Burco boiler based all-in-one brew system build

[CptSlow]

I thought I would document my new brew system build as I have seen a few similar posts here. It is my first dedicated brew system. My previous AG brews have been stove top BIAB brews which worked but weren’t great. They involved using all pots in the house with every stove burner on max and were generally a bit chaotic.

My intention was to make an all-in-one system, based on a BM/GF, which is compact and easy to store with interchangeable parts. I prefer the Brew-in-a-basket systems over Brew-in-a-bag as you can remove the grain bed without disturbing it.

I planned it around a Burco/Cynet 30L boiler (MFCT1030) with a SS ball-valve and bazooka filter. A grain basket is suspended inside the boiler with a mini-pump recirculating from the ball valve through to the grain basket.

Remove the standard urn tap and replace with the Ball valve kit. Purchase a ball value kit so you don’t have to worry about any missing parts. The existing hole is oval but the kit from Bridgewater Brewing included large washers to I did not need to modify the hole. I added a few extra washers made from a silicon baking tray - a tip from the guys at Bridgewater brewing. I added a 90’ SS elbow so the bazooka follows the wall of the boiler to maximizing whirlpooling at flameout.

The grain-basket, a 15L FV is made from Polypropylene plastic (PP5) which is food safe at mashing temperatures. Drill holes, lots of holes. Remove the FV handle for a snug fit.

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The grain-basket needs to be raised so not to interfere with the bazooka filter. I used a SS colander to do this.

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I opted for a mini solar pump to recirculate the wort and ensure better temperature control. These pumps are great. A small variable voltage AC/DC power supply is used to control the flow. On first attempt the pump outperformed the grain-basket throughput, but I added more holes to the grain basket for the second brew and it works better for it. This process is not perfect yet and needs a bit of fine tuning.

From the pump, silicon tubing recirculates through the grain-bed and sparges. A FV lid with holes drilled into it acts as a sparge plate. The end of the silicon tubing has holes for better distribution of recirculated wort. The sparge plate is not perfect, again more fine tuning is needed.

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The Burco’s output is excellent and the thermostat seems decent; 0-5 and ‘High’ settings. ‘High’ for a rolling boil with no cut out. From tap water temperature to rolling boil takes just over 1h15m. I estimate the thermostat probably has a 3’C to 5’C variance before the element kicks in. A PID would reduce this, which I might add in the future but for now I am just insulating the boiler during the mash.

Strike water - Setting 3 - Takes about 40mins to reach 72’C.
Mash in - Drop to just below setting 3 for 65’C - 60 mins
Mash out / Sparge - Setting 4 for 10 mins

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Water calcs modified from the Grainfather water calculator for a 23L batch:
Mash vol - 18L
Sparge vol - 14L

To sparge, attach the FV’s handle and raise the basket out of the boiler. I suspend the basket above the boiler with an oven tray. Doing this on the floor makes it easier to lift the basket out. Disconnect the pump from the ball valve and reattach to the sparge water.

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Remove the grain-basket suspender!

Then set the thermostat to ‘High’ and boil for 1 hour. I’m very happy with the Burco, it produced a good rolling boil through the hour with no cut-outs.

The hop spider is also new and I am happy with it, it trapped 99% of the hops and it is so much easier to use and clean than my previous hops filter bags. My existing immersion chiller fits in perfectly.

The standard boiler tap hole is higher than I would like, with about 5L dead space. However, tilting the boiler forward at the end and you can reduce this to about 500ml.

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Overall, I’m very happy with the outcome, nice clear wort. Clean-up is a pleasure compared to before. All in it, the brew day was about 4.5 hours, but I am sure I can get this down.
A bit more tweaking and fine-tuning is needed, but very happy with the first run.


