# Building portable bar.. need suggestions!



## wealsy22 (5/12/13)

Hey guys, I've been looking through older topics here trying to decide how to tackle this project but I think it will be easier to just ask..

To start;
I'm an apprentice boilermaker and have decided I want to build a portable stainless steel bar that I can give to my friends/family for when they have functions/parties.

After a bit of research I think that mounting a Kegerator in behind the bar would be the easiest/most cost effective solution...
I looked into the pinnacle and keg king kegerators which come with the full setup (taps regulators etc) and was wondering if this would be the same path others would take?

Also if it was a larger party would keeping another keg on ice be suitable so if one keg runs out swapping over wont cause too much of a delay?

Any help would be appreciated as I seem to be doing circles at the moment!

Cheers


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## Ducatiboy stu (5/12/13)

Instead of a kegerator, why not a tub big enough to take a 50ltr or 4x 19ltr kegs and fill it with ice. You could incorporate a plate chiller/coil into it to get the beer cold. That way you dont need power to use it.


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## robbo5253 (5/12/13)

I would look at a Miracle Box Plate or the Coils with Ice in them as then as Stu said you wont need Power & you also wont have to worry about letting the fridge sit once you get it to a party, you can just ice up and start pouring.
If you can have the kegs cool, this will help with going through ice in the Miracle Box box but is not essential.

Cheers

Robbo


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## wealsy22 (6/12/13)

Thanks for the help guys, I'll look into the Miracle Box. My only thoughts on having a tub with ice is having to buy/transport and stock the thing with ice whenever the bar needed to be used, as I would be keeping this at my house aswell for personal use  

Im new to all this so not sure how easy it would be installing coils or a chiller plate.

Are kegerators not really recommend for this kind of setup? I also looked at a glycol/ice bank setup but it was getting a bit pricey.. 

Thanks again


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## Wortgames (6/12/13)

'Portable bar' is pretty vague - what sort of size did you have in mind? How elaborate did you plan to get with storage for glasses etc? How will you transport it?


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## wealsy22 (6/12/13)

I want it to be a decent size, with storage behind and underneath the bar. Nothing too elaborate just basic shelving, and bar top. I'd be transporting in the back of a ute.. it will be on castor wheels etc.
As for size it would be around 2 meters long and whatever height that I feel appropriate. 

Here is somthing similar that ive seen which was running an old glycol? system .. http://imgur.com/F9PGMpl. 
Although I would have a single tap instead of the double.

cheers


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## sponge (6/12/13)

If you're looking at making something that size, you should definitely look at more than 1 tap. No point having 2m worth of bar to lug around and only 1 beer to pour.. seems like a lot of wasted space.

That's just my opinion though. May you go forth and maketh thy dreameth travel bar!


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## MastersBrewery (6/12/13)

Taking some ting off a ute is a pain. have you thought about incorporating it into a trailer, use the right gear and no probs with it being moved... food for thought


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## wealsy22 (8/12/13)

Thanks for the replies guys.

As for transporting it wont be an issue as i have a ramp which attaches to the back of my ute and will be able to wheel it off.

My main worries were what system would be the most cost effective but still do the job that I want it to do.. And thats why i came to the conclusion of a kegerator and just wanted peoples opinions as to whether that was the right way to go.
Im not particularly keen on the miracle boxes either as the bar would be for personal use at home aswell.

Cheers


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## Ducatiboy stu (8/12/13)

You wont need a mirical box, just the plate chiller. That way you can fabricate a nice intergrated drip tray arrangement into the bar top and a nice fancy font.

How heavy is a kegorator....

And.....you could near guarantee that some one at a party you have lent it to will **** around with the kegorator. I would be going down the KISS path.


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## wealsy22 (10/12/13)

Ah ok thanks, and yeah I agree with someone messing with the setup a bit.

Does anyone know a supplier of the plate chillers?

cheers


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## Ducatiboy stu (10/12/13)

Just use copper tube.


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## wealsy22 (4/3/14)

Just a bit of an update if anyone is interested..

Finally got around to building the bar (adding some photos) and have been really happy with it. I used stainless steel coils from Keg King to chill the beer.
After our first test run some people thought the beer could be colder (I thought it was fine) so was wondering what the best way to do this would be?

I have a second coil which is not in use which i can connect to the existing coil, and could sit the keg in an ice bucket.. was wondering if there were any other suggestions? On the day of the test run the outside temp was only around 20 degrees so it wasn't a hot day.

I also ran into an excessive foaming issue at random intervals, which seemed to fix itself eventually but I had more wastage than I would've liked so does anyone have any ideas/suggestions for that?

Cheers


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## gsouth82 (4/3/14)

Mate, that is sexy! Well done!

I've had foaming issues with a coil system. I found it usually happens when you're pouring too much, too fast. The beer cant chill down enough in the coil and is coming out a little warm which is making all the CO2 escape from the beer (foam). Or alternatively, your not pouring quickly enough and its getting warm in the length of hose between the coil and tap.


