new bar build! what $4500 gets you in TX

[natural320]

man guys! I am very sorry for my lack of participation lately. work has been crazy, lots of stuff going on in and around the house still, people getting married, and yadda yadda

so enough already, right? haha here is the breakdown:
1 x custom built (and stained/finished) bar with multi segments, cabinets, and drawers. everything that opens up has a "soft close" hinge as it shuts.
2 x granite countertops (of course my wife wanted an exotic one that is many shades of whites and grays with some pink and a touch of blue because, why not? this whole thing cost a fortune any way)
3 x custom wine racks (can hold WAY more wine bottles than we will ever possess...I think)
1 x undermount stemware holder (wine, champagne, and fancy beer glasses)
1 x copper bar sink
1 x aged bronze bar faucet
1 x danby 4.5 mini fridge (no freezer model) = 2 corny kegerator
1 x wine fridge
2 x intertap SS beer faucets (shocked me, but they are nicer than my perlicks. NEVER thought I would say that)
2 x custom made (by me!) skee-ball looking wooden tap handles (for aesthetics and height requirement)
1 x hidden drip tray! see the little drawer under the taps? yup. it is a drip tray that can slide in and keep the front cabinetry looking sleek
what else what else...
the far right side top cabinet holds all of my growlers (like 15 I think), and liquor related glassware
the lower right side cabinets houses all of the liquor bottles
the wine fridge has, well, wine of course...but I was able to lay claim to the bottom 1/3 to store special bomber bottles standing upright! I prefer the mid 40s of this to the 30s of my normal beer fridge (which is in my garage, and yes, got some beer in there too)
cabinet below the taps is where the fridge lives. I drilled holes and ran copper pipes from the top of the fridge and up to the shank (from the back of the fridge, so it is a long upside down L shape) with hopes that it would insulate the beer line a little bit...which means I feed the beer line through the piping. it is going to be an absolute nightmare to replace though.
cabinet above the taps has all my beer glassware...I've got a freaking ton of glasses!
the drawers by the sink are basically empty for now. don't know what to store in there yet.

so yeah, after many months of this project...it be D-U-N done! got a hefe on the left and a pale ale on the right. the right side is a little more foamy for some reason, but I need to replace some o-rings on my kegs...hopefully that is the fix. currently I am just using a Y split on my regulator, but I hope a sale or Christmas brings me a 2 product regulator so I can adjust the CO2 levels of each side. this build got to the "I can't justify yet ANOTHER $100" stage when I had a perfectly fine regulator already.

but wow, I think it was worth it. the carpenter made it feel like this should have been there the whole time; it fits in the room that perfectly. who wants a pint?

[Beer-lord]

I don't even know you and I want to hate you!
Awesome work, just blows me away! Thanks for sharing!

[brewnewb]

HOLY SMOKES. Can you say (hell shout) AWESOME!!!!!

[BlackDuck]

Damn...Damn...Damn. That looks like fantastic. But I do have only one question. Why only two taps????? As I go running to hide so as not to get my ass kicked!!!!

[natural320]

thank you thank you. we have like $0.27 in savings now, but we looked at it as an investment in the house...this house being one we plan on living in for quite some time (4th house in 12 years to this point) as we finally put down some roots.

why 2 taps? perfectly valid question actually! it is a multi-part answer actually:
a) we "future proofed" the design because you may notice that the cabinet above the taps looks almost the same size as the one below it. and that is because they are. and it (upper cabinet) is reinforced to hold over 250 lbs we were assured. and there is plenty of space where the taps are mounted to add 2 more.
b) but still only 2? yes sir, and that is simply because I am not going through beer nearly as quickly as I did in my old house. I have a separate rolling 2 tap kegerator in my garage (so 4 taps total at this point) that used to live in my old basement. my brothers, friends, and myself would crank through a keg pretty quickly, so the 2 taps rotated frequently (and I like variety). now that I moved across the country, sadly leaving them behind, the family and friends here simply aren't helping me drink at the same rate I was used to. of the 4 taps I have, 2 of them were "special requests" by them...and they are pushing 4 months old. AND, the worst of it, is that NO ONE AROUND HERE DRINKS IPAs!!! but I love 'em. so I will always have a tap with something I want dammit! but that doesn't fully help since I love to brew, but don't want to be a fat slob either.

so since we all know that fresh beer = all that is happy in the world...I pumped the brakes on spending the money to make the big inside bar a 4 tapper (raising my total to 6 mind you) until I make some new friends that can justify the "extra" 2 taps.

[BlackDuck]

Good planning. Makes total sense. It is a pity that no one around you drinks IPA's. They don't know what they are missing, but it does leave more beer for you. That set up really does look awesome. Nice Job!!

[John Sand]

Very cool.

[bpgreen]

That looks really nice.

[berryman]

All I can say is WOW

[Inkleg]

That is AWESOME!!!!! Well thought out and exacuted build.

I'm now going to my keezer and pour from my picnic taps.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Damn nice! Next Borg meetup in NE Texas!!!???

[MadBrewer]

Looks good, I like the style. Kind of old school tavern feel.

[Yankeedag]

Only 2 things hamper me doing that.
1: $4500
2: space to put it.
3: $4500

[natural320]

Damn nice! Next Borg meetup in NE Texas!!!???

Hell to the yes

[MrBandGuy]

That looks awesome! "Honey, can I have $4500?"

I'll await my answer over here on the couch.


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