Recipe - Single Malt / Single Hop
4.5kg Marris Otter Pale
100g Citra hops
Target volume 23L
OG 1.046
Estimated 75% efficiency

Parts and costs (approximate)
- Burco Cygnet 30L kettle (MFCT1030) - GBP90.00
- Tap and bazooka filer kit - GBP27.00
- SP20/20 Easy Connect Water Circulation (Solar) Pump - GBP26.00
- Fittings and tubing - GBP9.00
- AC/DC multi-voltage power supply - GBP13.00
- Grain basket 15L Fermenter - GBP6.00
- Grain basket suspender tray - GBP12.00

Total (approximate) - GBP183.00

 

[clarkeuk]

Good review n a cracking set for the money👍🍻🍻

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Deadhead]

I like this a lot! :thumb:

 

[Fil]

very nice kit, and well thought out. As your using aspects similar to my 3v build may i suggest a bit of a mod to your internal drain plumbing to point the elbow downward and perhaps add a nipple to lengthen its drop and create the internal aspect of a siphon system to reduce the deadspace losses significantly,

 

[coopsy]

Wow, feeling inspired....super set up CPT, Would maybe consider a grain bag, suspended, instead of the FV, but hey, well done man, certainly got me thinking here.....amazing clarity by the looks of it too.....

 

[CptSlow]

very nice kit, and well thought out. As your using aspects similar to my 3v build may i suggest a bit of a mod to your internal drain plumbing to point the elbow downward and perhaps add a nipple to lengthen its drop and create the internal aspect of a siphon system to reduce the deadspace losses significantly,

Thanks for the feedback, this is actually something that I had been thinking about recently.

Do you think I should keep the bazooka? Most of the filtering is done by the grain basket. Considering I have a hop spider, I'm beginning to think the bazooka is more hassle than it is worth.

 

[yeastinfection]

Really nice to see the build. Looks ace

 

[Fil]

depends on your attitude towards break material and trub in the FV, more filterng wil/shouldl reduce it tho with an IC you could simply stir a whirlpool once chilled and drain from the edge?? that was my plan #1 but my cfc proved efficient enough to pump directly into the FV so .... fwiw i use standard 1/2" bsp SS pipefittings for my plumbing and my drain is terminated with a female threaded elbow hovering nt much more than 1mm off the pot base.. with something like a 25mm diamiter that provide well over 60mmsq of area for liquid to exit through AND provides for deadspace/waste measured in ml in a 100l kettle.. I also use a hop spider so have no hop debris in the kettle and only need consider hot break.

wot deadspace?? well there is the volume contained in the cfc and silicone tube feed to the FV, as seen draped over and in the kettle :)..

 

[Poochops]

Looks great that Cptslow, well considered, straightforward and not at all bodged together, it looks like it should be very reliable. Nice one!

 

[photek1000]

depends on your attitude towards break material and trub in the FV, more filterng wil/shouldl reduce it tho with an IC you could simply stir a whirlpool once chilled and drain from the edge?? that was my plan #1 but my cfc proved efficient enough to pump directly into the FV so .... fwiw i use standard 1/2" bsp SS pipefittings for my plumbing and my drain is terminated with a female threaded elbow hovering nt much more than 1mm off the pot base.. with something like a 25mm diamiter that provide well over 60mmsq of area for liquid to exit through AND provides for deadspace/waste measured in ml in a 100l kettle..

I'm thinking about doing this to reduce the almost 3L dead space in my boiler, I have a spare elbow from a false bottom I'm not using and after reading the brulosophy article about levels of Trub into the FV it doesn't seem to be an issue.

The only thing I could think of that would be a real issue would be that with no hop spider and nothing really to whirlpool with at the moment the tap could clog.

And so not to totally hijack nice build :thumb:

 

[Fil]

Perhaps pop the hops inside net bags or socks @photek1000 Some folk manage to whirlpool by simply stirring?

Or a basic garth style mesh envelope filter can be used, just empoly a male thread at the bottom of the plumbing assembly to thread securing nuts and washers to.
here is mine made from 2 x �£shop SS splatter guards, handles pulled from both, the rim pulled (carefully) from one and the 2 secured with a length of split ldpe beerline pinching both mesh screens together, secured over the rim left on the one guard..

to use i just need to remove the current F/F elbow forming the inside 'siphon' effect and refit the tap nipple into the filter elbow.

