my bar build-tracking my progress here-

drez77 said:

Do you have the pump and the glycol on all the time?

Interesting idea and somehitng I may have to borrow

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yes, it constantly runs. i saw other that had done it before, with the pond pumps that you can get at your local home improvement stores, and have had them on and running for over two years constant, and still going strong.
i only have about 6 inches of exposed/non chilled beer line running at the very top of the run, out of the glycol/insulated trunk line to the back of the shanks.

i've seen others that have actually ran the glycol out and around the ends of the shanks, but i decided against that, and i'm doing fine, at least so far, without it.

shecky said:

With the possible exception of boobies, that is quite simply the greatest thing I've ever seen. My man-crush has grown exponentially larger. Nice job.

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well, when it's all completely done, and i get around to renewing my membership status, i might have some photos posted in a place that is not to be spoken of, that might just make your man crush grow to extremes that you might propose to me.

:rockin:

can't wait to see the final product. The build looks good!

chainsawbrewing said:

thanks man. i really like your bar too. and hey, we're both in indianapolis, so we'll have to bar swap sometime, lol.

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hellz yeah we need to check out the bars in person.

no pictures today, but spent the last two days epoxying the bartop.
WOW! you need a lot of epoxy.
i used envirotex lite.
on tuesday i poured one gallon, and let it dry overnight, then yesterday i wiped it down with alcholol and poured one more gallon and one quart. this morning i looked, and i'm going to need one more gallon, and then *hope* that that will be all i need.
right now about 97% of all the bottlecaps just have like maybe 1/16" still showing on the top of the epoxy, like you rub your hand over it, and you barely fell little "nub" of bottlecaps poking up, and about 3% on one end has maybe 3/16" hanging out still.

it's crazy, this epoxy is going to be the most expensive part of the actual bar. more than the blocks, more than all the lumber for it even, well except for the bar railing, that crap was pricey too.

swmbo has been TERRIBLY understanding though thruout the whole thing. she's just now started saying "what? you need MORE money? how much money have you spent on this? oh well, it'll be done soon, and we'll have a lot of fun with it."

wish me luck tonight! only one more coat, keep your fingers crossed for me.

yeah I remember when I was doing my bar, the epoxy was an extremely expensive part of the project

here's a few photos for updates. i made some tap handles out of solid wood mini sized bowling pins. they were in the clearance aisle at meijer. i'll label them on the front eventually, for each different beer, might just go with something as simple as number, 1 thru 5 on them, with a chalkboard beside the taps with the beer names on them.

also got some bar stools, they're just regular "cheapo" stools for now. my dream bar stools are a bit out of my price range right now, i will get them in a few months. got a little bit of graffiti work on the walls, and also a little bit more misc. crap hung up on the wall, and the corner of the glass blocks face has been trimmed out completely.
i have two kegs of death by dunkel, and one tap of a classic american pilsner for the bmc drinkers.
i still need to get some can lights up above the bar top, to brighten the place up a little bit, and i have to get a sleeper sofa for the back wall adjacent from the bar, and my stripper pole installed. the "official" unveiling is in two weeks for my 30th birthday party.

I like the tap markers .. those are neat .. remind me of the ones from Ska Brewing

drez77 said:

I like the tap markers .. those are neat .. remind me of the ones from Ska Brewing

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ska brewing? never heard of it. i assume it's somehow related to the jamacian calypso swing mixed with american r&b? a bunch of two tone rude boys that brew? with beer names like extra the specials bitter? or mighty mighty hopstones?

chainsawbrewing said:

ska brewing? never heard of it. i assume it's somehow related to the jamacian calypso swing mixed with american r&b? a bunch of two tone rude boys that brew? with beer names like extra the specials bitter? or mighty mighty hopstones?

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Ska Brewing Company

You got it .. they are from Durango CO.

They all liked Ska music and liked to brew .. match made in heaven ..

Might have to steal the Mighty Mighty Hopstones for a IIPA!!

None the less ..Like the taps!

sorry to hop off topic, I was just checking on the bar biuld and saw the ska comments.

check out Streetlight Manifesto if you like ska and haven't heard 'em already.

