Author: Marshall Schott

Awhile back, I started thinking about converting my kettles into e-kettles. With everything priced out and in my Amazon cart, I had an electrician friend over to give me a quote on installing two 240 volt outlets to run the elements I had settled on. He came over, gave my “brewery” the once over, and provided what I felt was a reasonable price (~$250). Then he asked if I’d considered natural gas. I said I had but that I thought electric was… well… cooler? He was quick to point out how much cheaper natural gas was*, giving me estimated monthly costs for each option. It wasn’t a difficult sell, particularly since my NG meter was on the same wall I’d recently built my brew bench into. We got to work.

I started snapping photos later than I planned. Prior to making any connections, we turned the gas supply OFF! Please, if you’re going to do this, turn your gas off first. If you’ve no clue what you’re doing, pay someone, it probably won’t cost you more than about $150 and could save you trouble, a house fire, and potentially your life.

In the pic above, notice the nice looking grey tee connector, this had a plug on the end that is now connected to the 90˚ elbow. It took about 5 minutes to measure out how much black steel we would need, which my buddy just happened to have in his work truck. Once we mocked everything up, a 1″ hole was drilled in my garage wall and everything was plumbed.

I secured the longer pipe to the wall, just in case.

Don’t forget to use the yellow teflon tape when connecting your pipes to ensure no leaks. Once everything was connected outside, we moved into the garage. We had to remove the bench deck to install the tee and gas valves.

We used 2″ nipples on either side of the tee to provide enough room to open/close the valves, then we attached standard gas line to the other side of each valve. While I used the more rigid yellow gas line, I’d recommend spending a little more to get the flexible stuff, it’s just easier to maneuver, a nice feature when you’re trying clean-up after a boil over.

Once all the plumbing was connected, we made sure all valves were off then turned the gas back on. While no leaks were heard, we still checked every connection using dish soap- if it bubbles, something isn’t right, turn the gas off and ensure all connections are well taped and tight.

To get my Bayou KAB-4 burners to work with natural gas, I discovered I had 2 main options- bore out something called an orifice or buy a LPG to NG converter valve. I chose the latter… I don’t like boring out orifices.

For $8 a piece, these converters from William’s Brewing are the way to go. No guesswork, just screw on and boom, natural gas works.

I have a 2 burner system that allows me to make 2 x 5 or 10 gallon batches side-by-side. I’ve been using this setup for over a year and can honestly say that the $120 I spent to convert from propane to natural gas was the absolute best investment since I started making beer at home. No more running out of propane halfway through a 90 minute boil, frozen tanks in the dead of winter, or that terrible sound tanks make when they scrape across the garage floor. When I’m ready to brew, all I have to do is turn a couple knobs, click a lighter switch, and I’m up and running.

I was pretty stoked to see how the burners looked in the dark.

And I brewed the following day, it worked beautifully!

For those who are curious and have read that natural gas is less efficient than propane (basically doesn’t burn as hot)- I regularly heat 7.5 gallons of strike water from 65˚F to 165˚F in 20 minutes or less, which is actually better than I was getting with propane. After collecting all of my sweet wort, I’m usually at a full boil within 20 minutes. Plus, natural gas is remarkably cheaper than propane.

If you are considering this type of conversion for your home brewery, please do not hesitate to ask questions! If you’re uncomfortable doing this type of work, check Craigslist for local electricians, they are usually certified to plumb natural gas as well. Cheers!

*In California, at least the Central Valley, the power company charges for electricity using tiered rates, meaning homeowners pay a higher price per kWh once certain usage thresholds are passed… meaning we pay way too fucking much for electricity in California. My typical monthly Summer bill runs ~$400.

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