 

[photek1000]

Something to think about.

Last brew used Hop pellets that came in bags, it was better as far as hop matter in the bottom of the boiler was concerned, but there was still a reasonable layer of trub.

It'll be a few weeks until my next brewday so time to mull over a few ideas.

 

[Simonh82]

I'm planning to make a very similar set up, although I'm going to aim for temperature control using a PID. I'm also hoping to stick with my grain bag rather than a basket.

I'm also planning on making a counterflow wort chiller at the same time.

I love my Burco and have been using it very happily for BIAB for 18 months now. The only cut out I've had was with a rye beer where the gloopy wort burned onto the element. Other than that it has been as reliable as a Nokia 3310.

 

[CptSlow]

depends on your attitude towards break material and trub in the FV, more filterng wil/shouldl reduce it tho with an IC you could simply stir a whirlpool once chilled and drain from the edge?? that was my plan #1 but my cfc proved efficient enough to pump directly into the FV so .... fwiw i use standard 1/2" bsp SS pipefittings for my plumbing and my drain is terminated with a female threaded elbow hovering nt much more than 1mm off the pot base.. with something like a 25mm diamiter that provide well over 60mmsq of area for liquid to exit through AND provides for deadspace/waste measured in ml in a 100l kettle.. I also use a hop spider so have no hop debris in the kettle and only need consider hot break.

wot deadspace?? well there is the volume contained in the cfc and silicone tube feed to the FV, as seen draped over and in the kettle :)..

Good point, I did not consider the hot break debris. I think I'll keep the bazooka but angle the elbow down as you have suggested.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[CptSlow]

I'm planning to make a very similar set up, although I'm going to aim for temperature control using a PID. I'm also hoping to stick with my grain bag rather than a basket.

I'd love to see how you get on the the PID modification. It is something I would like to do in the future. The Burco thermostat is close enough for now but definitely can be improved.

 

[Simonh82]

I'd love to see how you get on the the PID modification. It is something I would like to do in the future. The Burco thermostat is close enough for now but definitely can be improved.

I'm sure I will do a write up thread when I put it all together. My electrical skills are basic but I think I've got my head around it all. BigCol49 was a fantastic help as he has set up this kind of system with an Ace boiler.

 

[GlentoranMark]

Hi mate, very nice build.

I've rigged a 12v pump up to my Peco Boiler for recirculation but I'm wondering what parts you got for your ball valve tap and (more importantly) what size of hole did you have to drill? I once ruined a mashtun build by drilling the wrong size of hole (I'm not great at DIY as you can gather).

 

[Fil]

Hi mate, very nice build.

I've rigged a 12v pump up to my Peco Boiler for recirculation but I'm wondering what parts you got for your ball valve tap and (more importantly) what size of hole did you have to drill? I once ruined a mashtun build by drilling the wrong size of hole (I'm not great at DIY as you can gather).

depends on the fittings used.. generally folk use 1/2" bsp stainless steel pipe fittings and or 15mm brass compression plumbing fittings. both of which have a diameter circa 20-21mm so 20-21mm holes are perfect.. wikipedia bsp pipe fitting entry has a useful look up table..

 

[GlentoranMark]

Something like this?

http://www.screwfix.com/p/full-bore-lever-ball-valve-15mm/80413

What about connections?

I'm thinking about putting my pump onto this for recirculation and sparging and using the tap already fitted for draining the wort.

 

[Fil]

to use a valve like that with compression fittings your probably looking at using a tank connector
http://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-px35-flanged-tank-connector-15mm/6146g
and a short length of 15mm copper tube to connect the two..

to plumb up internally the above type of tank connector can be modded with a file or 15mm drill bit to remove the pipe stop ridge which will enable you to push 15mm copper tube all the way through the fitting providing the copper tube end internally for further plumbing fittings.