My Basement Bar Build

[Hoppopotomus]

BTW....Lucky_Chicken. I just read through your threads in your sig. line. Nice work! I know this is for this thread, but I'm curious how well the kegerator is holding it's temp. I'm using a mini-fridge to cool the rustic lager chamber that I'm working on. I don't think I'll have an issue getting the temp. down for the primary fermentation, but doubt if I can get the temp down in the mid 30's for secondary lagering. What kind of temps are you able to hold and what's the R value of your insulation panels? I greatly appreciate any feedback.

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

If I didn't just start the brewing room in the "unfinished" side of my basement, I would take you up on that. Seriously, I'm in the middle of an all electric HERMS build, a dedicated brewing room build, and dual rustic fermentation chamber builds. I'm also slated to build a rustic wood grain bin, a motorized grain mill built into a rustic cabinet, and still need to build the shelving for my beer/wine cold storage room. All of the qualities of my basement bar and keezer builds will be incorporated into these projects with knotty pine, cedar logs, tumbled travertine, etc, so I have enough to keep me busy for a while. I have started a few other misc. threads covering my other builds. I don't have direct links on my signature line, but you can find my threads in my profile if interested.

BTW....thanks for the kind words Brew52. If you are ever in SE Michigan, let me know and I'll be sure to have a porter on tap.

It would have been a heck of a commute anyway You do great work, i cant wait to follow the other build threads

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks Jeremy. BTW...do you have an answer to my question about your kegerator?

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

BTW....Lucky_Chicken. I just read through your threads in your sig. line. Nice work! I know this is for this thread, but I'm curious how well the kegerator is holding it's temp. I'm using a mini-fridge to cool the rustic lager chamber that I'm working on. I don't think I'll have an issue getting the temp. down for the primary fermentation, but doubt if I can get the temp down in the mid 30's for secondary lagering. What kind of temps are you able to hold and what's the R value of your insulation panels? I greatly appreciate any feedback.

sorry i missed this post... I used 2 layers of 3/4" insulation It wasnt high Im thinking r3.8 i think? It is holding temp great! I keep it at 45 year round. Hottest days of the summer it will only kick on twice an hour. It will hold lower... i tested it at 35 when i first tried it. I use a light bulb to heat it in the winter... btw 100W is way too much! its only on for 20 or 30 seconds.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm building 2 seperate chambers one for ales and one for lagers. The unfinished side of my basement does not have radiant floor heating like the rest of my basement and it stays pretty constant in the low 60's pretty much year round. Since the chambers will be in a static temp. environment, I decided to do seperate warm and cold chambers, because 60 degrees isn't quite warm enough for the ales that I brew and it isn't quite cold enough for the lagers that I'm going to start brewing. For my ale chamber, I plan on using a reptile cage mat heater as my heat source. I'll let you know how it works.

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm building 2 seperate chambers one for ales and one for lagers. The unfinished side of my basement does not have radiant floor heating like the rest of my basement and it stays pretty constant in the low 60's pretty much year round. Since the chambers will be in a static temp. environment, I decided to do seperate warm and cold chambers, because 60 degrees isn't quite warm enough for the ales that I brew and it isn't quite cold enough for the lagers that I'm going to start brewing. For my ale chamber, I plan on using a reptile cage mat heater as my heat source. I'll let you know how it works.

if you are enclosing them you might not need heat, fermentation will create some.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Good point....I'm going to prep. it just in case. The temp. controllers that I'm looking at are dirt cheap, as are the aquarium heating mats. I guess I won't know until I try. Up until this point, I have primarily fermented in my laundry room with an ambient temp. consistently in the upper 60's. I have never tried it in a closed, sealed space. Any ideas about how much the fermentation might raise the temp. in about 10 cu.ft. of space????? I could always go lighter on the insulation for the ale chamber, thereby maximizing the cubic volume within and allowing heat to discipate if needed. Let's move this discussion over to my "Rustic Fermentation Chambers" thread, if you don't mind, so that I'm not straying too far off topic for this thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hoppos-rustic-fermentation-chambers-ale-lager-301274/

Thanks man!

 

[keesh]

Can't wait to see the finished pictures of this thread! I had read through your keezer build a while back, so I was pleased to see you had a build thread for your bar too! Sorry if you already answered this but what ended up happening with the fridge?

 

[Hoppopotomus]

The fridge is still white and sticks out like a sore thumb.... My wife is really against me trimming it out in knotty pine, so I'm just leaving it for now. I have several other projects going right now and she hasn't been giving too much crap about the time and $ that I have been spending on my other brewing related projects. Gotta know when to choose my battles.

 

[BlackenedBrew]

Wow dude, I wish I had half of your ability to build... this is really awesome! (I know others have said it also, and I'm sorry I couldn't be witty about it)

I'm definitely going to have to start following this one to see how much awesomer it gets!

 

[LiquidLunch5211]

Looks great I didn't realize how involved you were getting..

