HoustontheWolf's Home Bar/Keezer Build!

[houstonthewolf]

Hello to all! I'm brand new to this forum. My name is Charles. I'm a 25-year-old novice beer enthusiast. I enjoy hoppy beers, woodworking, old cars, rock climbing, sailing, and other adventurist ****...

I invite you to watch and enjoy as I embark on this wonderful journey to my very own home bar/kegerator build!

I also love working with photoshop and basically design everything before I build it. So here's the main idea so far.

P.S.
I also have a really cool idea for the beer tower. No spoilers! That one is coming later.

 

[houstonthewolf]

I've chosen a chest freezer for the cooling system, mostly because of the sheer size and depth on the inside. I've seen numerous builds of "keezers" using a collar. That's isn't what I had in mind, however it is a simple method of cooling beer. At my bachelor pad we don't have a table of any kind so I wanted to incorporate a bar of some sort.

Another thing I had in mind was I wanted to make sure it would at least fit 4 pony kegs. Hopefully at least one 1/2 barrel and three 5 gallon kegs, which comes to a total of 4 beers on tap. (I know, Ah to be a young kid again...) I finally decided on the proper size I was shopping for and I settled for something at least 9 cubic feet.

After only about a week or so of looking on Craigslist, I came across this badboy and had to bring it home. It's a 23 cu ft monster!

A few things sold me on this thing. It's huge! but not larger than the bar I planned on building. It's deep! Deep enough I didn't think I'd have to even build a collar on this thing. Price! A steal at $150.

1/2 barrel keg with plenty of room to spare!

 

[houstonthewolf]

I picked up a STC1000 temperature controller to prevent my beer from freezing. I started a free trial of Amazon Prime so I was able to get it shipped to my door in two days for under $20. Pretty sweet deal. I slightly modified a 2-gang electrical box to make it fit nicely.

I had to cut the sides of the outlet cover a 1/16th of an inch on each side to make it fit.

And also basically cut out the whole backside.

Original plan was to build a box to simply plug the freezer into, but I think I'm going to mount the unit on the backsplash of the bar and wire it in. This would let me easily see the temperature of the inside of the fridge and also have a plug for other things like a blender, perhaps.

 

[houstonthewolf]

It's been a while since I last updated so I'll do some catching up. I decided on a different design than I intended because this freezer was actually bigger than what I was initially looking for. Since this freezer is so big I'm going to use the freezer as the support of the bar. I'm going to simply build a bar top that fits over the lid of the freezer. This freezer has some surprisingly strong hinges, which could support a lot more weight than they currently do. Since this freezer is tall and deep, I don't need to build a collar like most keezer builds I've seen. I do however want to incorporate a large bar top with this design so here we go.

I had an old table I threw on top to see what an overhanging bar could feel like.

I liked this amount of overhang (which came to 10") but I want it on the sides as well. I also would like it a bit taller so if you're standing you don't have to bend over to rest on the bar. I also give away my beer tower idea in this pic (an exhaust header from an Acura).

I got a pretty sweet deal on it on eBay, stainless steel (or stainless steal you could say).

I think it'll work out quite nicely.

 

[houstonthewolf]

Alright so I had a few old pallets laying around that I broke down and started building a frame for the bar top with. I liked the curves of the edges of the folding table (which I'll probably do with the bar top) and decided to build a curved lower part for the beer to drip to. Part of me wanted the small challenge of building a curve. Here's what I came up with.

I also outlined the header with a spare piece of Oak, which will give you something to drill holes and mount the faucets and shanks into.

 

[Docbruw]

Very cool idea for the tap tower! Have you thought about how you want to insulate and cool the beer lines in the tower?

 

[houstonthewolf]

Alright now, the basic frame is built time to dress it up! I went with 1x8s of pine. I cut angles in each corner, clamped them, glued them, and screwed them from the inside.

A few problems I had to address:
I had to cut the lock and handle off the front.
I had to move/cut the wire which goes to the inside "lid open" light.

No big deal.

I also cut some strips of Aspen or Poplar (Can't remember...) for the curved sections which mounted with glue and nails.

Looking pretty good!

The pine overhangs the full height of the lid now and fits snug as a glove. I probably won't even permanently attach it to the lid since when you open it up (you can get your fingers under the actual lid too) it stays attached well.

 

[hungry4hops]

Awesome build so far! Can't wait to see more absolutely loving the tap tower!

