Two final items, to control the Burco are an Inkbird to enable accurate temperature control and a voltage regulator to control the amount of energy fed in so that a less vigorous boil can be achieved. The Burco has an exposed element which is covered using an inverted colander to avoid damaging the grain bag. I added a ball valve tap in place of the original one and some stainless steel fittings to allow a bazooka to filter out solid material before it clogs the tap. It was insulated with a camping mat gaffer taped in place to make it more efficient. The Burco was modified to allow it to continuously boil. It is crude but gets the job done and when powered with a battery drill is efficient. I have a Chinese copy of a Corona mill which I use for grinding grain. I then acquired a Burco electric tea urn which enabled all grain brewing with BIAB (brew in a bag). I initially started out with a plastic fermenting bucket, a syphon and some bottles which was enough to brew Wherry kits. An up and over door makes for easy ventilation. Other luxuries are an old carpet underfoot and a pulley in the ceiling above. The stainless steel sink and drainer with water supplied from a hose and a simple pipe to drain are great to have and make cleaning up afterwards efficient. It has electricity, water and drainage and the working area was created from the old units when we renewed our kitchen. The garage is built into the house with easy internal access. I have one but rarely use it for anything other than keeping the finished beer cool. In warmer climes a brew fridge is required to avoid fermenting at too high a temperature. Sited in Scotland, in my garage, the brewery ambient temperature normally lies between 5☌ and 20☌ which is perfect for brewing. Now I have found it is easy to buy the raw materials in and start from scratch with all grain brews. After a long hiatus I started doing Woodforde Wherry kits and was amazed at how good the results were. Brewing for me started as a student in the sixties with a plastic dustbin and various Boots kits. Now I've more time, brewing is a good hobby and at it's starting point requires little equipment to produce beverages that are as good if not better than shop bought.
I like getting my hands mucky and modern breweries are too like the chemical industry with everything taking place out of reach inside pipes and tanks. At the start of my career I nearly entered the brewing industry but I'm glad I didn't. The latter half of my working life was spent in product development for a local food factory here in West Lothian. I'm nearer seventy than sixty and totally and utterly retired. The downside is that this first post risks becoming a book but we'll see. When I make an edit I think worth sharing I'll pop a new post up relating to the change. The way I'm going to try and do it is have this first post repeatedly edited to reflect changes I make to my "brewery". My hope is that such posts will help share ideas and allow improvements to be made. We discussed in an earlier thread having an area where we can post details of how we brew our beers and what equipment and methods we use.