Incorporating a Keezer into an Existing Bar

[hillhousesawdustco]

So I've got this bar, alternately called the Tack Barn Bar or the -X6-. It is plumbed and wired (although the wiring isn't currently very pretty, it is safe!) and about the most fun place on earth, but for the last 5 years we've had to drink beer out of bottles! Lame!

That picture is from a couple years ago; there are a bunch of new additions like a rack for wine glasses and goblets and a bunch of vintage lighted beer signs and a ping pong table etc.

I'm going to start building my keezer this week (Holiday 7 cf) and am hoping for some input from the sage HBT community. I looked around the forums and the web, but couldn't find much information on incorporating a keezer into a bar that is already built. I was thinking a coffin box sticking up where that little icemaker is (on the lower, side bar) would be pretty cool, but of course the issue arises as to how to remove the keezer in such a way as to easily change out kegs, while maintaining the the chilly temperature necessary for delicious foam-free homebrew. I am considering building a collared, castered keezer and running the lines out the back or the top through some kind of insulated flexible duct material (like the stuff used for vents for dryers). That way the lines and the duct can be "stretched" without have to disconnect anything...but I've never seen anybody do this and I have to assume that a flexible duct would hinder airflow, even with a 12v fan to move air around. Maybe it would be easier to just use two piece of PVC with a "bell" on one end that would make it easy to push down and disconnect for keg changing?

I could also build the keezer into a kind of back bar, build onto the side, or even rework what I have currently. I'm just looking for input. The top of the sidebar is just old plywood that I found buried in the mud and sanded down and urethaned to usability, so it could possibly be replaced with the top of a keezer...but people do like to dance on it and that could be a problem.

Anyways, thanks for any advice ya'll may have!

 

[Hammy71]

I don't know anything about building a keezer in a bar.....but that friggin bar ROCKS!!!!!

 

[IrregularPulse]

I have a build I was going to copy until I changed my mind. PM me your email addy and I'll send the pics I have.

 

[cruelkix]

This is what I did.

Good luck man. However you end up doing it you will love it

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Thanks for the assistance folks.
Also, thanks Hammy- I built it one boring february five years ago in one of the many old barns on my property. I've prided myself in spending pretty much nothing on it- everything is salvaged from the local dump (I usually bring back more than I take) or otherwise scavenged, given to me, or stuff I've found around the ranch. Even the granite countertop was free! The rest of the wood is apen that I cut down, dried, ripped, and sanded. The plumbing only works in the summertime, but is much appreciated by the schoolteacher that spends three months each year in the "barn bar."
I'll try to remember to put some new pics up once the keezer is complete.

 

[JuanMoore]

I've seen several builds on here similar to what you're after, but don't have time right now to search for them all. With the right weatherstipping placement you can get away without even using a flex tube. Here's one of the more recent ones-
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/another-keezer-build-mid-century-modern-ikea-inspired-design-220143/

I'll try to search for some of the other ones for you later tonight if I remember.

The bar looks amazing, and I can't wait to see how you end up incorporating a keezer into it.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Thanks JuanMoore, that is a pretty slick design, but still not exactly what I was looking for as it was all built-to-spec and not inserted into an existing bar, but I love the "slide-out" idea and how it could be put to use.
Unfortunately my side-bar is at least an inch too low to put my keezer under so I'm thinking i'll just start with a collared keezer for my "back bar" and eventually build a fascia around it so that it blends in with either that bar or mimics the barn itself (covered in old shakes).
I was also think that if I brought the taplines out the SIDE of the collar and build a coffin box near my sink, then I'd never have to move the keezer anyways, since nothing would be on top of it. I'll keep mulling....

ALSO, this barn obviously gets pretty damned cold in the winter (we had -34 before windchill this winter and often get to -20). I'm not gonna be drinking in there when it is that cold, but I do like to partake during the shoulder seasons. I was thinking about wiring in a "thermocube" ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006U2HD2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 ) and a heater or lightbulb inside the keezer for those chilly days before the barn gets shut down for the winter. Or maybe just sticking an anti-freeze heater in there like the one in my wellhouse. Or maybe wiring an outlet from my single stage temp controller, plugging in the freezer in during the winter and the heater in the summer. I've seen plenty of threads of people in this situation, but most seem to be using dual-stage temp controls, which I don't feel like shelling out for right now. Any suggestions? I've always kept a tiny dorm fridge in the barn before, and every year I forget to empty it before the first big freeze and I walk in to exploded beer bottles. I'd like to keep my stupidity and the weather from causing that again.

 

[pjj2ba]

I built my bar with a standard fridge *NEXT* to it. I then ran two beer lines in an insulated duct to a tower on my bar. A small fan blowers air through it to keep it cool.

There are various pics in my gallery

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

After the initial posting, and despite my best intentions...I simply threw together a typical one-tap keezer the afternoon that my first tap arrived.

Then the other two taps showed up a week or so later so I obviously had to upgrade. I went through several hours of pondering, as I was very interested in having a tower on top of the bar...but finally decided against it. The winters here are brutal- it seriously snowed 13 inches last night, and is still snowing and will continue to snow. Spring, my ass. Anyways I decided to keep the freezer in a condition that would make it easyish to remove from the barn bar during the (ever so long) winters.

