Burco cygnet or Ace 30l boiler?

[mike-os]

As per title, I need to decide soon... For a boiler, not a mash tun

My thoughts

burco- well know , spares readily available, slightly cheaper
Ace - double wall so cool surface, FE manufacturer so spares may be more difficult in the future


Anyone got anything to add or advice or alternate suggestions ?

 

[keat64]

I think, which ever you decide, there may be some mods to perform.
I'm getting the impression that these things don't do a rolling boil.
They boil and then shutdown periodically.

And then i believe, when you do modify for a rolling boil, they boil vigorously.

I have a thought to mabe fit a second but smaller kettle element, switching to this once a boil has been achieved to lower the boil rate
But also still looking at this stage.

 

[mike-os]

Planning to mod anyway.... as required

 

[DerekofPriory]

Hi, I've had a tick on here about the 30L Burco Cygnet boiler before I believe, it manages a good rolling boil with no problems except boil-overs when I leave it for a brew or comfort break! But it's thirty litres to the brim, twenty six to the max mark, and twenty three comes out of the tap, stick in a chiller and allow for trub etc its nineteen litres in the fermenter, not that big a pain to rework the recipes just a nuisance.
Cheers Derek B

 

[mike-os]

Got a 35l buffalo in the end.... waiting for it

 

[baggybill]

I know the deal's done but just my tuppence for future reference...

I own both the 30L Burco and a 40L Buffalo.

The Burco, IMHO, is way better quality. I've calibrated mine and I make it 27L to the mark with worked out at roughly ~1cm per litre. I've managed a couple of 28L brews in it, skimming off the crud and keeping a water scoosher handy in case of any hot break boil overs. Never happened, no issues keeping a gentle rolling boil. No mods. On the downside, the standard tap sits a bit high in it, I just tilt it over when draining.

The Buffalo has the extra space so I can relax a bit. And the tap is very low so no tilt required. It's also capable of a very ferocious boil, my boiler was literally rocking back and forward on the work top - had to turn it down a bit. No cut-out issues but only done a 10 - 15 minute test. It has a serious 'ding' on the base as it's a Nisbets clearance job (£50), feels thinner, handles squeak when heating up, just overall feels not a patch on the Burco quality wise... but... it has the volume. That extra 10L space is what I'm after to make my brew days a bit easier... :drink:

 

[mike-os]

The extra volume was what sold me

Do you know what thread the tap is.?

 

[Covrich]

I know the deal's done but just my tuppence for future reference...

I own both the 30L Burco and a 40L Buffalo.

The Burco, IMHO, is way better quality. I've calibrated mine and I make it 27L to the mark with worked out at roughly ~1cm per litre. I've managed a couple of 28L brews in it, skimming off the crud and keeping a water scoosher handy in case of any hot break boil overs. Never happened, no issues keeping a gentle rolling boil. No mods. On the downside, the standard tap sits a bit high in it, I just tilt it over when draining.

The Buffalo has the extra space so I can relax a bit. And the tap is very low so no tilt required. It's also capable of a very ferocious boil, my boiler was literally rocking back and forward on the work top - had to turn it down a bit. No cut-out issues but only done a 10 - 15 minute test. It has a serious 'ding' on the base as it's a Nisbets clearance job (�£50), feels thinner, handles squeak when heating up, just overall feels not a patch on the Burco quality wise... but... it has the volume. That extra 10L space is what I'm after to make my brew days a bit easier... :drink:

Do you find with the 40l you can probably achieve a full BIAB ? whereas with 30 you couldn't?

 

[baggybill]

Do you find with the 40l you can probably achieve a full BIAB ? whereas with 30 you couldn't?

That's my intention. With my smaller pots (16L stock pot & 30L Burco) I've been using cooler boxes for the mash while topping up the boiler and heating for sparge i.e. I needed 32L of water for my last couple of AG brews. This has required a lot of input/time from me (read - faffing about!) which I'm trying to cut down drastically.

I realise I could have scaled the recipes back a bit to fit the pots but it's a very time consuming process (overall brew day) and I don't have much spare time at the moment so I'm trying to get as much product as I can for my time investment.

Also...

I know a friend of a friend that uses a 40L Buffalo in his garage, has some kind of insulation cover for the mash stage and has a hoist to let the bag drain while he sparges it with some kettle water. He sticks on a brew when he's 'working from home' :whistle: and it needs minimal attention.