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks TheGAC & LiquidLunch5211....your too kind. It has been a huge undertaking, but I've just scratched the surface of what I have planned. Yes, the keezer is complete and the bar is almost there (just have to put the finish coat on the log bar stools), but the brewery has just begun. Sometime over the next few weeks, carpeting will be installed throughout the entrie "finished" side of the basement. As soon as that happens, all of the furniture that has been stored on the unfinished side can be moved over to the finished side. Then I will have plenty of room to really get cranking on the brewery. I still haven't had time to upload pics (working way too many hours) of the finished bar, but if you jump onto my keezer thread in my signature line, and go to one of the last few pages of that thread, I believe I posted a pic of the keezer in it's final resting spot. I'll upload pics later today to finish off this thread.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/knotty-pine-cedar-log-keezer-build-223902/index30.html

Here's the page of my keezer build that shows the keezer in it's final resting place in my bar. My bar is almost finished condition in the pics.

 

[Valk0001]

<----- is in awe. And very jealous at the same time. Outstanding work.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Sorry I never posted these pics. Here they are with my keezer in it's final resting position. No, I still haven't talked my wife into letting me cover the white fridge with knotty pine, so don't ask. I'm making a log framed chalkboard for above the keezer out of red cedar logs when I get a chance. Besides getting a few coats of polyurethane on the bar stools, it's done. I'll post some pics with the bar stools when I find the time to finish them. Thanks for all of the positive feedback along the way.

 

[solo103]

Man that wood work us killer!!! That's a rad ass bar

 

[PASSION8MAN]

Looking really good now

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks guys....much appreciated.

 

[keesh]

I think your next move should be telling her that you are planning on buying a fridge that fits better, and when she cringes at that, hit her with the first plan again! Just kidding. Anyways, it looks great.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Update......had a bar/keezer disaster over the weekend. After having more than a few pints with a buddy over the weekend, evidently somebody didn't close my #4 tap (Red Rye.P.A.) far enought to create a good seal. I went down to my basement the next morning and could smell beer as soon as I opened the basement door. As I ran down the stairs, I knew that the inevitable had finally happened.....1/2 a keg's worth of beer was covering the top of my keezer and a pool of beer covering the floor under/around the keezer and fridge. Thankfully, I sealed the travertine tile on the keezer lid and the slate floors with several coats of stone sealer. After about 2 hours of mopping, wiping and scrubbing, we got it cleaned up. I was afraid of having the residual smell of stale beer in my bar, but we evidently did a thorough job of cleaning, because there's no odor. I need a new drip tray anyway, so I may install one with a drain to avoid future mishaps. Moral of the story.....check the taps before going to bed!

 

[LiquidLunch5211]

What a mess. Im glad its all good with no damage.

 

[Chaddyb]

Update......had a bar/keezer disaster over the weekend. After having more than a few pints with a buddy over the weekend, evidently somebody didn't close my #4 tap (Red Rye.P.A.) far enought to create a good seal. I went down to my basement the next morning and could smell beer as soon as I opened the basement door. As I ran down the stairs, I knew that the inevitable had finally happened.....1/2 a keg's worth of beer was covering the top of my keezer and a pool of beer covering the floor under/around the keezer and fridge. Thankfully, I sealed the travertine tile on the keezer lid and the slate floors with several coats of stone sealer. After about 2 hours of mopping, wiping and scrubbing, we got it cleaned up. I was afraid of having the residual smell of stale beer in my bar, but we evidently did a thorough job of cleaning, because there's no odor. I need a new drip tray anyway, so I may install one with a drain to avoid future mishaps. Moral of the story.....check the taps before going to bed!

WASTED BEER! What a bummer. Bar looks great though. :rockin:

 

[postal_penguin]

One of these might help in the future: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/plumbi...chdog/battery-operated-water-alarm-41623.html

 

[rvklein]

Perlicks I assume? That is my only complaint about them. They pull way too easily.

And I second the water alarm. Have one tucked away under a cabinet.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Yeah....they are Perlicks ss525's. Not only do they open quite easily, but they also occassionally seem to not seal well despite being forward sealing taps. Is the sensor fairly thin on the water alarm. I'm thinking that I could hide the unit behind the coffin and run the wire through one of my side shelfs and put the sensor right under the drip tray. I have rubber feet that lift the drip tray up about 1/4" off of the tile surface. Anyone know how thick the sensor pad is?

 

[Gridlocked]

You're only 739 miles away, Maybe I'll stop by on Friday night for a beer. I'd like to check out the craftsmanship.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

See you then! Seriously though, if your ever in Michigan....stop on by anytime for a beer or several. You mentioned that you had family in Michigan.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Should have the carpeting installed in less than two weeks....finally! Here's a quick of the family room entertainment wall adjacent and open to the bar. Finally got the TV hung on the wall and some of the components hooked up this past weekend. I'll have our satellite company out in a few weeks to hook up an HD DVR for this room. I may piggyback off of that receiver and put a small TV on the wall directly in the bar at some point.

 

[BigPoppa502]

cool cabinet doors and drawers. I like the raw wood look you have going. +1 for the bar top it looks great!

 

[Gridlocked]

Looking great man! I bet it's fun to watch it come together, finally! What are you going to do with all of your free time once it's done? hahaha!!