First I added the other taps to the collar, with some little chunks of aspen used to push the taps out from the body of the freezer. The taps are just some junk that was lying around, although I rather like the broken hammer handle.

I built a frame and attached some crappy OSB that I had laying around. I like to build ugly and then cover it up with pretty.

Stained the OSB with the darkest stain that was lying around (walnut, i believe) and attached some lodgepole pine accents on the corners to cover up the joints.

Got back to work on it this afternoon and started to rough in the copper gutter and the trim around the top.

At some point here I'll rip some aspen and put it on the front/sides so that it resembles the rest of the bar.

Not sure what I'm gonna do with the top yet...I've got some copper that I've flattened out that might make a neat inset. I'm also toying with building a cupola-esque tower to resemble the one that is actually on the barn.

 

[onthekeg]

Can you close the door? It looks like the powerstrip is in the opening~:rockin:
I'm sure its the camera angle or something.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Ha, there are actually a couple strips of wood across the outside of the doorframe. The tack barn is built up off the ground...so that door is actually about 7 feet off the grass. I don't need my drunk friends trying to walk out the door and cracking their noggins so i put in the strips up to limit their stupidity. Makes a great bathroom, actually. At least for the fellas.

I got a little more done with sanding and staining the shelf that wraps around the frame. It will get a couple more coats.

I put a fair amount of thought into making the freezer body pretty easy to remove from the 'skin' surrounding it...my brother in law just pointed out the I could have just built the frame so that we could get the pallet jack under it to get it out of the barn, and then use the forklift to move it down to the garage at winter time. Kinda wish I'd thought of that....but at least my way doesn't involve all those fancy tools.

 

[JuanMoore]

Looking great! I really like the copper drip tray and the wood you chose for the collar and ledge.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Well the keezer is looking a bit shinier but I haven't had the time to do too much with it besides more coats of urethane. I don't regret it though, it has been over freezing for THREE days in a row, so I've been enjoying getting outside. I did close up my "winter brewery" so now I've got 5 kegs of beer in the keezer and another keg of mead sitting in my root cellar.

I ripped a bunch of aspen over the weekend, so once everything is nice and smooth I'll get to work on the fascia (and covering up the OSB).

Once I get the ripped aspen up then I'll probably try out a few bells and whistles, think up a plan for the top, and clean out the gutter.

I hope anybody reading this is enjoying a homebrew and maybe a sunset like mine:

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Got a little more done during real-work-breaks today.

I planed about half the aspen. You can kinda see a before and after here:

Put together this sign to spice up the front of the keezer a bit. To explain, my ranch is the -X6 (pronounced Bar X Six) so this is going to be the -X6- or Bar X Six Bar. Really clever, I know.

I sanded down some of the aspen with a belt sander, and then sanded some more by hand. These are just mocked up for now, only the ripped lengths on either side are actually attached. I can't believe I actually managed to go through those thousands of drywall screws over the past few years!

I also decided to put another vent on the other side of the unit. Why not, right? The first vent is low on the tap side, this one will be high on the other side.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Got some more work done this evening. The uprights are still just wedged under the gutter, but everything else is attached as far as the front of the keezer goes:

Put a coat of stain on, it will get at least one more after I attach the rest of the vertical aspen bits.

Still pondering on the top. Having a homebrew while I ponder:

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Worked on the sides this afternoon:
Not sure why that vent looks so light in this photo...it's quite black in real life.

Aaand the other side.

Hopefully I'll get to work on the top soon, but real-work may get in the way this week.

 

[JrZyBud]

Just want to say that this build is awesome and is hands down one of the coolest and most original keezers I've seen on the boards.

Great work!

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Thanks very much, I've drawn inspiration (and a lot of practical advise) from other builds, but hey what's the point of copying somebody when you can experiment a bit...and use all the junk you may have laying around!

For anyone that finds this build thread via a search in the future, I want to note that the President just appeared live to inform the nation that Osama bin Laden was killed earlier today, on May 1st, 2011. I'm drinking a homebrew from this keezer to celebrate.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Nothing terribly exciting, but I spraypainted the lid brown so at least it won't look so out of place till I figure what I want to do with it. Been busy fixing up my keggles so that's the best I could come up with! I might put a couple coats of Chalkboard paint over the brown for the time being....as it is time to put in the barn with the rest of the bar. That's right folks, the snow is finally melting away in NW Montana.

 

[beachfr0nt]

Awesome build. I wanted to make a coffin style keezer so that you have a nice counter area to rest the glass after filling it. This combines the best of both worlds of not damaging the freezer but still having a nice case and counter area.

Have you had any progress with the top cover?

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Sorry for never responding to this! I never did do anything with the top cover- it works great as is and I just never got inspired to make it into anything in particular.
The single coat of non-primed brown spraypaint has gotten a bit scratched so maybe I'll come up with something good rather than just respraying it.

 

[Rivenin]

looking awesome man!