Basement Brew Pub

CornyKegs 728
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karpems said:
I totally agree. Fantastic bar.

Just ballpark, how many man hours have you put into this. Did you do all the work yourself? How about costs?

Is the bar custom or did you buy it somewhere?

Thanks!
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The bar is custom hand made cherry wood. The columns hide support posts and an I-Beam above the cabinets. It's 12x10 and seats around 18-20people. I did the design, electric and unskilled labor & grunt work. A local craftsman actually built it.

I don't really (want to) think about the total costs. I started with a budget a long time ago but figured out pretty quickly that it was more important to me to have it done right then inexpensively. The bar itself was a relative bargain considering it's about $10k in materials.
 
cfrazier77 said:
This is amazing, you are really lucky to have that bar!
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There's no doubt. The gentleman that built it is 80 years old now and this is the last project he did. The next closest quote I got was $27 grand more. I was lucky to find him when I did. After he was done we stood there looking at the finished product and he says, "If anyone asks how much you paid, tell them double"
 
rvklein said:
There's no doubt. The gentleman that built it is 80 years old now and this is the last project he did. The next closest quote I got was $27 grand more. I was lucky to find him when I did. After he was done we stood there looking at the finished product and he says, "If anyone asks how much you paid, tell them double"
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In that case he deserve a front row bar stool when you pour the first draft!
 
Redunkulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it. The brewery/theater basement is the way to go. I'm half way through my build (theater in, tap room done and brewery next) and working on the wife to let me build a bar. I'm going to use this thread a sales tool with her. Good job.
 
rvklein said:
POS template for the draft tower. I need to make a real one. You don't want to have to drill more holes than you need! Wife is taking a don't-ask-don't-tell approach to this project.
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As a somewhat novice weekend hack carpenter whenever I deal with Cherry I measure and re-measure several times and still get the willies as I hit the power button on the cutting instrument of the moment. But, with THAT cherry, I don't think I would have the courage to even get within 10' of it with a drill and would probably throw up all over myself. That bar is spec-frigging-tacular!
 
Your basement looks about as big as our whole house, 1300sqft. Ok kick the women out and take me :) It's better than all the bars/pubs I've been to.
 
I've got all the holes drilled and the draft tower mounted in the bar with it's tail running through the kegerator and behind the cabinets.

All I need now is to fish the trunk line. It's going to be tough. I'll post some more pictures once the line is run.
 
That's really cool man! Nothing beats hand-made furniture. I've started working with wood a bit but I'm nowhere close to doing anything like that. I know you mentioned another guy did the work, but maybe you could help me out with a few questions. Firstly, to get the color did you first use a stain and then a clear coat? If you did use a stain, was it just a cherry wood stain (because the wood is cherry wood too) or something else? Secondly, I noticed the edging is darker. Did he (or you) apply a thicker coat or is it uniform all the way around, and just a trick with the light?

I ask because I did a stain on some tap handles I made and I added more to the grooves to give it depth. I wasn't sure if he (or you) did the same thing. Also did you guys use anything to treat the wood grain before working with it? I'm just getting into this stuff so...a lot of questions :p
 
Teromous said:
That's really cool man! Nothing beats hand-made furniture. I've started working with wood a bit but I'm nowhere close to doing anything like that. I know you mentioned another guy did the work, but maybe you could help me out with a few questions. Firstly, to get the color did you first use a stain and then a clear coat? If you did use a stain, was it just a cherry wood stain (because the wood is cherry wood too) or something else? Secondly, I noticed the edging is darker. Did he (or you) apply a thicker coat or is it uniform all the way around, and just a trick with the light?

I ask because I did a stain on some tap handles I made and I added more to the grooves to give it depth. I wasn't sure if he (or you) did the same thing. Also did you guys use anything to treat the wood grain before working with it? I'm just getting into this stuff so...a lot of questions :p
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The light & dark largely depends on the grain of the wood. The bartop is a 2 part self leveling epoxy. It goes on really thick and is challenging on a large surface area because it all has to be poured at the same time and you have about 30 minutes until it starts to cure. The arm rail has about a dozen coats of polyurethane. Everything else has a thin coat of varnish. I do believe the panels were purposely lighter for contrast. Same stain, thinner coat.

I don't believe the wood was treated in anyway other than planing which was nessecary since it was all sightly different thicknesses.
 
A few updates. Waiting for a day (soon) were I and a couple friends are free to run the trunk line

Draft Tower Tail running through Kegerator

IMG_0418.jpg
 
Just a shot of the liquor shelf and the 3 zone beverage coolers inside the bar.

All the bottles on the bar top aren't usually there so I know it looks cluttered. I'm working inside a cabinet that houses alot of them.

