[bishbosh]

Hi all,

Over the last week or so I've been building a home bar out of some old oak beams and oak boards in the corner of the kitchen after we freed up some space by removing an odd wall that was present. The house is a 260 year old cottage with not a single straight wall, although the kitchen + rooms above were built in the 70s.

I'm a bit clueless when it comes to what's required for a home bar setup. So far I've bought an Angram 1/4 pint (cooled) beer engine and an extractor for 5l mini kegs. I'll need some food grade pvc tubing to connect the two I believe.

I was also looking at a used Cornelius Maxi 110 beer cooler which would sit on a shelf under the bar. Does anyone know how these are connected? I presume the cooling outlet/inlet goes to the cooling pipes on the beer engine? The beer doesn't run through the actual cooler does it?

I guess also the pipes will need to be cleaned. Does anyone know how this is done, or if special cleaning products are required?

Have I missed anything else?

Cheers
Dave

[Wills2]

Your post reminded me of this classic scene

[crAbb]

Love this! I'm looking forward to the bar opening party!

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by Wills2

Your post reminded me of this classic scene

... exactly what I was thinking of when reading the original post...

[TurboWeasel]

Should have ditched the cabinet and made an even bigger bar

I like it! Wish I had the space to do the same.

[bishbosh]

The house was a 1 up 1 down originally. When the extension was built in the 70s the builders built around an existing structure with an area approx 3m2 which was in the garden (outdoor bog maybe?). Anyway, we had this removed to open up the kitchen + make a walk in cupboard upstairs.

When building it I was also reminded of the Del Boy scene.

Interesting note, if anyone has heard of Bentley Beetham, he lived in the house next door!

[Allworth]

You do your shopping in a Lidl occasionally, you have a yappy dog or a cat, you have a women visiting that room, but the worst thing is your tools are yellow!

[JustChris]

Great work!

[Bryans69]

Originally Posted by Allworth

You do your shopping in a Lidl occasionally, you have a yappy dog or a cat, you have a women visiting that room, but the worst thing is your tools are yellow!

What's wrong with DeWalt tools ??

Bar looks good, hope you've got enough space in the kitchen to sit and enjoy it

[bishbosh]

Dewalt are fine, I already had an impact driver with a couple of xr batteries so made sense to get the the body only version of additional tools as and when. Most brands tie you into their ecosystem nowadays.

I did have some old bosch blue stuff which had lasted years but were a bit ancient.

Cheers for the comments guys.
Kitchen is largish so shouldn't have any space issues.

More importantly, has any set up a bar in their man cave?

[isleaiw1]

Great work, wish I had the skills to do that sort of stuff. Cant help on the techy stuff you asked despite working for two different breweries!

A couple of people on the estate with garage at bottom of garden have opened up the side wall and put in bifolds and turned most of the garage into a bar / outdoor kitchen / games room / man cave / gym.... they must cost tens of 000s! But I think a cosy space in the house will be more usable

[bishbosh]

I think including the beer pump equipment the build cost should come in under 1k for the bar. I've been gathering all the materials myself. The oak beams apparently came from a farmhouse on Strines Moor. The bar worktop was made up in a rustic oak style. In hindsight I'd have liked a single piece of oak but it still looks the part.

I have about 6m of oak planks left over which I'm going to use to make shelves/glass holder and a mount for a set of optics.

The structural renovations Inc the steels, etc to support that side of the house, well I don't think we got much change from 10k!

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

I think including the beer pump equipment the build cost should come in under 1k for the bar. I've been gathering all the materials myself. The oak beams apparently came from a farmhouse on Strines Moor. The bar worktop was made up in a rustic oak style. In hindsight I'd have liked a single piece of oak but it still looks the part.

I have about 6m of oak planks left over which I'm going to use to make shelves/glass holder and a mount for a set of optics.

The structural renovations Inc the steels, etc to support that side of the house, well I don't think we got much change from 10k!

ah, I know Strines Moor well, mainly from having to get to Huddersfield in rush hour when M1 was not working!

Great work and worth every penny. One day I will do a reno, although it will have to be next time as time is running out!

[bishbosh]

I had a few rough sawn oak planks spare so rather than them going to waste today I turned them into these

A small shelf for whatever and a taller one for bottles and space underneath for some tumblers.

I've also bought a Maxi 110 beer cooler off ebay which I'll collect in a couple of weeks. The beer engine should arrive this week!

