Like most brewers, I am interested on always finding a better way to do things. I own a Banjo burner along with several jet burners and have been tossing around my opinion of what really is a better burner. I have yet come to any conclussion. I have, however, reached an opinion on where the High Pressure Banjo burner might work better.

This test was done with the interest of boil in mind. I wanted to know how quick I could reach a boil after mash out.  I ran the test using a low pressure jet burner at .5 psi and a high pressure Banjo burner at 10 psi. Both propane burners were ran fully open and had their own propane source.

Two very similar stainless converted kegs (kettles) containing 6.5 gallons each were used.  I started this test at 166 on both kettles. Altitude for my testing location was around 980 feet.  I monitored the temperature of both kettles using a laptop, BCS460 , and two temperature probes.

When I made this video, I broke it into several  different segmants. Excuse the redundancy in advance!

Without spoiling the results from the video,  it is my opinion that the high pressure Banjo burner would make a great burner for your boil kettle or possibly your hot liquor tank. It is a little hot to be controlling your mash tun and takes adjusting if you want to reduce the heat.  After around twelve and a half minutes, the Banjo burner had the Jet burner by around seventeen degrees.

jet burner

What burner should I use with my new brew stand? What burner works with low pressure propane? What is the difference between low pressure and high pressure propane? These are all questions faced when building a brew stand or sculpture. They can also be difficult questions to answer if you have not experienced the different burners. Let’s face it, we want to make the right choice up front because brewing equipment can become expensive. This article discusses low pressure propane regulators and low pressure regulators.

Over the last month I have had the chance to fine tune my current brewing sculpture and consider the options that I want on my new sculputure which is in the planning stage. I have come to the conclusion that low pressure propane is the right option for me.  During my research, I read several people discussing what regulator to use with certain types of jet burners. I found numerous opinions on what works best. I read anything from a 0-30 psi adjustable high pressure regulator to a standard .5 psi regulator.

The most important information you can learn in this article is to know what type of burner you really have. If you followed the Brutus Ten design, you will notice that most people have installed a jet burner. They can be cheaper in price and work great for automation.  Most of these jet burners are, indeed, low pressure propane.

So. Let’s think about pressure for a moment. I had the general thought that I want this thing to burn like a jet engine. The more propane pressure, the quicker it will heat! After all, if I turn my garden hose on to wash down the house or driveway,  I want it to have as much pressure as possible so the stream is nice and steady. This seems reasonable to apply this to a propane burner, however it really is not correct.  This goes back to knowing what kind of burner you have. High or low pressure?

I initially constructed my system taking the advice from several threads from some of the more popular internet brewing forums. Over and over again I read that a 0-30 psi regulator would work great! Guess what? It did work, but not as well as it should have. You see, I installed a Honeywell gas valve to assist in automating my mash tun through temperature control.  If I had the 0-30 psi regulator throttled down, it would work (with fine tuning by way of the ball valve).

If I just would have taken the original advice from Lonnie Mac over at alenuts.com, I would have figured this out long ago. He has said several times that he runs his jet burners on a low pressure regulator(s) and has not had any issues. I installed a low pressure regulator in place of my adjustable 0-30 psi regulator. I purchased a Mr. Heater brand .5  psi 200,00 BTU low pressure regulator . I fired up my jet burners and noticed that I did not need to throttle back anything with the ball valve. The burner provided a perfect flame! In fact, I am able to run two burners at the same time off this regulator.  There are other low pressure regulator options available such as the two stage regulator, however that is not covered in the scope of this article. (The two-stage low pressure is a great option as well)

Below are a few different videos which showing the jet burner being used with a low pressure regulator. The propane valve and ball valve are completely open. This is a 23 tip jet burner rated at 175000 BTU. (.5psi Low Pressure Propane)

Banjo Burner

I enjoy the gadgets of brewing as much as the brewing itself. In fact, I often find myself making changes to a brewing sculpture for my own entertainment. Does it make the beer taste any better? Most likely not. But… It sure is fun.

I decided that I wanted to change one of my Jet Burners over to a Cast Iron Banjo Burner. I faced two separate challenges with this installation. One was mounting, and the other was plumbing. The jet burner was previously mounted and supported with black gas pipe. The jet burner did not have the weight of the Banjo Burner and connected to 1/2 inch black gas pipe without additional supports. Not trivial at all. The Banjo Burner, however,  is connected to the gas supply by way of a brass orifice. The Brass orifice will not support the weight of the burner so brackets needed to be built.

The Banjo Burner is approximately 10 inches around and 15 inches in length at its longest point. The Banjo Burner comes with four mounting holes on the side of the burner. I created a custom offset bracket using 3/4 inch wide by 1/8 inch thick steel. I completed alignment, clamping, and welded the brackets in place. It fits quite nicely in the space that used to be occupied by the jet burner!

Once in place, it was time for the plumping. I utilized the gas ball valve that was already installed on my Brutus Ten. I didn’t want a long BBQ with extra slop connecting the burner to the gas ball valve so I visited my local Propane Dealer for parts. One of the employees created a customer fit hose to run from the ball valve to the Banjo Burner. This hose really made the project look great.

All the parts were connected and it was time for a test burn! It fired right up and I couldn’t be happier. The Banjo Burner is sooooo much quieter and seems to burn hotter. I can’t wait to compare the results. Stay Tuned!