IMG_0420.jpg
 
Nice work! We're moving in 3 months and I have to start all over again with the home theater and bar so I'm taking notes!

I like the control panel too... it looks vaguely familar. ;)

Kal
 
Oh and Kal, my favorite feature of the Home Theater are the pocket doors. Close them and you have a dedicated theater. Open them and you have a 12' screen to watch from the bar!
 
:)

I take the 3/4 HP glycol chiller is used? I looked into them and they're *@#$&# expensive.

The bundled beer line looks to be Brewmaster II from Micromatic? Did you go with 1/4" ID?

Kal
 
Yeah it's a $3500 chiller. I picked it up from ebay for $700 shipped which is a bargain any way you look at it. Half of that must have been shipping charges since it's 180 lbs.

The Beer line is from a local company, AC Beverage and is 5/16" ID so there will be about a half gallon of beer in each line.
 
I didn't notice the electrical outlets before, that's really cool. It would come in very handy with blenders, etc. Did you add a separate breaker for the bar, or is it on the same one as the room? Also, I hope your friends appreciate what you're doing for them. I dig the wine fridge. It would be awesome to put a few wine bottles in there if you brew on that side of the hobby as well.

I don't know if you're into antiques or anything, but if you could get one of those old National cash registers that would look awesome.
 
Teromous said:
I didn't notice the electrical outlets before, that's really cool. It would come in very handy with blenders, etc. Did you add a separate breaker for the bar, or is it on the same one as the room? Also, I hope your friends appreciate what you're doing for them. I dig the wine fridge. It would be awesome to put a few wine bottles in there if you brew on that side of the hobby as well.

I don't know if you're into antiques or anything, but if you could get one of those old National cash registers that would look awesome.
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That is so funny. I've been looking for a cash register. They are expensive!

I ran seven separate circuits to the bar. One for the outlets, one for the ejector and condensate pumps, and each appliance is on a separate circuit.

I have great friends. They do appreciate it. Sometimes there wives don't though! There are stories.... :)
 
Doh! Lighting strike last night took out my Computer, OOMA voip, Home Theater reciever & Projector. Second time this week we've been hit. No joke.
 
man it gets better and better....I would be happy with just the beer tower, the randal and the dart board. Feed the liqour to the scallywags :)
 
rvklein said:
Doh! Lighting strike last night took out my Computer, OOMA voip, Home Theater reciever & Projector. Second time this week we've been hit. No joke.
Click to expand...

Time to invest in a Monster power center. Guaranteed to protect anything plugged into it (cable, cat6, power, etc.) up to $100,000. For a $200 investment it's worth the piece of mind or in your case save your electronics from blowing up.
 
Waunabeer said:
Time to invest in a Monster power center. Guaranteed to protect anything plugged into it (cable, cat6, power, etc.) up to $100,000. For a $200 investment it's worth the piece of mind or in your case save your electronics from blowing up.
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A complete waste of money IMHO. Read the insurance clauses in any of these pieces of equipment. They (usually) state that the replacement guarantee is only valid if there is proof of damage to the surge surpressor which basically never ever happens because of the technologies they employ.

The other issue is that all of these cheap suppressors use MOVs (metal oxide varistors) to block surges. They are sacrificial and eventually (fairly quickly) wear out completely open and no longer do anything. Useless.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varistor

Want a good surge protector? Look at ones that do not use sacrificial components like this: http://www.brickwall.com/. Or better yet, a whole house surge unit that uses similar technology.

Personally, I wouldn't bother. But that's just me.

Monster is a company I generally do not respect as they rely on scare tactics and non-factual information to market their products. The markups are absolutely insane. I sell home theater stuff and would love those markups but cannot in good conscience sell their stuff. Most of their money is made off of people after they decide to spend $2000 on a TV and are told that it doesn't come with a cable... what's an extra $100-200 when you've already spent $2000 right? (It's about $180-$190 too much, that's what it is!).

There are no 'facts' or numbers on Monster products that can be used to compare against their competitors. Their cables are the worst: Want a frequency sweep of their cables? Nope, not going to get it. Want resistance/capitance/inductance/attenuation values? Nope, not going to get it.

For example, look at their highest end cable "features" here: http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=4314

There's absolutely nothing provided that allows you to compare their $200+ product to a $10 cable. Why? Because there's no difference.

Now look at this cable: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/hdmi-cables/hdmi-cable.htm

They provide you with complete details and specs of the Belden wiring used.

I have no affiliation with any of these companies. I'm just an EE and home theater buff who likes facts over fluff.

Save your money, do your homework. Don't buy Monster, don't buy Bose, unless you're ok that 95% of what you spent has gone to fuel their misleading marketing campaigns.

/rant!
 

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