It has that awesome underground dive bar vibe. I love it. I wish we had basements her in Florida so I could build something like this.

Storm

I got the chance this week to see the actual finished project... it is awesome! The pics do not do it justice. Great job Brian, I hope when I am in Greenwood again sometime I can come by and enjoy a dunkel. Thanks for the bottles.

chainsawbrewing said:

yes, it constantly runs. i saw other that had done it before, with the pond pumps that you can get at your local home improvement stores, and have had them on and running for over two years constant, and still going strong.
i only have about 6 inches of exposed/non chilled beer line running at the very top of the run, out of the glycol/insulated trunk line to the back of the shanks.

i've seen others that have actually ran the glycol out and around the ends of the shanks, but i decided against that, and i'm doing fine, at least so far, without it.

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Maybe I missed this, but how long is the run outside of the keezer? Does it keep the beer cold enough (ie no foam on the first pour)?

I have a similar setup with a 10' insulated run to the taps. I had issues keeping the beer in the line cold enough until I moved the glycol to a freezer and insulated the entire thing.

Looks great man...Im in the process of laying out my "Man Cave" now...Im in Southern Indiana, so whens the official "party" lol

installed five can lights up above the bar this weekend. WOW. what a difference it makes. only lights i had in there before was a plug in lamp. the recessed lighting really shows off the bar top and bottle caps. looks great! i also pulled the wallpaper down in the bathroom, painted it white, and splattered blood red paint all over the bathroom. by all over i mean the walls, the cieling, the toilet, the cabinet, lol. looks like somebody got murdered in there. i'll be hanging up all my horror movie memorabillia inside there. pics to come later on.

^^^

Cool man! Please post-um many pictures!

-Tripod

well the bar, and the bathroom area about as "done" as it's gonna get for awhile. i've cleaned it up a lot since last photos, touched up the floor, hung the can lights, and painted and decorated the bathroom, and got more stuff on the walls. here's some photos.

can lights


front of the bar


behind the bar. still got crap all over it,lol


other side of the back bar. ps3, stereo reciever and disk changer with mp3 hook up, and humidor. underneath of the bar top has rope lights than illuminate the lower shelf.

close up of the floor


side wall


view of the "couch dance" area from sitting at the bar


the "wall-o-stuff"

my brew closet inside of the bar. got a black ipa and a porter fermenting right now. also got shelves for dvds, and all my brewing stuff.


the "horror" bathroom in the bar. signed photo of michael myers


another walll in the bathroom. signed photos of cheryl from evil dead and jason


another bathroom shot of the throne

door into the bathroom


the stripper pole getting used.....


and lastly. THIS is how we do it. me,swmbo, and a couple friends, livin' large in my bar, "the chop shop". i apologize in advance for the partial nudity, but hey, it's how i roll, lol


not too shabby. about a 5 month process from beginning to end, and i'm very proud of it. didn't know jack about building anything when i started. just used common sense, trial and error, and a LOT of money, lol. but it's frikkin awesome being able to have a place to hang out, get away from it all, and pull a mug of delicious homebrew, and watch the game. and when friends come over, it's all out, lol. i still want to cover the walls with more weird random stuff, and i still have a ton of horror memoribilia to put in the bathroom. in reality it will probably never, ever be "done" by my standards, but oh well. also, check out the next issue of byo magazine, they contacted me, and i gave them a bunch of photos of the build, and a brief write up/story about the bar, the build, and my beer. i don't know yet if it will be a full story, or just a brief thing in the build section, but either way i'm excited. thanks to everyone for all the help along the way!

Dude, I have to admit, I wasn't keen on the lightup bar, but that is an awesome bar room. It all goes very well. And My favorite part by far...That Floor is Awesome!! Almost as awesome as the length of your swmbo's dress on that pole!

The bar/ bar room is great. I did a cheap version of the bar using the top of an old dresser that had a mirror back so it worked great as a bar back. The epoxy as you said is expensive ? How expensive do you find it ? What I have found so far is like $100 a gallon. Too many questions at once I know but that is one great job you did there. Maybe i will finish mine this winter I hope.