 

[houstonthewolf]

Very cool idea for the tap tower! Have you thought about how you want to insulate and cool the beer lines in the tower?

I have an a/c powered fan to blow air in tower however I'm not sure if I'll need it since the length outside of the fridge is only about 16" or so. I think I have the insulation figured out. I'll post pics in a few minutes haha.

 

[houstonthewolf]

I dug into my pallet stash and built a bar stool prototype. It ended up working pretty well. I really like the simple, barbaric design.

 

[houstonthewolf]

3/4" Red Oak became the bar top. I had Home Depot cut the length and width for me because I didn't want to do it, hah.

I cut out the lower section without too much difficulty using a jig saw. (A power tool I've come to use nearly more than any other here lately.)

Also my secret method of rounding the corners.

It's starting to look like a bar at the house.

 

[houstonthewolf]

3/4" looks a little weak so I decided to double up the the edge of the bar. Even though it feels pretty solid, 1.5" on the edges couldn't hurt with adding a little strength too. In case you're wondering that is 2" deep from the outside all the way around.

Now that's a little better!

By the way, I do plan on wrapping the rest of the freezer with wood as well, however I want to knock out the bar top so we can have that functional in the meantime.

Houstonthewolf's Barstool line went into mass production as well. (Which will be at least 7 all said and done.) Except using fancy 2x4s.

 

[houstonthewolf]

It's time to throw some stain on this badboy. I eventually settled on Miniwax Bombay Mahogany Gloss.

I'm happy with 1 coat I think. I used a sponge and made sure it was fully coated. I like the brightness of 1 coat.

Polyurethane is coming next.

 

[houstonthewolf]

My dad bought me a nicely fitting birthday present. I think it belongs.

 

[houstonthewolf]

I ended up putting 2 coats of Miniwax Polyurethane, sanding and putting on a 3rd coat. I used a foam brush to brush it on. It came out better than I expected! This horrible photo doesn't do it justice. But with the right light it really can shine. Not quite a mirror finish but I didn't want to sand, buff, and polish it either. I know my bar will get abused! so I'm not worried about a less than perfect finish.

The polyurethane really brings out the natural wood grain. I only used polyurethane on the bar top and drip area. I plan on leaving everything else just stained.

Another Sh!tty photo.

The required three days later! Fully broken in to drinking games and football.

Strictly enforced rule: If you put your beer down not on a coaster you have to chug your beer.

 

[houstonthewolf]

First big party break in. It handled the abuse pretty well. About a week after Polyurethane.

 

[houstonthewolf]

Here's how I plan on running beer lines in the freezer. The header came with another piece a 2 into 1. I cut it off leaving two 1.5" pipes. I bought some pvc pipe and a hub coupling that fits perfectly snug on the lower piece. I'll drill holes big enough for the pvc pipe to slide through the freezer lid and probably seal them with tape on the inside of the freezer.

So the bar top would be mounted in between these two pieces.

This is the complete lower part of the tower. (Mounts underneath the bar top)

 

[houstonthewolf]

Sorry for another sh!tty photo but I did manage to mount the beer tower last night.

The header is threaded which looks cool when flush mounted with bolts underneath.

Quite a bit of bar space still!

Alright so now I'm caught up! and broke. Stay tuned for next month as we complete the bar with wood and stain the bar stools. Hell I may even order some faucets and shanks. I'm thinking brass Perlick faucets...

 

[Yaason]

Looking classy. I love the header tap mounts.

 

[jakenbacon]

Okay officially stealing header tap tower idea. Sorry, no credit will be given when people ask me how I came up with the idea. I apologize......

 

[max384]

I LOVE the header beer tower idea!

There's a good chance that I may steal this particular idea down the road eventually!

 

[hungry4hops]

Shift knob tap handles! Just saying!

 

[Stealthcruiser]

What the other thievin' bas%#&ds said!

I dig it, and it'll prolly' be plagiarized down the line!

Cool build!

 

[Stealthcruiser]

What the other thievin' bas%#&ds said!

I dig it, and it'll prolly' be plagiarized down the line!

Cool build!

 

[houstonthewolf]

Shift knob tap handles! Just saying!

That would be pretty cool. I do have a Shock Top tap handle that needs to go somewhere. I was thinking about making my own out of random car parts or other man ****. I saw this beautiful thing on instagram the other day. Got me pretty excited....

 

[butter08]

Did I see a Dos Equis, natural light, bud light, bud strawberry?, modelo and Corona in this thread?

