Overview  |  Benefits  |  How it Works  |  Instructions  |  Technical Specs  |  TESTING & EVALUATION

Two trials were performed, one with and one without the Heat Guide.  The Heat Guide was found to reduce time to boil for 12 gallons of water by 33 minutes! Details of the experimental setup and performance can be found below.  This experiment was performed to without bias.  Keep in mind 12 gallons of water was brought to boiling once.  During a typical brewing session more time and propane would be save due addition water needing to be heated for mashing, sparging and during the boiling the propane can be turned down while retaining the same boiling rate. 

Experiment Design

The graphed data below is the result of a carefully planned and executed experiment.  The following is a list of items that were carefully kept constant while performing this experiment for both configurations (with / without The Heat Guide):

• Same surrounding air temperature (47 +/-2 degree Fahrenheit)
  
• Same volume of water: 12 gallons
• Same starting temperature of the water (~50 degrees Fahrenheit)
  
• Same vessel used for both experiments
• Propane regulator set at the same full open position
  
• Propane tank started at the same equilibrium temperature with the environment
• Liquid propane was always present in the tank (the same fuel pressure present)
  
• Air intake on the propane nozzle was not adjusted
• Experiments were performed at the exact same location
  
• Same Thermocouple location inside the keggle
  
• Data logged at 6 samples a minute

The experiment was performed in a closed space to eliminate variability due to air motion.  The Heat Guide would make an even greater difference in windy situations due to shielding of convective heat loss.  Experimental data using force convection (a fan) may be posted later. 

By forcing heating along the keggle wall in addition to the bottom, more even heat distribution can be realized.  It increases the surface area transferring heat into your wort by four times.  This increases the rate at which your wort will heat without applying more concentrated heat to the bottom (by using a larger burner.)  Larger heating areas and reduced heat concentrations are some of the reasons commercial brewers use steam jackets to heat their wort instead of flame.  The Heat Guide is the next best thing without the multi-thousand-dollar investment for a steam system.

Referring to the graph above, one can see that the Heat Guide increases the rate of heating significantly with all other variables held constant.  In this experiment it shaved 33 minutes off of the heating time!!  Given that a typical 10 gallon brew day consists of heating ~18 gallons to ~165 degrees (water absorbed by the grains) then boiling approximately 12 gallons down to 10 could save even more time, especially if it’s windy.  

Not only will The Heat Guide pay for itself in the form of saved time and money, it will make your beer better too!