Help!!: Under bar counter keg cooling/dispensing

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jonesry09

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Hey guys,

As I mentioned in my intro, I had a feeling I would be calling on your guys for some help. So here is where I am at. I bought my house a couple years ago and had a custom bar made. I love the bar but it was built before I started brewing my own beer and at the time, I wasn't interested in having taps. Well, that has changed. I now really want to have 3 taps at my bar to serve the beers that I have brewed. I really only need 2 but I want room to grow haha

So I have exhausted all creative options while talking things over with my contractor friend. There is only one place I can possibly put things. It is under the corner part of the bar where the garbage/recycling cans currently are. They are currently on a slider that is within a box (to make things look clean) but that box will be removed. Here in a picture of the area, with the box still in it. It will be totally empty and free to use.

bar1.jpg

I did a sketch of a rough diagram of the area as if you were looking down on it from above. The 39" dimension is the opening that you are looking at in the picture. There is a middle vertical wood piece in the picture, that can be removed for easier access. (the dimension that is cut off in the pic is 24")

View attachment bardimensions.pdf

So here is my question, what can I do under there to have 3-5gallon kegs cooling and "on tap". I thought a fridge/kegerator but I am not sure if I can fit on under there. Based on those dimensions, what do you guys think? Are there any other options?

This area is directly below where I want to run the taps, so it will be easy to have the hoses and what not. I am just going to have the granite company come drill a hole for the dispensing unit.

There is no other area in the bar that I can take over for more room, I would love too but I just can't (they are being used). I really don't want to run stuff through walls from another room to have a cooling unit as this bar project cost enough and that wouldn't be cost effective. I really just want to utilize this space.

Thank you guy so much for your help!!! I can't wait to see the suggestions and come up with a solution.

All the best
Ryan
 
You could line it with foam board but I don't see any way that you could cool it if that's the only spot you have. Any type of cooling units would take up way to much space. Do you have any space behind the bar that you could put a small chest freezer that you could dress up to look like the bar? With a 6 inch collar a 5 cf chest freezer could hold 3 cornies. A 5 cf is only 21"x28.75".
 
Put a freezer/refrigerator somewhere else and run a chilled trunk line to your bar? A bit of overkill for 3 taps though.

If you can create a well insulated area (2-4" of rigid foam) under your bar to hold the 3 kegs, a small air conditioner mounted in the side can keep that cavity cold.
 
You could put the freezer elsewhere and run the beer to the bar in glycol chilled lines, but that's expensive. What are the dimensions of the box? Could you hinge that back portion (the part that is removed) to allow access to a fridge and just load your kegs from the hinged hole?

I would worry about condensation on the wood if you turned the entire space into a diy fridge.
 
Last edited:
Buy a cheap dorm fridge and tear it apart other then the cooling system. Install the system into your bar after you've lined it well with insulation.
 
Ok, So it seems like there are a few options:

1- Have the cooling unit somewhere else and have glycol cooled lines. Anyone have an approx cost on this? I could have more taps that way, which is never a bad thing. The only downfall I see to this is that I don't want to do a whole other extensive reno just to do this.

2- Turn that space into its own little refrigerator. This is something I could do and would definitely have the space to do. However, watermelon83 brings up a pretty good point. What are the chances that this damages the wood? The bar was an expensive add on and the last thing I want to do is ruin it.

3- I thought about building a coffin keezer but with the bar there, I don't really have a place to put it. The bar take up a large portion or the basement and it's not like I am just going to sit a keezer in the middle of the room. Anyone have a keeper in another room, say a utility room, and just fill your beer there and then hang at the bar? Thought on that? Is it too much of a pain?


Thanks for the input guys. Any other thoughts/suggestions that I might be overlooking?
 
jonesry09 said:
Don't think a jockey viable permanent options is it?
Click to expand...

Just spitballing. I know it's not the norm, but I don't see why a permanently mounted Jockey Box couldn't be an option. Might not be ideal, just thought I'd throw it out there.
 
