The converted chest freezer 'Cellar' Four cornies to the left bottles to the right
The four tap beer font with illuminated labels.
The replacement temperature controller. This will keep the temperature at a nice chilled level.
The Home Bar (part one)
Back in the Summer of 2000 I decided to retire my old plastic kegs and invest in some nice shiny stainless steel ones. The reasons were basically around the fact the I'd begun to notice some iffy tastes leaching out of the plastic and into the beer, mind you they were on average about 5 years old.
So, where to get stainless steel kegs from. Well in years gone by the fizzy drink industry used to supply their cordial syrups in 4 UK Gallon canisters or 'cornies'. These were pressurised with Carbon Dioxide, the cordial was then forced out, mixed with water and dispensed. These days the industry now uses a disposable 'bag in a box' set-up leaving loads of redundant canisters. These can be purchased from homebrew shops or if you're especially cunning you can sometimes find odd ones within the trade.
Okay, so I've got the canisters what else did I need........
A nice 2nd hand freezer for cooling purposes. Free from a friend of the family, suitable for 4 canisters and a load of bottles etc.
A new temperature controller for the above. Ordered via http://www.rswww.com/ cost £22.61UKP Part number 250-6061
Beer and gas line plus some way of joining them together. 70p a meter from Beers Unlimited Various T-pieces from my local DIY shed.
Dispensing taps. A very nice illuminated brass 4 tap font from Beers Unlimited for £40UKP
Quick disconnects to attach lines to canisters.£4.99UKP each (2nd hand) again from Beers Unlimited
A source of Carbon Dioxide.14lb cylinder, £19.74UKP annual rental & £11.62UKP per re-fill from a local Messers supplier.
A regulator for the Carbon Dioxide.£35.57 from Halfords. (Actually designed from welding use but what the heck it works!)
Now that I had all the bits it was just a case of setting everything up. Oddly enough it all went together rather well. The original thermostat in the freezer was replaced with the new one. There were 3 wires attached and I more or less guessed which went were and wahey it worked! The temperature was set to about 10'C (50'F) not too cold but a nice chill. About 2 meters of beer line was attached to each canister via a quick disconnect. The minimal research I'd done suggested that this should be ok. Using the gas line and some T-pieces I linked the canisters together and attached them to the regulator which was connected to the CO2 cylinder. I cranked the pressure up to about 8psi, checked for leaks and lo and behold one cellar/bar!
After about 3 days the beers had nicely carbonated to about 1.75 volumes CO2 which is only slightly fizzy, not enough to detract from the flavour of the beer. I don't use any form of sparkler, if someone want a bit of foam on their beer this can be achieved simply by sploshing the beer about as it dispenses.
ETHICS. As a member of CAMRA I recognise that dispensing by gas, storing under CO2 etc. etc. apparently prevents my beer being called 'Real Ale'. However if I was to dispense under gravity, vent my canister naturally I'd have about a week to drink 32 pints. Okay I'm not saying that impossible just something I wouldn't like to do on a regular basis. With this set up I can have on tap 4 different beers to share and enjoy and that will stay fresh (so far) until I've been able to drink them at a reasonable pace.
Anyway here's some pictures:
The converted chest freezer 'Cellar' Four cornies to the left bottles to the right
The four tap beer font with illuminated labels.
The replacement temperature controller. This will keep the temperature at a nice chilled level.
The CO2 cylinder and regulator in place. The pipes are beer lines from inside the 'cellar' to the font.
Update: 2001
It's now about 9 months after the cellar was installed and so far I'm very happy with how it's worked out. I've added a wooden collar around the top to lift the lid about another 3 inches. This enables me to fit a 5 gallon fermenter in so I can try proper larger making. I've also been given an upright fridge freezer that is used to store 2 corni's and freeze my hops. As of yet I've not had to ditch a brew that's been in the 'cellar' so either it's cool enough to keep them fresh or I'm drinking them too fast!! I've also found that when the ambient temperature drops below the 10 degrees Celsius I have the thermostat set to I can switch it off and crack the lid open slightly to dry out any condensation. In the summer I use a domestic water trap thingy to keep the moisture down.
Update: 2002
After building the 'Walk in cellar' the bar could be redesigned into something a bit more aesthetically pleasing..........The New Bar The original chest freezer is still used for lagering and dispensing lagers from. There's also a chiller tucked away behind the bar allowing things like the lagers, white wine and even filtered water to be dispensed nice and cold. Lovely on a hot summers day, mmmmm......
Update: 2004
Having moved house in the spring of this year I managed to persuade SWMBO to allow me a bar in the new conservatory we built. Unfortunately domestic 'discussions' meant it ended up smaller than planned but at least I don't have to walk up the garden for a beer any more. I'll post some pictures once it's finished.