whatsleftofyou's Bar Build

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whatsleftofyou

Third Eye Pried Wide
HBT Supporter
Joined
Dec 2, 2007
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Location
U.P. of MI
I know you guys hate bar build threads as much as I do, so here's another one for you. We bought this house last October and I've slowly been building up the cash/hardware/etc to get this thing going.
DISCLAIMER: I have no idea what the hell I'm doing, no experience whatsoever, etc.

On to the pics....

Here's the space. It definitely needed some work!!! The water stains on the floor are ancient. We've lived here almost a year and there's been absolutely zero moisture down there.
before1.jpg


Another angle
before2.jpg


That's better...walls painted and floor epoxied. Still some touch-ups to do here
floor1.jpg

floor2.jpg


Frame is almost done. I've got a 10.6cu Sunbeam freezer that's getting the keezer treatment as part of this.

framing1.jpg

framing2.jpg


That's where I'm at so far. I should have this done in a month or two, but definitely before the holidays when all of my friends come to visit. Stay tuned! :rockin:
 
Looks like a great space and fun build man. Keep us posted on your progress! Any plans to what your first brews are going to be?
 
Yesterday I brewed a rye porter and an all-munich ale, plus I have a RIS kegged already. Not sure what else - this will be a 6-tap system but I've promised 2 to my girlfriend for soda to use in mixed drinks.
 
so far so good. I have a suggestion. in the 5th pic I see that there is a lower rail in front of the kegerator. There should be a jack stud under the end of it. Otherwise you are depending on the fastener to hold it up, and that doesn't last the test of time. Here's a pic of what I mean:

windowframing.jpg
 
so far so good. I have a suggestion. in the 5th pic I see that there is a lower rail in front of the kegerator. There should be a jack stud under the end of it. Otherwise you are depending on the fastener to hold it up, and that doesn't last the test of time. Here's a pic of what I mean:

Thanks. I was planning on doing that (didn't know what it was called though). That was the last piece I worked on and the pieces aren't actually fastened together right now, just standing there.
 
OK I haven't had much time to work on this since almost all of my "beer time" has gone to helping to run a homebrew club and beer festival, brewing here and there, etc etc. Anyway, I have made a bit of progress:

Frame is almost complete and hinges test-mounted. I just have to attach the one part of the frame to the rest of it, basically.
framing3.jpg


I'm just using the stock hinges, but they seem pretty stout. Good thing, because they're going to have to take a fair amount of weight. If I have to change them later I will, but I don't think it'll be necessary.
framing4.jpg


I built a quick collar out of 2x8s, insulated it with R-30, and caulked it. I just used deck screws for the collar and glued it all together with Liquid Nails. I'm not worried about it being all that pretty since you won't be able to see it much anyway.
collar1.jpg


Collar sitting on the freezer, waiting to be attached to the bar top.
collar2.jpg


That's all for now. I have all of the oak veneer, trim, and pre-fabbed base cabinet all stained as well, so I'm getting there. The current goal is to be pouring beer out of this thing by Thanksgiving weekend, even if it's not 100% done.
 
I've gotten a fair amount more done over the last few weeks, just haven't gotten around to posting pics. I'm still shooting to have my first beer poured by Thanksgiving.

Bar top is on, wiring done, and one lighting fixture up.
lighting1.jpg


Another view of the top and you can see the base cabinet for the back bar. I still have some trim to do to cover up some of my crappy cuts!
top1.jpg


View behind the bar.
top2.jpg


Another view. This turned out to be much bigger than I had pictured!
top3.jpg


Keezer lid attached and the hinges are holding the weight just fine.
top4.jpg
 
How hard can you lean on the edge of the hinged part before it flips up? Don't want a drunken buddy tipping the whole bar/lid over.
 
Great! Cannot wait to see the final piece. I've got plans to renovate my basement bar, and this is motivation.
 
I love watching bar build threads. I can't wait till I have enough space to build something like this.
 
GlenF said:
How hard can you lean on the edge of the hinged part before it flips up? Don't want a drunken buddy tipping the whole bar/lid over.

Even if it does tip. Couldn't a nice latch/lock be mounted on the front side?
 
Looks fantastic so far! Only one concern that I can see....forgive me if someone else brought this up and I didn't see any posts about it. Have you thought about heat discipation for the cooling coils on the back of your big 'ole freezer? I noticed that it has cooling coils on the back (I assume it's a Sunbeam?) and it's pushed up against the framing then boxed it in with oak veneer. Are you sure that there is enough ventilation to allow the heat to escape properly? You just don't want this thing to burn itself up. :mug:
 
I have thought about that. There's considerable room on the sides (even though in the pics it looks like it's snug to the right side), but not much in the back like you said. It's not entirely closed in like some that I've seen, but I'm going to keep an eye on it and put a small fan back there to push some air if necessary.
 