It's hard to tell just how big the space is from the picture. If you can fit a kegerator or a keezer in there without modifying it, I would do that.

If you can't, there are other threads around HBT about people taking apart a freezer or fridge and using the "guts" to make their own kegerator. I recall one that took an antique looking piece of furniture and doing that. Those people could probably give you more wisdom than I.

If you do go down that road, it is not actually that hard to make a sealed box using rigid foam insulation. There are kinds with foil lined faces that can actually look pretty slick if you do a good job on installation. The joints can be easily sealed with tape engineered for sealing insulation joints. Also, the great stuff foam makes a great glue/seal combination. (It's messy to work with though.)

The biggest challenge for something in place long term like that is sealing the doors to keep humid air out and a drip tray system to capture condensed water and get it out of the unit in a reliable manner.
 
Where is the utility room located. I have my keezer in a utility room that is on the side of my bar. I ran the taps through the wall and made a fancy wood plate for them with some stone tile under and a matching box for my drip tray under the tiles. If your utility room is not to far from your bar that could be an option.
 
NeoBrew said:
It's hard to tell just how big the space is from the picture. If you can fit a kegerator or a keezer in there without modifying it, I would do that.

If you can't, there are other threads around HBT about people taking apart a freezer or fridge and using the "guts" to make their own kegerator. I recall one that took an antique looking piece of furniture and doing that. Those people could probably give you more wisdom than I.

If you do go down that road, it is not actually that hard to make a sealed box using rigid foam insulation. There are kinds with foil lined faces that can actually look pretty slick if you do a good job on installation. The joints can be easily sealed with tape engineered for sealing insulation joints. Also, the great stuff foam makes a great glue/seal combination. (It's messy to work with though.)

The biggest challenge for something in place long term like that is sealing the doors to keep humid air out and a drip tray system to capture condensed water and get it out of the unit in a reliable manner.
Click to expand...

There is a PDF with the measurements of the area below the bar. Being new to looking at kegerators and all of that, I am not sure if there is a unit that will fit under there that could do what I need.

At this point, if there isn't a way to get a cooling unit under there. i might just have to build a keeper and walk into the utility room and pour a beer. Not what I want to do but without spending quite a bit of money to run lines through walls (that I just paid to have finished when the bar was built) there are few options.

There are no shared walls between the utility room and the bar. It shares a wall with the outside deck and downstairs bedroom.
 
jonesry09 said:
There is a PDF with the measurements of the area below the bar. Being new to looking at kegerators and all of that, I am not sure if there is a unit that will fit under there that could do what I need.

At this point, if there isn't a way to get a cooling unit under there. i might just have to build a keeper and walk into the utility room and pour a beer. Not what I want to do but without spending quite a bit of money to run lines through walls (that I just paid to have finished when the bar was built) there are few options.

There are no shared walls between the utility room and the bar. It shares a wall with the outside deck and downstairs bedroom.
Click to expand...

Like a previous poster said, it's kind of hard to tell the exact area you're dealing with from that PDF. The 7.1 cf freezer that I'm currently converting is about 36.5W x 33H x 22D (counting the hinges). Going by that it's most likely possible to wedge something into your space, but without more specifics it's not easy to figure out what a realistic option is.
 
Basically what I and I think most people are looking for are.

1. What is the opening W x H without the center vertical divider.

2. What are the rough inside dimensions, largest rectangular or square "cube" you can fit in the space.
 
EuBrew said:
Basically what I and I think most people are looking for are.

1. What is the opening W x H without the center vertical divider.

2. What are the rough inside dimensions, largest rectangular or square "cube" you can fit in the space.
Click to expand...

1- 40" x 26" would be the opening without the divider.

2- Thats a very good question. Without taking the garbage bad/dismantling the drawer and everything under there I would for sure be able to say. However, I don't want to go through all that and find out that its not feasible to fit anything under there.