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## wealsy22 (4/3/14)

Thanks mate!

I remember it got to a stage where the entire glass was foam and directly from the tap just looked like foam aswell.. I might have to tell the boys to slow down a bit next time!

I'm guessing connecting the other coil would help then as it would give the beer more of a chance to cool down?


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## Yob (4/3/14)

Nah mate, that's rubbish, start again and I'll take that waste off your hands for a couple of your finest... 

Totes drool


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## idzy (5/3/14)

Holy crap that thing is so shiny and awesome. Well done indeed!


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## mr_wibble (6/3/14)

That's a truly magnificent piece of craftsmanship!


Foaming from taps can be caused by a few things - obviously the temperature of the beer, but also the temperature of the tap - mostly on the first pour.

Could you add more ice? Dry Ice? Ice with salt?
Add more pipe? Pack the ice better around the existing pipe?
Insulate your ice bath (in an esky, other)?

Maybe you could measure the temperature of the beer on a pour - see if it's within an acceptable range.
Then it might be a pressure related thing.


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## wealsy22 (6/3/14)

Thanks for the tips Wibble!

I guess I was a bit lazy with the first try and didnt remove the water from the keg and add more ice so will try that this weekend 

I will also add another coil and sit the keg in a bit of ice and see how it goes and report back.

Could it possibly be that over the course of the day/night I have to lower the gas down as the keg empties?

Cheers.


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## mckenry (6/3/14)

The most likely problem is the temp differential. Cold beer through a warm tap/line causes foaming. As others have said already, pouring pressure can be the problem. Its a bit tricky as too slow and your beer warms up, (if the line/tap is warm) or too fast and it cant cool down enough through the cold lines.

I dont think adding more coil will help. Keeping the coil and as much of the line as close to the tap as cold as possible will help.

I cant tell from the pic if they are genuine perlicks, or the keg king knock offs. If they are knock offs, replace them with flow control perlicks. The flow controls are plated, not SS (at this stage, but there is talk about them coming. May be here already, I'm not keeping up with that conversation) but I love mine and have absolutely no problem with them. 

With the FC taps, you can easily play with pouring speed, without adjusting your pressure. They are only about $45.
You shouldn't have to adjust your reg once its right. It might take a couple of pours to find the right balance, but from then on it should stay steady. That is unless the temperature of one of the links in the chain changes!!


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## Black n Tan (6/3/14)

Nice rig. I have built myself a draught box. Unfortunately it sometimes gives me grief with foaming, so I don't have all the answers, but here are some things I have learnt: 1/ pass beer through the lines before placing the coils in iced water, to avoid ice crystals forming inside the coil and causing nucleation points for the CO2 break out, 2/ you need to put the coils in an ice bath of ice and water to effectively cool the beer; ice alone will not have enough contact with the coils to cool effectively, 3/ minimise the length of beer line exposed to ambient temps as this will cause CO2 to break out. I find I get more foaming when the beer is consumed more slowly (more time for the CO2 to break out in the lines). When the beer is consumed quickly I have no issues with foaming or the beer not being cold enough. I typically have the kegs pre-chileld which obviously helps with coldness, but I am tempted next time to have ambient kegs and see if that improves foaming: it may seem a little counter-intuitive, but at least worth a try.


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## 431neb (6/3/14)

I'm having a bastard of a time with what I think are Celli flow control taps and severe foaming. I have to slow the pour to a virtual drip to reduce it. I've only just started to use the font and taps so I haven't done all the problem solving just yet but I know that the font and lines are cold enough as it is a flooded font and the beer and lines are cold and insulated. I'm beginning to suspect leaky disconnects and or John Guest style fittings (the cheap knock offs) . I've only connected one keg of beer and one of cider. The cider is pouring fine but the beer is nightmarish. I will update when I isolate the problem. 

Incidentally Wealsy22 , I'm still pimping out my "Portable" bar and it has mushroomed into the most unwieldy collection of fridges and freezers you've ever seen. I wrote off putting the kegerator inside the bar almost immediately (I scored a massive commercial font and the tails are too big to do both). 

You might want to consider the jockey box idea for parties and park a keezer/freezer beside it for everyday use. 

I must write up my experience with the bar build. It was a comedy of errors but the result is pretty cool.


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## SmallFry (6/3/14)

431neb said:


> I must write up my experience with the bar build. It was a comedy of errors but the result is pretty cool.


Cool, definitely.

Portable, maybe not without a big-assed trailer.


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## wealsy22 (7/3/14)

Thanks for the replies guys, i'll take everything into account this weekend and let you know how ive gone. Just finished a "mini" version of the bar aswell so will upload a pic later on today.

The main one is actually quite portable, it goes into the back of my ute with ramps and one person can push it on/off


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## wealsy22 (11/3/14)

So after chilling the keg in ice and shortening the beer lines the bar poured like a dream for 3 days! Thanks for all the tips. Here are some pics.


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## sponge (11/3/14)

She's....


Beautiful!


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