Draft Beer and Wine Refrigeration
Refrigeration is one of the most important components of your home bar. There are many types of bar refrigeration: Wine Refrigerators, Draft Beer Refrigerators, Kegerators, Beverage Centers, and Ice Makers.
The type of refrigeration you decide to incorporate into your bar will be based on how much room you have, the amount of money you plan to spend and what you like to drink.
As a simple solution you may use a single piece of refrigeration like a back bar refrigerator to store beer, wine, and soda. More complex bars include building your refrigeration units into the counter or under the bar. If you choose to go this route you need to make sure the compressor vents are in the front of your unit, or that the unit is labeled as being able to be built-in. If you don’t do this the hot air given off by the compressor has nowhere to vent to and ends up burning out the compressor motor.
One major piece of advice: get all the refrigeration, sinks and larger items that need to be installed BEFORE you begin building the bar!
Wine Refrigerators
There are many different styles and sizes of wine refrigerators or wine chillers. The size you need can be determined by how many bottles of wine you are looking to chill as well as what types of wines you drink most often. Smaller wine chillers hold around 16 bottles; larger wine refrigerators can hold over 100 bottles! Many of the models available are small enough to fit on your back bar or counter top.
Love the reds? Only drink the whites? Use this wine temperature chart to help you with your decision.
Beer Refrigerators and Draft Beer Systems
Installing your own draft beer system or kegerator is not as hard as you think! Remember, it’s much easier to add a draft beer system upfront rather than try to add one after you’ve built your home bar.
There are several ways you can pour draft beer at your home bar without breaking the bank. First, note that draft (keg) beer must be kept cold at all times. If it’s not kept cold, the beer gets foamy and then you have to waste precious beer pouring off the foam. For this reason, you want to keep your beer and beer lines close to your source of refrigeration. Not only will this help reduce wasted beer, it will also save money in set-up costs.
A very popular option is a single keg fridge that is designed to be built into a bar or cabinet system. These typically have the beer tower (faucets) sitting on your bar top with the fridge located directly underneath. Under the counter keg refrigerators are easy to install and 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 on the front bar as well.
Another option is use a stand-alone draft beer refrigerator and set it to the side of the bar. Unless you’re looking to use a commercial grade unit, you can usually save a few hundred dollars by using a stand-alone keg refrigerator.
Want to use an old refrigerator you already have? This is also an option. Taking an old refrigerator, like the kind you have in your kitchen, and converting it into a kegerator is simple. 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.
Beverage Centers
If you are planning on serving canned or bottled beer, wine, malt beverages, soda and/or juice you will probably want to consider a Beverage Center. Beverage Centers come in various sizes and can generally be built into the cabinet system of your back bar. Most of these units come with a glass door so you can display what you have available for your guests.
Ice Machines
This is one item that most people never really think about. Running up the stairs constantly to fill the ice bucket is no fun. They now make small, portable, under-the-counter ice makers. Some don't even require a drain line. If you buy a lot of bagged ice, one of these machines will easily pay for itself.