I was kind of hoping that someone had dealt with a similar situation. If I had to make an educated guess based on just being able to drop a devise in there (lets say the granite wasn't already installed and I could just plop it in there), the max size based on the able would like be 35" wide x 24" deep x 35" tall.

Does that make sense? I feel like I didn't do a great job explaining things in order to get the proper advise. Sorry guys.
 
Is that the max square you can fit in that spot? If that's what those dimension are you could possible fit this kegerator in it. Pretty sure you could atleast fit 2 cornie kegs inside it.
 
Post a pic of the other side. From what I can tell that would be the working side of the bar and this is the seating area correct? I'm betting you have better access or more options from that side if there's already a pull out installed.
 
jonesry09 said:
1- 40" x 26" would be the opening without the divider.

2- Thats a very good question. Without taking the garbage bad/dismantling the drawer and everything under there I would for sure be able to say. However, I don't want to go through all that and find out that its not feasible to fit anything under there.

I was kind of hoping that someone had dealt with a similar situation. If I had to make an educated guess based on just being able to drop a devise in there (lets say the granite wasn't already installed and I could just plop it in there), the max size based on the able would like be 35" wide x 24" deep x 35" tall.

Does that make sense? I feel like I didn't do a great job explaining things in order to get the proper advise. Sorry guys.
Click to expand...

No worries, we're all just trying to help. Also, what is the minimum opening you have. I.E. it's 40x26 from that face on view - is that the side you'll be sliding the kegerator in? If not, is the other side's opening the same dimensions or is it narrower due to the angles?

The mini fridge with 2 taps sounds easily doable so far. Just curious if you might be able to get a small freezer in there for 3 or 4 taps.
 
badandy519 said:
No worries, we're all just trying to help. Also, what is the minimum opening you have. I.E. it's 40x26 from that face on view - is that the side you'll be sliding the kegerator in? If not, is the other side's opening the same dimensions or is it narrower due to the angles?

The mini fridge with 2 taps sounds easily doable so far. Just curious if you might be able to get a small freezer in there for 3 or 4 taps.
Click to expand...


The other side is only a single door due to the angles. Because this is the angled part, it basically makes it look like a baseball diamond.

I got a little ahead of myself in the excitement and totally forgot about how I would even get in to a freezer or fridge cooler under there. That may be the breaking point for me. I have been looking at cool keeper building and I may have to invest some time into making one to match the bar that I can just roll out of the utility room when people are over and roll back in.

Sucks because I really wanted taps at the bar. Should have thought of that when I first built it.
 
jonesry09 said:
The other side is only a single door due to the angles. Because this is the angled part, it basically makes it look like a baseball diamond.

I got a little ahead of myself in the excitement and totally forgot about how I would even get in to a freezer or fridge cooler under there. That may be the breaking point for me. I have been looking at cool keeper building and I may have to invest some time into making one to match the bar that I can just roll out of the utility room when people are over and roll back in.

Sucks because I really wanted taps at the bar. Should have thought of that when I first built it.
Click to expand...

Can your contractor friend make the "face on" view in the OP a slide out or maybe a tip out where the bar front is part of the keezer, but-semi movable and you could load the kegs that way?

If not, the best option is to probably frame in the box area with greenboard (for moisture), insulate it, tape it off and figure out a way to cool it with a mini fridge.
 
jonesry09 said:
The other side is only a single door due to the angles. Because this is the angled part, it basically makes it look like a baseball diamond
Click to expand...

Post a pic of the pullout with dimensions of the door. I built cabinets for the first half of my life and I'm almost taking this as a personal challenge to get you a tap where you want it :D

I'm thinking you could get a mini fridge with enough room to fit at least 2 or possibly three corny's in there. You'll have plenty of room in the angled wings to put your co2 tank. My thought is you could take the door off the fridge and push it up against the back side of the face frame against a seal between the cabinet and the fridge. Then you could insulate the back of the pullout door with some 2" foam board and use spring clips like what it seems are there in the pic you posted of the other side to hold the door in place.

