H0U5ECAT's new bar/brewery build. The journey.

[H0U5ECAT]

Ever since I built my first kegerator, I knew what I had wanted in my head all along.
But space, funds, life got in the way.
Over the past 4 years I've slowly worked towards getting all the pieces together and building it.
Here's the first Keezer I built with the thoughts of grandeur...

I scored the chestie from Gray's for about $300. Brand new with a ding or two in the side.
While on a trip into Melbourne, a guy I found on Gumtree was stripping out his pub and doing a refit.
The Font came in at only $100. It had a few nicks in it from time, but a little filler and primer, then a coat of paint made it look brand new.
The Andale taps I sourced from Ebay for about $25 each I think from memory.
The top was some laminated flooring planks from Bunnings and the trim was done in Teak. the flooring came from a broken pack, so I managed to get the panels for $20.
Then a hard coat of 2pac Estapol to finish it up.
Not bad for the first build.

Then we moved house.
The Keezer could come inside.
I made a benchtop out of recycled floor boards I sourced from a building site and scored an old kitchen cabinet again on gumtree for nix.

Not happy with putting baby in the corner, I wanted to make it look like she belonged.
I took off to the local Bunnings and picked up a sheet of melamine the same width of the top and glued that into place.
I split the kitchen cabinet in two, cut the benchtop down in two and put the keezer in the middle.
Levelled it off and made it all sit pretty and flush.
Some new handles and it all looked nice and uniform.
I made a dolly for the keezer to sit on and make it easier to slide in and out to open up the top and change the kegs over.

Then came the big day. The wedding.
All these purchases fell right into place with the missus agreeing that we should cater our own wedding and I could do the beer.
The next main purchase was a commercial fridge, again from Grays for another $300. This was the new fermentation fridge
The keezer came out of the house, got a facelift and served a good 100 or so thirsty patrons.

But alas, after the wedding, she never really was the same...

 

[H0U5ECAT]

Time has passed, and finally I had enough of looking at the battered and bruised mess the keezer has become.
I had the skills, I had the technology... I could make it better, stronger...

As you can see, the original workspace had seen better days.

Now to IKEA....
Being in the furniture trade for years IKEA has always given me chills.
So to venture in there,I had to be prepared.

I knew what I wanted, and how this new plan would lay out.
I wanted the keezer to look the part again and meaning to be a part of something bigger.
With measurements and sketches in hand, the first order was placed online and delivered that following weekend.
Pantry cabinets and doors.

Then we had the job of the strip out and getting the keezer back to it roots.
literally.

The cabinets only come in white. This would not do.
Primer and matte black paint job was next.

The following weekend was all about the bench top and the finish I wanted.
I did see a design in IKEA that I liked, so I went down on the Saturday morning and saw the sample of the top I liked.
I placed the order for the top and was told to wait a little while they pulled it out of stock.
On the journey down through the maze, I found the same top in the discount section for half price as it had a mark running through it.
The top comes in 2400mm in length. I needed mine only to be 2100mm. the mark was only in the last 100mm of the top.
Winner winner.

I cancelled the other top, purchased the marked one and took that one home.
I stopped off at the local timber mill and picked up a nice length of American Oak for the front trim and draw faces.
Then home to cut and assemble

Sunday was the day of the big build.
I assembled al the cabinets, hung the doors, worked out final measurements to make it all sit nice and snug.
It was finally coming together.

I needed to adjust the cabinets to match the height of the keezer so I could get that complete line that I wanted.
I created a false cabinet again with the keezer by fixing cabinet doors to a seperate panel and gluing this into position.

making sure that the doors all aligned up with the real ones.

Making the tops of the cabinet now level by including the farmework for the additional drawer.

Fitting the draw faces and trim to the keezer top

During the week, I sanded back the tops and oak faces for preparation of the hardcoats for the timber.

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The American Oak trim blends perfectly with the Ikea Herringbone top

 

[H0U5ECAT]

Now.. The final fit.

And a little personal customisation...

Theres a few things left to do like the obvious installing the font back into the top, but also the inclusion of a wine rack in the top section of the left side pantry cabinet.
I also have a few other details to review, tidy up the trims, kick plates and install heavy duty drawer runners to assist the keezer to slide perfectly in and out when needing the change of kegs.

But, it's almost there. Almost the perfect setup I've thought about for years.

I'll work on it again this weekend and hope to have some final images of the project ready to show.

 

[goatchop41]

I saw that same herringbone bench top last time that I was in Ikea and have been dreaming of it ever since...I have extreme envy looking at this! I think that I might have to try to learn some basic woodwork and cabinetry skills...

 

[Frothy Boi]

Nice setup, just needs a sound system and some mood lighting . I've been chasing one of those ceramic fonts for ages, they do add a touch of class to any kegerator / home bar.

 

[FarsideOfCrazy]

The American Oak trim blends perfectly with the Ikea Herringbone top

That's an awesome looking setup. You should be damn proud of that.

Just a quick fyi that pattern is called chevron. Herringbone is where the blocks are rectangular.

Not having a go, that's the 20 years of sanding floors and laying parquetry that I know the difference. That pattern is extremely difficult to lay and look perfect. The blocks have to be perfect and the subfloor has to be nearly perfectly flat, if not the straight lines look bent and it stands out like....

 

[pump21]

Looks great mate. Going through a keezer build myself for the shed but it will have nothing on this set-up

 

[Nullnvoid]

I love the bar and what you have done, but I especially love the massive picture of your dog, that is really awesome!

 

[ShonkytonkBrewer]

I love the bar and what you have done, but I especially love the massive picture of your dog, that is really awesome!

Now you made me scroll all the way back through this thread to find the dogpic.

 

[Nullnvoid]

Now you made me scroll all the way back through this thread to find the dogpic.

All the way back through 8 posts! I'm so sorry

And did you find it?