter to the brewery. It needs to supply two 160K BTU brew burners at a maximum output of 320K BTUs. It will Tee to a 0.75 inch quick disconnect valve which is less than 50 feet from the gas line. The other end of the Tee will connect to pipe that crosses the patio to supply the BBQ.

Using the chart below, created by engineers working for the City of Pleasanton,

http://www.ci.pleasanton.ca.us/pdf/bldg-gaspipe.pdf

fifty feet of 1.25 inch pipe should supply 583K BTUs or 583 cubic feet of gas/hour at the brewery disconnect.

For reference, here are the burners again.

http://www.instawares.com/thunder-group-natural-gas.thu-irbr002cn.0.7.htm

The second line is a 10 foot 0.75 inch flexible hose that will feed the 0.75 inch manifold assembly to be constructed by yours truly, and hopefully checked by the plumber. This hose will supply 360K BTUs, a little more than enough to power both burners on maximum.

The third line runs off the other end of the brewery Tee. There's a surplus of (583K – 320K) or 263K available to supply the 0.75 inch pipe that runs 80 feet to another quick disconnect that will supply the BBQ. The chart shows a supply of 117 BTUs by the time the gas gets to the BBQ disconnect valve.

The fourth line is another flexible hose from the BBQ disconnect to the BBQ. A ten foot half inch line could supply 172 BTUs, but only 117 will be available at the BBQ disconnect. That should be OK because the BBQ will only need about 50K BTUs. The chart doesn't show the BTU output of 3/8 inch hose, which I believe is standard for BBQs. But if it only supplies half the capacity of half inch hose, that should be enough.

Anybody bored yet?

I ordered the burners last week, but have not seen them. I think I need to get the burners working before proceeding with the rest of the system.

Another consideration is whether to use braided stainless covered natural gas hoses, which are more expensive, but described as "practically squirrel proof."

I don't want squirrels chewing up my expensive natural gas lines, causing gas dangerous leaks. But here's the amazing part.

I have dogs. The dogs chase the squirrels from the yard. I don't need to buy expensive stainless steel protected flexible natural gas hoses because the dogs will keep the squirrels out of the yard.

Halleluiah. Finally, the dogs are useful for something.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103764515709741925769/albums/56794016...

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103764515709741925769/albums/56794016...

Sal Sciortino, the Younger, is a BJCP National Judge and a card-carrying member of the Maltose Falcons Homebrewing Society.

SaltheYounger@gmail.com