It may be a 10 lbs of kaka in a 5 lb bag situation, but you'd have your tap where you want it. The 40x26 (IIRC) dimension should give you room to put the fridge in sideways and rotate upright once you're over the frame in the first pic.
 
Eurbrew… I hope this is the info you are looking for. Just want to get your the right stuff to help you, help me hahah

So here are pictures of the other side. Enclosed in that box you see on the back side of the bar is a slider that has the garbage and recycling bins. There is also a drawer above that. I took a picture of them off the sliders as well. The dimensions of that inside box are 23 1/2" L x 16 1/2" W x 29" H.

I also included the backside picture again so you didn't have to flip back to the first page. Hopefully this clears up what your looking at.

Hope this helps.

bargarb1.jpg

bargarb1.jpg
 

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  • bar1.jpg
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How about you toss out all that leinenkugel junk and put your homebrew kegs in the fridge you've already go installed?
 
Clankenbrew said:
How about you toss out all that leinenkugel junk and put your homebrew kegs in the fridge you've already go installed?
Click to expand...

Those fridges don't have the ability to hold 5 gallon kegs. Not big enough.

I also enjoy don't want to lose the ability to cool other, non home brewed beers.
 
If there's a way to remove the face frame and toe kick on for the pullout you're golden. There's always a way, just not sure how it's put together. If it was assembled and finished onsite you may be in luck. The way it looks to me the cabinets on the left and right (there's white melamine on both sides) are independent of the pullout section. If this is the case then the face frames were probably screwed together so just remove those screws and the box for the pullout. The toe kick may be a little more difficult but if you had access to a feintool or similar you can easily cut the toe kick to fit the dimensions of your chosen kegerator and stain/finish the cut edge to match.

Can you tell how the pullout section is assembled? One word of caution, out a support panel on the left side of the pullout section running from the floor to under the counter so you don't pop your granite seam.
 
This seems like a no brainier now. If the refrigerator fits on the left side it surely will fit on the right side. It might even fit in the center panel. You just need to get a kegerator or mini-fridge that will hold the kegs you want and cut the cabinet face to let it fit in. The tricky part will be patching in around it if you have to fill back in where a cabinet door was. If you don't feel "handy" you could hire the cabinet guys to come back and mod the bar to fit another refrigerator.
 
I have an under counter fridge under granite.
For what its worth:
You mentioned drilling the hole for the tap.Make sure you have the tap and base plate to drill holes for mounting screws
If you figure out a way to get an under counter fridge make sure you get a front breathing fridge.Once its all together its a pain to dismantle to clean coils if you get a rear breathing one(ask me how I know)
My fridge is 28 1/2 high 27wide(without casters) and holds 2 kegs easily.
If you can get a fridge to fit I would (and its only my opinion) stick with two taps instead of three.Running glycol and remote freezers seems like a royal pain for just one extra tap if a standard setup will get you 2
 
EuBrew said:
If there's a way to remove the face frame and toe kick on for the pullout you're golden. There's always a way, just not sure how it's put together. If it was assembled and finished onsite you may be in luck. The way it looks to me the cabinets on the left and right (there's white melamine on both sides) are independent of the pullout section. If this is the case then the face frames were probably screwed together so just remove those screws and the box for the pullout. The toe kick may be a little more difficult but if you had access to a feintool or similar you can easily cut the toe kick to fit the dimensions of your chosen kegerator and stain/finish the cut edge to match.

Can you tell how the pullout section is assembled? One word of caution, out a support panel on the left side of the pullout section running from the floor to under the counter so you don't pop your granite seam.
Click to expand...


I'm 99% sure I know what you are saying. I am going to grab a flashlight and do some poking around in there.

Thank you so much for the help!!
 

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