Wooden Beer Case

[jlampe02]

I've seen a few post on here about building case for bottles and did some searching for some plans. I came across these plans:
http://www.realbeer.com/spencer/beercase.html
So, I headed out to home depot and set about building one. Being that i didn't quite have the patience to do the box joints (and i don't think i have that level of wood working ability) i left them out. since i plan on painting it, i didn't think the aesthetics would be ruined. so far it looks pretty promising. i'll try to get some pics up of the progress soon.

 

[phidelt1499]

that's pretty slick. How did you do the joints then?

 

[jlampe02]

i just butted the sides together and used some wood glue and nails

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

If you treat it gently you should be okay with the butt joints. If those are going to get tossed around much, gluing end grain to long grain doesn't give much strength, nor do the nails. Finger joints give much more strength, and are much more likely to withstand rough handling by deliverymen and store clerks, which is why commercial firms bothered with them back in the day those wood cases were used. Personally, if I was lifting a case was holding a couple of gallons of my homebrew, I'd feel more confident if I had a few coarse thread 2" screws in those butt joints.

 

[brewmonk]

I have an extremely adjustable box-joint sled for my cabinet saw, but if I didn't, 4 bucks worth of small brass "L" brackets would re-inforce the corners well ..... (I prefer the 1/4-20 screw-dial, though)

 

[ronstar55]

I love building these boxes. I've done 4 or 5 of them. Here's a bad pic. I use a router with a Porter Cable dovetail jig - in box joint mode. Then I tie ends of a rope in an eye splice around plastic boat dock cleats. Then I wrap the eye splices in leather shoe laces.

 

[JoeyChopps]

That is so bad ass

 

[Bucks-04]

Awesome!

I was thinking about doing something like this but for a case which would be use full for bottle conditioning. Right now I use the cardboard that the bottles came in and they are getting beat up.

 

[JoeBuch]

This is fantastic! Would you mind to post more pictures and maybe some materials or instructions. I would definitely try this.

 

[ronstar55]

This is fantastic! Would you mind to post more pictures and maybe some materials or instructions. I would definitely try this.

Will do. I have one in progress now. I'll get some more photos and instructions together

 

[HollisBrewCo]

Anybody know the dimensions for a 6 pack holder ? Google search turned up nothing.

 

[ronstar55]

Anybody know the dimensions for a 6 pack holder ? Google search turned up nothing.

My latest one is 5-1/8" x 7-11/16" x 6" high (all inside dimensions). I'm also using 1/8" plywood for the dividers between the bottles. This one is gong to be slightly bigger than my previous ones.

I made one 5" x 7-1/2" that was too small and the bottles wouldn't fit - some bottles aren't the same diameter and some are not round. Here's what it is now.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

jlampe02,
How'd you end up on costs per case for materials at the Home Depot?

 

[Catt22]

A little off topic, but somewhat related. I bought four of these beer cases that I like a lot. The waterproof feature is a big plus. I've gotten much more use out of them than I would have initially guessed. The price is reasonable and so far, they appear to be very durable:

http://www.cwcrate.com/

I like that they have lids and are stackable just like the old time heavy cardboard beer crates, only much lighter. I use them a lot for storing clean empty bottles which was always a PIA using six pack holders etc. When I fill those bottles, they get a quick external rinse and go right back into the crates.

 

[jlampe02]

Here's the almost finished product. I still want to paint it, so hopefully I'll get around to that this week.

@MrFood, I went about the cheapest way possible with MDF, and it was about 17 bucks.

 

[jlampe02]

Looking much better painted. Still debating a top, but I think it would make it look more finished.

 

[el_kirk]

I like the finger joints and the painted MDF .
Here are mine, no fancy joints, but they work and when you stack them they lock together.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/beer-storage-boxes-220290/

Kirk

 

[TrainSafe]

<img src="https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=28268"/>

Looking much better painted. Still debating a top, but I think it would make it look more finished.

I love the paint scheme! Division leaders right now.

You can't go wrong with the old school logo.

 

[jmer1234]

Something like this that will get used a bit, would do well with a completely different under color. As the edges and sides start getting worn, the under color will start to show through, giving some interesting effects. Think of antique items like step stools that were used a lot, and repainted regularly. For a genuine old-school appearance, look into milk paint.

 

[originalben]

That's actual a great point, jmer. I was just thinking about what I would do paint wise and I will use that as I hope over time they get a nice old and well worn look.

 

[Puckhead]

I picked up 2 cases for grolsch bottles (30) from a guy last year similar to the brewers box. I paid 60$ for 60 bottles and he gave me the cases... They are awkward size but carry almost the full 5 gal batch. Heavy so I don't it much after filling!!

 

[mdwmonster]

I love building these boxes. I've done 4 or 5 of them. Here's a bad pic. I use a router with a Porter Cable dovetail jig - in box joint mode. Then I tie ends of a rope in an eye splice around plastic boat dock cleats. Then I wrap the eye splices in leather shoe laces.

Is that your beer box in the October 2011 BYO? Pretty awesome.



They look great - I think I'll make some to give out to family and friends.

 

[ronstar55]

Is that your beer box in the October 2011 BYO? Pretty awesome.

They look great - I think I'll make some to give out to family and friends.

Yes that is my beer box in BYO. They're really fun to make, but dock cleats are tough to get this time of year in the Midwest. I gave them to my friends and relatives also. I may try wooden beer buckets next.

 

[bovineblitz]

A little off topic, but somewhat related. I bought four of these beer cases that I like a lot. The waterproof feature is a big plus. I've gotten much more use out of them than I would have initially guessed. The price is reasonable and so far, they appear to be very durable:

http://www.cwcrate.com/

I like that they have lids and are stackable just like the old time heavy cardboard beer crates, only much lighter. I use them a lot for storing clean empty bottles which was always a PIA using six pack holders etc. When I fill those bottles, they get a quick external rinse and go right back into the crates.

I have a bunch of these too, I looooove them. I live in an apartment so I have to store anywhere from 1-5 cases of beer stacked in a closet. I used to use milk crates but it was driving me crazy. These boxes are great. Super resilient, waterproof, strong... when I opened the package I kinda said "wtf" since they looked like cardboard boxes, but once I put them together I was impressed.

These wood cases you guys are posting are really impressive. I wish I had the skills to make them.

 

[adamulm]

Hey guys, new here. I've been brewing for about a year now and my box of bottles is full and overflowing. I was using cardboard 24 pack boxes for a while, but they kept breaking down which made them questionable for carrying and stacking, and they just didn't look good. So I started looking around on the forums to see what was out there that I could buy. I'm kind of surprised that there's not some cool looking option for homebrewers that meets all the needs that people have talked about in this thread, like strong, stack-able, water proof, and something that actually looks good. I've seen the C&W crates, but they don't look that good, and they're not interlocking which would be a good option for stacking.

I like some of the ideas I've seen, but I came up with my own twist. I'm also a hobbyist woodworker so I kind of came at it from that perspective. Here's a picture of the first crate, let me know what you think.