That's where I wanna be without the expense of some of the current offerings of automated systems (my Buffalo 40L was ��£50 a few weeks ago).

 

[keat64]

I bought the 30L Ace last week.
When testing with water, it appeared to do a rolling boil.
However, i only tested it with about 5 litres and only for about 10 minutes.

On Saturday, with the wort, it boiled for about 10 minutes then knocked off.
It did switch back on and off periodically, but not as much as i'd liked.

I spoke with the guys at Ace, who suggested insulating the thermostat probe or moving it.

I've also come up with an idea for a simmer, without modifying the boiler.
I have a simmerstat on order, and will report back later.

 

[mike-os]

Any update on the Ace? my boiler was faulty and went back :-(

 

[Simonh82]

What was wrong with the burco? I've just completed my first BIAB with a 30L one and couldn't have been happier.

I used a tiny spot of brewpacks anti foam and that allowed me to start the boil with at least 27 litres.

I did look at the Ace boilers but they are over £1000 on eBay. I think the seller just wants to keep the listing up but not get any orders. I think I heard on another thread that there were a lot of problems with cut outs and they were going back the manufacturer.

 

[Tony1951]

I bought the 30L Ace last week.
When testing with water, it appeared to do a rolling boil.
However, i only tested it with about 5 litres and only for about 10 minutes.

On Saturday, with the wort, it boiled for about 10 minutes then knocked off.
It did switch back on and off periodically, but not as much as i'd liked.

I spoke with the guys at Ace, who suggested insulating the thermostat probe or moving it.

I've also come up with an idea for a simmer, without modifying the boiler.
I have a simmerstat on order, and will report back later.

I'm assuming you have the thermostat turned up to full (I think it is marked at 110C or something).

I've done about twelve full brews in my ACE for 65 minute boils and I only had one turn off for a moment on one occasion. I whizzed the thermostat knob back ad forth a few times and never looked back.

If indeed the seller expects you to start modding a product sold for the purpose of boiling beer I'd be very concerned. That shouldn't be happening given it was made for this purpose and not making tea like the tea urns, and they ought to be sorting it out not telling you to mod it.

 

[VillageBrew]

My Cygnet keeps a rolling boil going for the hour I need. I'm concentrating on smaller batches (12litres) just so I can try more beers per year, so easily fits in.

 

[mike-os]

cygnet arrived yesterday... finally time to get a brew on, just need to order some grain:mrgreen:

 

[Smileyr8]

cygnet arrived yesterday... finally time to get a brew on, just need to order some grain:mrgreen:

I am sure you will love the Sygnet, I have one and use it for Maxi BIAB, no sparge, setting 3 on the temperature dial will give you roughly 65degs C & 4 will be apx 80degs C, I would try to get yourself setup with a pulley above if you are going to BIAB.

 

[mike-os]

No biab I have a mash tun

 

[mike-os]

finally got round to fitting a tap and giving it a trial run... seems to work with 30l of water :thumb:

thought i would make a wort chiller while I was at it....

a little dull because it has just been boiled for an hour in water to make sure it was clean, made to hang just above the bazooka strainer :mrgreen:

now anyone who hates waiting for the wort to cool must have one...30l at 100c down to 80c in less than 2 minutes, 50c in 5 minutes and pitching temperature in less than 15 :mrgreen::lol: bit of an improvement over 2-3h to cool 10l :grin:

yes it has soldered joints... and tested to 150psi ... definitely not leaking

just had an email from geterbrewed... grain for a Black Sabbath stout and a Half Hearted IPA are on their way :grin:

 

[keat64]

I did have the stat up to 110.
I have a few theories.

1. Wort is sugar so boils at a higher temp.
2. Hops were added directly allowing some to stick to the base, this in turn raised the temperature of the base plate.

I moved the stat probe ever so slightly.
It's still in its original position just moved a little.

I've since built a simmer stat into a project box with a plug socket.

boiler plugs into project box, project box plugs in to wall socket.

I did a brew on Saturday and achieved a 90 minute boil without issues.

Oh and the simmer stat is awesome.
Wort boils. stat kicks in. Wort continues to boil from residual heat from the element.
Then stat kicks in again restarting a vigorous boil.

 

[mike-os]

What simmer status did you use?