Points for posting bikini wimmins and wearing a Headbangers Ball t-shirt.

doublexl said:

The bar/ bar room is great. I did a cheap version of the bar using the top of an old dresser that had a mirror back so it worked great as a bar back. The epoxy as you said is expensive ? How expensive do you find it ? What I have found so far is like $100 a gallon. Too many questions at once I know but that is one great job you did there. Maybe i will finish mine this winter I hope.

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thanks! i don't remember the total actual price of the epoxy right now. i got it at menards, it was two half gallon jugs, that mixed to one gallon. you have to do no more than a one gallon pour at a time. it took me i think about 4 gallons to cover my bar, and i have a couple spots that the very tippy top of the caps are still up above the epoxy. it could stand one more gallon, and i'll do that eventually.

it seems like the epoxy was about $70 per one gallon "kit". but then you have to buy two measuring vessles, and then a stirrer of some sort, and then a bigger vessle to put the two parts into to mix, and i had to buy all of those things new each time i mixed/poured (four seperate times) because the stuff will NOT come out of the measuring/mixing vessles. so it was about $100 a pour each time. good luck if you do it, i would reccomend a couple straws to blow out the bubbles, some sort of a plastic or rubber squeegee to smooth it out somewhat, they say it's self leveling, and it sort of is, but i had to help it along each pour, and a second hand, and second opinion is helpfull too. let me know if you have any more questions, i'm happy to help.

Thank you for the advice Im still looking at this for this winter. I'm hopefully gonna do rows of beer bottels for my front and sides with a sheet of plexy over the and being back lit. Alot of work but hey i got all winter to do it. And im sure I will have mant questions befor Im done. Thanks again

doublexl said:

Thank you for the advice Im still looking at this for this winter. I'm hopefully gonna do rows of beer bottels for my front and sides with a sheet of plexy over the and being back lit. Alot of work but hey i got all winter to do it. And im sure I will have mant questions befor Im done. Thanks again

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i thought about the plexiglass thing. i even thought about making plexiglass tubes, surrounded by the glass bricks, with lcolor changing ights behind the plexi tubes, and an aerator stone hooked up to a pump in the bottom of the tubes, tubes filled with colored water, and live fish inside of the tubes, lol. would have been bad ass, but too much money, too much time, too much upkeep, and too much room for utter failure.

Now that would be one bad as$$ bar. I dont have heat in my bar/ garage except for a k1 heater while were out there so i think the water is out for me lol.

Frackin awsome build.

By far the best home bar build I've ever seen. Very, very impressive.

Hell, you could probably start a brewpub pretty easily if you wanted. Not in your home, I mean a real brewpub that you'd set up in town. Just find a few potential investors and invite them over. Bring them down to the bar and serve them a cold pint of your homebrew. They'll be signing over checks in no time.

Great build I would only add a autographed picture of Anthony Micheal Hall to the bathroom, Dexter would feel right at home there.

The guy from Vacation and Wierd Science might not be a good fit. Micahel C. Hall on the other hand...

Does that DVD say "Sluts 20"?

Great Bar.

Fan-fukin-tastic. That looks seriously professional and very well put together.

190Shilling said:

The guy from Vacation and Wierd Science might not be a good fit. Micahel C. Hall on the other hand...

Does that DVD say "Sluts 20"?

Great Bar.

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haha, yeah, i was wondering if anybody would notice that. me and swmbo have a pretty large porn collection.

along with "cockAdile Hunter"....hahaaha!!

Very nice build by the way. The bar ain't bad either.

190Shilling said:

The guy from Vacation and Wierd Science might not be a good fit. Micahel C. Hall on the other hand...

Does that DVD say "Sluts 20"?

Great Bar.

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crap! how is that for a giant brain fart.

Not that I expect it, but any more pics of the stripper pole in use?

dudasaj said:

Not that I expect it, but any more pics of the stripper pole in use?

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I 2nd that....

MeatyPortion said:

Points for posting bikini wimmins and wearing a Headbangers Ball t-shirt.

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+1 on the Head Bangers Ball T!