I got quite a bit more done this weekend.

Trim is totally done and started to put the top on
trim2.jpg


Another view of the trim. My helper is making an inspection.
trim3.jpg


Got the TV mounted and the Dish Network guy came to run their line and install the new HD DVR.
tv1.jpg


Top is done and caulked, bar stools all put together. Got these at Big Lots for only $35 a piece!
top5.jpg


Back trim is on.
top6.jpg


Another view of the top.
top7.jpg


TV area cleaned up a bit with panduit installed. This is going to be our "old school gaming station" with NES, Sega/SegaCD, Dreamcast, and Gamecube. I don't have any of it wired together yet, but Toad is holding down the fort.
tv2.jpg


Now I just have to get working on the draft system...
 
Looking good, but I'm not sure I'd want to sit in front of those hinges... they look like they're perfect height for slamming knees.
 
What about some sort of rubberized/padded box to go around the hinges, but only fastened with another hinge on top so that the bottom can swing freely as the lid opens?

Does that make any sense?
 
Maybe...once I get the bar rail on there's going to be a good 13-14" between the end of the top and the base, so I'm not sure how much of an issue it's going to be. We'll see.
 
Just came across this thread, definitely subscribed, can't wait to see the end result! Oh, and the only problem I could see is that Red Wings poster, haha! :D
 
Just came across this thread, definitely subscribed, can't wait to see the end result! Oh, and the only problem I could see is that Red Wings poster, haha! :D

You have no problem with the Winter Classic plaque in the last pic? I was at that game and I'm pretty sure the Wings won that one. :ban:

Just bustin' chops....Chicago is looking scary this year and Detroit is playing very very inconsistently.
 
May I suggest some bar molding instead of the trim. I think that would really set it off nicely. I'm currently working in my bar build and have some pics up if you want to check it out.
 
I'm only putting the trim on the "bartender" side, not the outer side where the bar stools are. I fully intend to put bar molding there, but probably not until after the holidays.
 
OK so I'm a HUGE slacker and haven't updated this thread in two months. Some of these are a bit out of order, but here's the progress:

Irish coffin built and mostly trimmed:
coffin1.jpg


"The business end"
coffin2.jpg


Obligatory up-close Perlick 525ss shot:
coffin3.jpg


The guts with one tap hooked up. I have this fan all wired and ready to go, but so far I honestly haven't needed it. The coffin is warm but I'm not getting foamy pours.
coffin4.jpg


Four more taps hooked up:
coffin5.jpg


All trimmed. For some reason the vertical pieces stained way lighter than the horizontal pieces. It's not as bad in person as the flash makes it out to be, but looks kinda cool anyway.
coffin6.jpg


Another angle:
coffin7.jpg


First pour, 18-month old RIS!
firstpour.jpg


Chalkboard tap list and touch-screen jukebox:
jukebox.jpg


Hidden stem rack:
stemrack.jpg
 
Lastly and a bit unrelated, part of the "theme" of my bar is going to be pre-prohibition breweries from the city I live in. This bottle is from the Richter Brewing Company that operated only a few blocks from my house, and closed at prohibition.
richterbottle.jpg


There's still some work to do, but she's functional!
 
Looks great! It looks like you have got an ultimate beer basement, was that a cellar in the background of one of those pics? Also interested in the jukebox.
 
You inspired me to pursue my dream (well one of my dreams). I hope you don't mind me using your design to get me going on the blackboard.
 
Regarding the jukebox, yes I did put it together myself. I'm an IT guy by day so it wasn't a huge task. I bought a used touchscreen off of eBay that was pulled from some kind of kiosk and hooked it up to a small form factor Compaq PC that I also bought off of eBay. I'm currently just using Spotify for my music, but plan on eventually getting a piece of jukebox software for a nice front-end interface.

Here's the PC, hiding away in the corner.
jukebox2.jpg


Pioneer receiver that it plugs into with a 1/8" stereo -> RCA cable
jukebox3.jpg


Speakers on each side of the back bar
jukebox4.jpg


Better view of the swivel arm that the screen is attached to
jukebox5.jpg


As for the cellar room, this house was built in the 1920s so it's actually the old coal-storage room. No windows, concrete all around, shelves were already there...the first time I walked into it I said, "CELLAR!". It doesn't stay super cold, usually 60-65 so it doubles as my fermentation room/random beer crap storage as well. Here are a few pics:

cellar1.jpg

cellar2.jpg

cellar3.jpg
 
nice build. nice to see a coffin where it is supposed to be. close to the barkeep like in a pub. love it. if you do anything else go ahead we all love brew pron
 
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