How to Build a Home Bar

It’s a part of the beer enthusiast’s life to head out and grab a beer from our favorite drinking hole. We love all kinds of bars. The dive is a relaxing joint while the club is where we can meet new and interesting people.

But, we can’t live out in the bars all the time even though we’d love it. We eventually have to break away and come home to the families and the household responsibilities. That’s why building a home bar makes us feel like home when we’re home.

There are plenty of ways to build your own home bar. You have to use your imagination and creativity. What it boils down to is your personality. Some people like a 50s theme while others like a beach theme. But, those are merely decorations. You have to build the bar first.

Choose Your Space

Choosing the perfect location is sometimes the hardest part. While some people know exactly where the bar should go, others find it difficult to imagine where they would like to have their bar. A basement bar is out of the way and a great location where you get away without technically leaving the home.

It’s smart to put a bar in an unused room or a room that isn’t frequented much. Also, you can add an extension to the house. But if you’re going to go that far, why not just put the bar outside. It’s great for warm weather and in warm weather climates.

Materials

To build the structure, you’ll need 2 x 4s and plywood. You’ll need enough nails and screws to hold it all together. Also, you want finish. I like dark wood finish and polyurethane. But, some people finish in other ways. They’ll use a faux wood finish, wood slats, tile, granite countertops and I’ve even seen wallpaper. It’s up to you and your style. Give it all a thought and decide on what’s perfect for you.

You’ll also need the features. Brass railings look great against a dark wood bar with dark green lighting fixtures. Cabinet doors make it easy for you to finish your bar in style. You can get them at most hardware stores. Round it off with a kegerator for your keg and a cooler for bottles and cans.

Build

If you know how to design and build, you are ready to go to town. If you don’t, find a friend that will help you design so that you will have all the materials you need. Make sure it’s someone who knows how to build or else it’s the blind leading the blind, which can be fun if you have a temperament like mine and nothing gets to you.

But, the easiest bar I have ever seen built was when a friend of mine bought cabinets from the local hardware store. Not cabinet doors like mentioned earlier, but cabinets. He put them side by side, connected them with a countertop and was practically finished building his bar in an hour.

After that, he simply rocked the bar with bar stools, brass railings, dark green lighting fixtures and a kegerator. He purchased a radical cooler for the end of the bar where he puts bottles and cans. A plasma screen is attached to the wall behind the bar and a stereo is wired to it. It’s just about the neatest bar I have ever seen.

Bars are an extension of your personality as a beer enthusiast. If you are serious about your beer, you need a place to put it on display. Whether you brew for yourself or you just like to try new and exotic beers, build your bar soon and start enjoying the beer world with the rest of us.

What Temperature Should I Set My Kegerator

When your kegerator comes in, it’s a sight for sore eyes. You are literally within a few minutes of enjoying a nice keg of beer in your own home bar or wherever you want to put it. But, there is one question left looming.

What temperature should you set your kegerator? There are people who have different answers and for different reasons. So, you have to get a feel for what you like and you’ll soon have your own setting.

But, it’s good to listen to the manufacturers at first who will tell you what temperature works best for the particular model. Some might say a temperature of 34 degrees and another might say a temperature of 38 degrees. The sweet spot in the middle is what you’re trying to find.

It’s just that at the time you think you have the perfect setting, then you have different factors that come into play. If you increase the length of your lines, you might have to make the settings a little lower. Most bars have settings between 36 and 38 degrees. But, they most likely have commercial models that have a durability that your kegerator won’t have.

But, a bar’s wear and tear is always going to be at a higher frequency than your kegerator will ever have to support. Their maintenance schedules will always be at a greater frequency also. So, the wear and tear on your kegerator might mean you only have to make adjustments every couple of years.

One beer enthusiast I know likes to set his kegerator at 32 degrees so that the beer will pour at 32 degrees and then be at 40 degrees when he’s ready to drink it. Other beer enthusiasts like to set their kegerators at 40 degrees because they don’t seem to have a problem with the beer getting slightly warmer by the time they take a drink. After all, most people take a sip as soon as they pour themselves a beer.

There are other factors as well. If you get a keg of a stout for instance, you might want to set your kegerator at 42 degrees. Fruit and wheat beers should be anywhere from 40 to 45 degrees. Pale ales should be served at 50 degrees.

So depending on the kegerator, you will have a slight variation in setting. Depending on the age and setup of your kegerator, you’ll have to make adjustments. Also depending on the flavor of the beer itself, you will have to find the sweet spot for whatever wets your palate.

How to Keep Beer Cold at a Party

There are some radical ideas for keeping your beer cold at a party. But, they work and they will make you the hero if you use them when you find yourself with warm beer. But, let’s cover the common methods first.

Freezer

When you have warm beer, put it in the freezer for a few minutes. Ten, twenty, even thirty would be fine. That way it cools quicker and you can enjoy your beer much faster. But, don’t leave it in there too long. Beer can become ice quicker than you can imagine.

I have seen beer bust through the top of a can or a beer bottle. It freezes over and drips down the sides of the car or bottle. That will make a mess. So, punch yourself if you ever do that.

One good thing to do though is to rotate all your warm beer through the freezer as you drink them. When you make a beer run for your friends and grab three or four beers, put three or four beers in the freezer for the next round. It works like a charm.

Cooler

Of course, if you’re outside a cooler will come in handy. Actually, it can keep beer colder than a freezer without freezing. Now, you might wonder how that’s possible. But, it is. A cooler can get your beer to about 32 degrees. But, it keeps it there. It doesn’t keep freezing until it’s frozen.

Koozie

Of course, a koozie will keep your beer cold while you’re drinking it. It’s a mini cooler, right in your hand. They cannot be overrated. Your last drink of beer on a hot day will be a cold one when you have a koozie wrapped around your beer can or bottle.

Aluminum Foil

Here’s where we start to go off the grid. If you don’t have a koozie, aluminum foil works as a great alternative. Just wrap your beer in some aluminum foil and it will stay cold until the last drop. Try to be careful and un-wrap your beer cautiously. Use the same foil each time you have a beer.

Fire Extinguisher

This is an odd idea, but I’ve seen it work. When your beer is warm and you would like to make it cold quick, use a fire extinguisher. Lay out your beer in the yard or on the sidewalk and spray it with the fire extinguisher. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you pick your beer cans or bottles up and feel how cold they are.

It’s great to always have cold beer on hand. But, we all know for one reason or another that it’s not always possible. The store gets busy and doesn’t have your flavor stocked in the cooler. There isn’t enough room in the refrigerator. You stored your beer for the party in the garage. So, it’s not always possible. But when you find yourself with warm beer, it can always be made cold quickly. Enjoy, be safe and drink responsibly!