[bishbosh]

Quick update: the 2 shelves I made were fitted last weekend. I also bought some more wood and made a snack board and a mount for a set of optics. The optics were a gift from my neighbour








I collected the cooler from near Newcastle, connected it all up and pumped out standing water. It absolutely stank however I had bought in advance some proper disinfectant, I cleaned out the lines, ran water through and used litmus test strips to check no cleaning fluid remained.

I topped up the cooling circuit and let it run for an hour to chill the water.



And the first beer!




I will need to swap out the cooling hoses for some insulated ones as they get so cold that condensation forms and drips onto the tiles. I'll also get some proper adaptors so I'm not having to use hose clips.


As for the name of the bar, it's going to be called "The Hole In The Wall" as that's how it originally started:



All work done by myself (except the structural stuff)

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

Quick update: the 2 shelves I made were fitted last weekend. I also bought some more wood and made a snack board and a mount for a set of optics. The optics were a gift from my neighbour








I collected the cooler from near Newcastle, connected it all up and pumped out standing water. It absolutely stank however I had bought in advance some proper disinfectant, I cleaned out the lines, ran water through and used litmus test strips to check no cleaning fluid remained.

I topped up the cooling circuit and let it run for an hour to chill the water.



And the first beer!




I will need to swap out the cooling hoses for some insulated ones as they get so cold that condensation forms and drips onto the tiles. I'll also get some proper adaptors so I'm not having to use hose clips.


As for the name of the bar, it's going to be called "The Hole In The Wall" as that's how it originally started:



All work done by myself (except the structural stuff)

Great work, I am now feeling like I havent achieved very much this weekend...

Dont have too much of that stuff, isnt that the one that is quite strong?

[bishbosh]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Great work, I am now feeling like I havent achieved very much this weekend...

Dont have too much of that stuff, isnt that the one that is quite strong?

Cheers, yes Old Peculier is quite strong, but has a good taste. I do have a Theakstons Quencher which is 3.4% but can't find a clip for it. I was looking for a Golden Sheep or Wainwrights but they don't seem to be available in mini kegs sadly

My neighbour came round that evening for a couple, but we didn't finish the keg. I understand they'll keep for a month or so once opened.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

Cheers, yes Old Peculier is quite strong, but has a good taste. I do have a Theakstons Quencher which is 3.4% but can't find a clip for it. I was looking for a Golden Sheep or Wainwrights but they don't seem to be available in mini kegs sadly

My neighbour came round that evening for a couple, but we didn't finish the keg. I understand they'll keep for a month or so once opened.

That would be the neighbour that gave you the optic, not that he was angling for an invite.

I think beer keeps for a while once opened... although not as long as the first lockdown!

[bishbosh]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

That would be the neighbour that gave you the optic, not that he was angling for an invite.

I think beer keeps for a while once opened... although not as long as the first lockdown!

Haha no she's a good friend and we'd planned a couple of drinks that weekend anyway.

For any climbers on here her house had a blue plaque unveiled on Friday:
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/ne...s-blue-plaque/

[Pond]

Excellent work OP. I love a bit of carpentry.

Just a note on the insulated beer lines. You don't need to replace them, just get some decent pipe lagging (not the cheap rigid crap plumbers use). Armaflex Class O is the best. It comes in all sizes and thicknesses (12mm thick will be more than sufficient for your purposes). It is not pre-slitted, but is easy to do. Junior hacksaw is best for cutting it. Then tape the joins with electrical insulating tape.

Better if you can disconnect the lines and slide the lagging over the pipes then you don't have to slit it.

[Wills2]

I would be pissed most of the day if I did that, well done though.

[bishbosh]

Originally Posted by Pond

Excellent work OP. I love a bit of carpentry.

Just a note on the insulated beer lines. You don't need to replace them, just get some decent pipe lagging (not the cheap rigid crap plumbers use). Armaflex Class O is the best. It comes in all sizes and thicknesses (12mm thick will be more than sufficient for your purposes). It is not pre-slitted, but is easy to do. Junior hacksaw is best for cutting it. Then tape the joins with electrical insulating tape.

Better if you can disconnect the lines and slide the lagging over the pipes then you don't have to slit it.

I think that's what the beer line has, I did have a bit left over, but not enough to do both the flow and return hose for the cooling circuit. It's not a problem to disconnect the lines as the water drains back into the reservoir when it's not switched on.