Welcome back to our Guide to Building a Home Bar Series. Thus far, we’ve covered the following topics in the Planning Your Home Bar section:
1. Exploring Your Options
2. Layout and Design
3. Building Yourself vs. Hiring Out
Today, we’ll tackle some standard and draft beer refrigeration options to keep in mind.
Refrigeration is one of the most important aspects to consider when building a home bar. You do want cold drinks, don’t you? You have to decide which type(s) of refrigeration you’ll incorporate into your bar based on how much room you have, the amount of money you can spend and what you like to drink the most.
A simple solution that works for many home bars is to use a single piece of refrigeration, like a back bar refrigerator, for storing beer, wine and soda. More complex bars sometimes have refrigeration units built into the counter or under the bar.
If built-in refrigeration is what you’re after, you’ll have to make sure the compressor vents of the units that you select are on the front of the fridge. The hot air given off by the compressor needs a place to vent, in order to cool the machine down. If your unit can’t vent correctly, you’re looking at a burnt out compressor motor, wasted money and a dangerous fire hazard, so it is important to purchase wisely. To make it easy, most of the appropriate under counter units are labeled as being able to be built-in.
If a standard refrigerator filled with bottles and cans of the good stuff simply won’t do, your home bar will need a draft beer system. Installing your own draft beer system or kegerator isn’t as difficult as you might think! Plus, it’s much easier to install a draft beer system upfront rather than try to add one after you’ve built your home bar, so don’t put it off if it’s on your wish list.
There are several ways to get draft beer at home, without breaking the bank. It is absolutely imperative that draft (keg) beer must be kept cold at all times. If it’s not kept cold, your beer will get foamy and eventually spoil. For this reason, you want to keep your beer and the beer lines enclosed in the refrigeration unit.
Here are your draft beer fridge options:
Under Counter Kegerator
Easy to install, under counter keg refrigerators can also be used as stand alone units if the need arises. Most people build these units into their back bars, but they can be placed in the front bar as well.
Stand-Alone Draft Beer Refrigerator
Stand-alone draft beer fridges can be set to the side of the bar. These units work just like the built-ins and in most cases, they’ll save you some cash! Choose from one tap or multiple taps.
Kegerator Conversion
Using a refrigerator that you already have is also an option that will usually save you the most money. Taking an old refrigerator, like the kind you have in your kitchen, and converting it into a kegerator is actually really simple with a refrigerator conversion kit. You can position the fridge so it’s out of the way or decorate it and make it the focal point of the bar. Whichever way you choose to display it, you’ll want to make sure you have a drip tray to catch the excess foam so it doesn’t spill onto your floor.
Our next post in the series will cover Wine Refrigerators, including optimal wine serving temperatures, Beverage Centers and Ice Machines. Check back soon!
TAGS [ HOME BAR | BUILDING A HOME BAR | HOME BAR TIPS | HOME BAR REFRIGERATION | KEGERATOR | KEGERATORS | REFRIGERATOR | REFRIGERATORS | KEG FRIDGE | KEG REFRIGERATOR | KEG REFRIGERATORS ]
About a week ago, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. introduced a new brew to their already stellar line up. Sierra Nevada Kellerweis will hit the public by summer 2009. Branded the newest addition to Sierra Nevada’s year-round brews, Kellerweis is a light and refreshing, yet complex, hefeweizen brewed from a Bavarian yeast that was previously unknown to us in the US.
It’s because of beers like this one that I’m am so glad I developed a love for darker brews over the years. Porters, stouts, doppelbocks, scotch ales and the like are the pinnacle of tasty when it comes to beer, for me.
Straight from Deron’s 
