Home bar build w/ aquarium, rotating tap tower and fermentation chamber

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RyenytheElder

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I built this home bar with my two housemates earlier this year. We built a kegerator and then thought why not build a simple bar for it. Then everyone had some good ideas and things got a little less simple. We decided on the idea of an integrated fermentation chamber based on internet research (and we like to brew). The aquarium was really decided on mid build and we even had to make some alterations to accommodate it. The rotating tap was thought of while shopping at the hardware store and seeing a toilet flange and a ball bearing "lazy susan" piece that was metal, thin and strong and it all clicked that it could be done I had just never heard of something like that before. Couple things I omitted in the slides would be the heating element and fans for fermentation chamber, fan for tap tower, the entire process of routing and reshaping 2x4's for custom rails that cost us about $12 instead of $100 -$150 for purchased same length. Basically we built the entire bar for pretty cheap cutting and making pretty much every piece of the build. The most expensive thing in there would be the triple tap tower and the resin for the bar top which I also didn't show in pics..it required some heat to remove bubbles and cure properly and probably cost around $150 or more on its own for the amount used plus I saved a little for the foam rock wall. The professional resin top is a must however and really makes a huge difference in look, durability and function.

Here is a link to my first youtube video/slideshow for the project


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e825GiLSssM[/ame]


The 2X4 in the lower right was later removed and things altered when we decided to add an aquarium


Fermentation chamber had foam and other materials added for insulation


We made it this far and still had not thought of the aquarium






Had to put the finished back of bar here for contrast but a little out of order...still have not got around to painting that ugly white fridge door


Time to cut glass since there are few choices out there for a column shaped aquarium and we decided to cut glass rather than buy one half the size premade




Started working on altering the bar to hold a corner 30 gallon aquarium


Tank is basically on a framed cart that slides (on wheels) into bar to look like one piece or can be removed for cleaning


We created a hinged door next to the tank to hold the co2, reg and aquarium equipment. It is also designed to look seamless when closed


A foam rock wall seemed nice after seeing on the internet...thank you internets.


After spraying expanding foam between live rock pieces and letting dry, resin was applied then sand....this shot is half coated in resin/sand and half just the foam


completed with a hidden diy filter and no live plants yet


Current shot several months with established tank


Why not have a tap tower that can rotate 180 degrees...I am lazy




This is the wood base the tap tower sits on. It has a layer of felted foam on the underside to remove any slop/wobble from the base when attached and rotating.


Wish i had a better shot but basically these 2 female cabinet locks are attached to the bed of the bar and the male pieces attached under the wood base the tap tower sits on so when rotating they lock in place.


We also built and soldered a shelving unit with dimmable led lighting with glass behind it


Haven't finished this yet as you can see the middle shelf has molding and the top and bottom are unfinished


In this picture the tap tower is facing out and in the next photo it will be facing in.
We also added some usb and power ports under the bar rail (easy to use if sitting at bar) but I didn't have any pics


Still working on bar area ...next project will be a glass chiller/chalkboard cabinet connected to the keg fridge for cooling which will be around the area where the Guinness sign is now. Also need to work on some custom tap handles and other decor a bit.
 
Beautiful build man! All these keezer/bar builds are inspiring me to move to a bigger place so I can do something similar.
 
Of course I get the CNC router working after I built this ...would have been nice during the bar build but we did have some other nice tools. I was thinking that on the cnc I could probably come up with an even better version of a reversible tap assembly and even have a template/stencil so the average person could use it with most towers using simple instructions. Not sure too many people would be interested and I doubt too many bars would be like yeah lets have the tap turn so the customers can serve themselves lol...wouldn't that be great.
 
Oh...my...God....I'm speechless! This is beyond outstanding. Not just the craftsmanship but the ideas and brainpower that went along with it. This is a work of art. Now if only SWMBO would let me copy this idea...
 
SWMBO...lol I had to look that one up.

Well anyway if you get approval and want to use some of my (many ideas taken from others) ideas and need any advice or help with it let me know...I omitted a lot of steps in my process. I have actually never made a post with pictures or a youtube video before now and the other guys convinced me to do it not so much for the pat on the back but rather since I have been using others help on the net ...tutorials, blogs, advice, ect for so many years and have never really given back at all so if this gives anyone some ideas to roll with I am happy. I do appreciate the feedback positive or negative as it all helps me with future builds as well.
 
"You win the Internet."

The Internet is pretty big but I may just have to agree with you.
 
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