My Basement Bar Build

SSBrew - 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
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. :D 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. :mug:
 
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. :drunk: 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. :mug:

IMG_2343.jpg


IMG_2344.jpg


IMG_2345.jpg
 
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.
 
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. :drunk: Moral of the story.....check the taps before going to bed!
 
Hoppopotomus said:
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. :drunk: Moral of the story.....check the taps before going to bed!
Click to expand...


WASTED BEER! What a bummer. Bar looks great though. :rockin:
 
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.
 
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?
 
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. :D
 
See you then! Seriously though, if your ever in Michigan....stop on by anytime for a beer or several. :mug: You mentioned that you had family in Michigan.
 
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.

IMG_2416.jpg
 
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!!
 
Thanks guys....I appreciate the compliments. :mug:

I have plenty to keep me busy for a long, long time. The rustic all electric brewing room is just getting started (still need rough electrical, rough plumbing, drywall, cement board, stone tiling, floor tiling, etc), I still need to complete my keggle conversions, I have to decide on a control panel, my fermentation chambers are just getting started, I haven't even started the grain weighing/milling station (motorized), I still need to build the grain storage bin, I still need to build the shelving in my cold storage wine/beer cellar, I just milled logs yesterday for a red cedar log framed chalkboard for above the keezer (still need to build/finish it), I still need to put the final finish on the log bar stools, the list goes on and on and on and on and on................:D This doesn't include any of the other crap that my wife wants me to build, renovate, upgrade, etc. in the rest of the house. I'm trying to find the right balance of getting enough done on my brewing projects to make reasonable progress, while at the same time incorporating things to satisfy what she wants done. There's just not enough time in the day......:(
 
I did a little work in the bar today. I have been putting it off long enough, so I decided to tackle the bar stool project. I purchased 4 rustic cedar log bar stools from a guy on CL quite a while ago. I got all 4 for $50, so $12.50 apiece. They were in pretty rough shape and needed refinishing. I stripped the old finish off and have spend hours on end sanding these things. Here's a pic of the first 3 with their first coat of polyurethane on them. The 4th one needs quite a bit more attention on sanding. I didn't want to over sand these things and lose the character in the logs, so they still have some gnarly qualities. I'll try to get the 4th one sanded later on, but I'm sick of this project already! Only 3 to 4 more coats of poly. :drunk:

IMG_2430.jpg


IMG_2431.jpg


IMG_2432.jpg
 
While I had the polyurethane out, I decided to start the finish on my Oberon high boy pub table. I'm collaborating with the same guy who build my cedar log vanity for the bar bathroom to build a cedar log pool table. He has a buddy that builds pool tables, he has the milling equipment, and I have the logs, so hopefully one of the final touches will be a kick a$$ log pool table. I build this pub table out of cedar boards, knotty pine, and a piece of redwood left over from when I cut the sink opening out of my redwood countertop. It will sit next to the pool table for putting drinks on. The galvanized pipe is threaded on the ends and I found some threaded brackets that screw into the base and bottom of the table top. I drilled out Oberon mini kegs that will slide down over the pipe. The entire top will be filled with Oberon beer caps and then a layer of 2 step epoxy will be poure over the entire top.

IMG_2424.jpg


IMG_2421.jpg


IMG_2422.jpg
 
OK....one final project that I have been working on is a cedar log framed chalkboard. I had a b*tch of a time finding a chalkboard, but ended up finding this 24" x 18" blackboard at JoAnne Fabrics for $8. I build a log frame for it.

IMG_2429.jpg
 
I ripped a bunch of logs on my table saw the other day for the chalboard frame. I decided to do extra for trim pieces for my rustic fermentation chambers as well. I chose the 4 that I liked best for the frame and then used my trusty draw knife to knife the bar off. Then I sanded the hell out of the logs and cut to size. Finally, I put it together and put 4 coats of polyurethane on it. Once it is dry, I'll attach the chalkboard and install the hanging brackets on the back. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there. :mug:

IMG_2417.jpg


IMG_2412.jpg


IMG_2418.jpg


IMG_2428.jpg
 
Hoppopotomus said:
I ripped a bunch of logs on my table saw the other day for the chalboard frame. I decided to do extra for trim pieces for my rustic fermentation chambers as well. I chose the 4 that I liked best for the frame and then used my trusty draw knife to knife the bar off. Then I sanded the hell out of the logs and cut to size. Finally, I put it together and put 4 coats of polyurethane on it. Once it is dry, I'll attach the chalkboard and install the hanging brackets on the back. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there. :mug:
Click to expand...

I inherited a draw knife from my grandpa. I may have to try this?
 