 

[houstonthewolf]

Did I see a Dos Equis, natural light, bud light, bud strawberry?, modelo and Corona in this thread?

Hahah yea sorry about that. I promise I didn't buy any of those. New years party makes people do strange things.

 

[hedbutter]

Subscribing to also steal the header tap tower idea.

 

[nosnhojm20]

Kudos. Made me think about how to turn my keezer into a bar top. The headers are pretty slick, too.

 

[houstonthewolf]

Can I get some opinions on faucets? I'm thinking Perlick. Stainless or brass? I kind of like the idea of brass.. but do you think it would look stupid having most other parts being stainless?

And shanks really. I'm not sure what kind of shanks I'm looking for. I know I'm limited on space inside the header. The plywood is 3/4" thick. Any ideas on the shortest shank size I could go with?

Thanks

 

[nosnhojm20]

Stainless will have to be cleaned less. I have perlicks and they are a dream. That being said I don't have much of a point of comparison. With the plywood/headers just get the shortest shank you can, there is a nipple/tail where the beer. Line connects that needs to be accounted for, too. You could drill a center hole through the wood and then use the bit or some other straight object to measure how much room you have to okay with.

 

[houstonthewolf]

Stainless will have to be cleaned less. I have perlicks and they are a dream. That being said I don't have much of a point of comparison. With the plywood/headers just get the shortest shank you can, there is a nipple/tail where the beer. Line connects that needs to be accounted for, too. You could drill a center hole through the wood and then use the bit or some other straight object to measure how much room you have to okay with.

Is there a common shank hole size (diameter)? I'm scared to drill a hole without ordering a shank.

 

[nosnhojm20]

I did 1" but 7/8" would have been better.

 

[nosnhojm20]

I don't know if that is universal to all shanks. That's why I'd go with just a pilot hole to measure depth. That way if you're restricted to a certain length and another company makes it you haven't committed. That or you can get thicker wood to make up for it, you could probably do something creative with it.

 

[houstonthewolf]

I don't know if that is universal to all shanks. That's why I'd go with just a pilot hole to measure depth. That way if you're restricted to a certain length and another company makes it you haven't committed. That or you can get thicker wood to make up for it, you could probably do something creative with it.

Yea I thought about maybe cutting out some wooden "donuts" to mount the faucets on, if I had to go with a longer shank but I don't know. I think it'll be okay. There's quite a bit of room inside the header, probably at least two inches at the shortest point.

 

[Oakes]

That is EPIC! If I was that good with building things...

 

[houstonthewolf]

Well haven't really moved forward very much, but at least I did manage to stain the barstools. One thick coat (wiped down) matches the bar top pretty good. When I get this project finally finished, I'll take some nicer photos. Until then, here you go.



Haven't had much time/$ to finish the rest of the woodwork but at least the color of the wood matches now.

 

[nosnhojm20]

Lovely. Keep the pics coming.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[houstonthewolf]

Alright sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy being poor and hanging on the bar. Anyways, today I knocked out a few things. I drilled holes in the top of the freezer for pvc pipes to drop down, which is what the beer lines will be traveling through.

Oh yeah last week I got some Perlick faucets!

Two problems I had... One was the black, plastic flange was too big to fit on the front. It was hitting the bolts so I solved that problem by using a small nut on each side of the wood. It adds a little to the industrial look too. I also had to countersink the nuts on the back of the shanks in order for them to fit inside the header. I had a little less room that I initially overlooked. I'm glad I didn't have to modify the header. That would've been more work! No beer lines yet but I'm ready!

2 1/2" nipple shanks
Perlick 525s

Top View

Side View

Still no draft beer yet, but one step closer!

I removed the bar top to cut holes in the top and in the lid of the freezer.

Carefully drilling holes!

A pretty nice fit! Maybe 1/8" around.

Here's a good shot of what it looks like open! I know what you're thinking is it heavy?? Not really. Well 1/2 barrel kegs weigh 170lbs, yea that's heavy! The bar overhanging on the opposite side helps a little with the weight. Lifting 5 gal kegs shouldn't be a problem.

I also installed the temperature controller, well at least hooked it up. I'm not set on how it will officially be mounted but I'll figure that out when I finally wrap the bottom with wood. Not pretty but functional to run some temperature tests. Sensor ran up to the top.

 

[pannell77]

looking good. I wish I would of known about building stuff like this in college.