The log framed chalkboard is complete!!! :ban: I tacked the board onto the back of the frame and finished the wall mounts. It's still very slightly tacky yet, but I had to put it on the wall to see how it looks. My original intent was to make the chalkboard much larger, but since this was the only size board that I could find, it is smaller than I wanted. I would have preferred that it was about 12" wider, but oh well. I plan on building cedar log/deer antler sconces on either side of the chalkboard to fill out the rest of the wall space. Just what I need....another project. :D I'll wait a couple of days for this to dry completely before I use chalk on the board to list my lineup.

IMG_2441.jpg


IMG_2443.jpg


IMG_2444.jpg


IMG_2445.jpg
 
Although it was still a little tacky as well, I threw together the Oberon Pub Table, so you guys can see what the hell I'm talking about. The Oberon mini kegs stack on top of one another and the galvanized pipe pierces up through holes in the bottoms and tops of the kegs that I created. It was a royal PITA to get everything to line up just right. I actually like this years Oberon kegs much better, but I already did so much work on these ones that I'm going to just roll with it. I also considered doing a Bell's inspired pub table using 4 different kegs that I have laying around (Oberon, Two Hearted, Hop Slam, & Best Brown), but again, it is too much work to start over. I have a couple hundred Oberon caps for the top, but still need about 100 more. I have everyone that I know saving their caps for me. I still have 3 cases of Oberon in my beer cellar that I stocked up on last fall....maybe I should finish them off. :mug:

IMG_2433.jpg


IMG_2434.jpg


IMG_2437.jpg


IMG_2439.jpg
 
Very jealous! I grew up in Michigan and moved to California 5 years ago. My family still lives in Blissfield near the Ohio border. I wish California homes had basements...yours is bigger than my whole house! Great job man and keep up the good work :mug:
 
Thanks! I played in a lot of baseball tournaments in Blissfield growing up. I grew up on 40 acres in a tiny little town called Osseo, which is 1/2 way between Hillsdale and Hudson. I have a lot of family around the Blissfield/ Adrian area. In fact, my uncle owns a farm on the south side of US223 between Blissfield and Adrian. Does the name Benschooter ring a bell?
 
It sounds vaguely familiar. I'm sure my parents would know because it seems like everyone knows everyone around there. And it's definitely a baseball town! I kind of miss being back there, I'd love to be able to own some land and expand my brewing. Maybe some day, then I'll be able to build a sweet basement like yours! :rockin:
 
I'm in awe at how awesome your bar build is. One day.. When I own a house.. I aspire to create a bar that is a tenth of what your bar is.
 
Thanks, I appreciate it. My log bar stools are almost done, but I had to put that project on the back burner to prep. the rest of the basement for carpeting. The formal measurement/estimate was done on Tues. and the carpeting will be installed early next week. It's almost there! I should be 100% complete with the entire basement, bar included next week. I will then devote my spare time to my dedicated brewing room. Thanks again! :mug:

On a different note......My wife turns 40 today and she has shown an interest in wine making, so I went to my local HBS and bought her everything for wine making. My HBS carries the full line of Winexpert juice kits from most wine regions of the world, so I bought her a Premium Select International kit, which is an Australian Cabernet. I guess my basement brewing room is now going to be a brewing/wine making room. :D If she is really interest in the process, we will invest in a grape de-stemmer/crusher and learn the process from scratch. I'm hoping that if I can get her hooked on wine making, she will be a little easier going about my brewing obsession. :mug:
 
If I dress up as a bear and pose downstairs, can I stay in the basement? ;)
It looks outstanding! I wish I had the money and time to do my own basement they way I want to. or even have a basement lol
 
Haven't been on HBT in a while....too busy at work. :eek: Thanks for the compliments guys. Hey, ahaley......It's funny you should mention that, because I have 2 chainsaw carved bears in the basement, one out of pine and one out of red cedar. Your going to have to choose another species to dress up as, then maybe we'll talk. ;) I haven't posted recent pictures, but the entire basement is finished including all carpeting, furnishing, etc. I'll try to get some final pics. of the bar and basement posted this weekend. :mug:
 

Similar threads

P
Bar Gun equipment guidance.
Replies
3
Views
266
whoaru99
W
Bart Taylor
Brew Bar
Replies
3
Views
1K
Bart Taylor
Bart Taylor
treacheroustexan
New basement brewery build
Replies
2
Views
2K
bmc1313
bmc1313
cactusgarrett
Bar and Brew Room Build
Replies
10
Views
2K
cactusgarrett
cactusgarrett
C
Brewery & Bar Build Progress
Replies
11
Views
3K
Chris112
C
BrewSwag 300

Latest posts

Back
Top