Getting Started With A DIY Home Or Man Cave Bar
Getting Started With A DIY Home Or Man Cave Bar
What You Will Need...
The beer is pushed round the system by gas pressure. A "Gas Regulator" is used to ensure the right amount of gas goes into the barrel and the gas enters the barrel via the gas inlet valve on "Keg Coupler" this then pushes the beer through the cooling coils on "Beer Cooler" and up to the tap on the "Dispense Font"
Gas Regulator
Because this is a home bar it will be a relatively low level of dispense so a mixed gas recommended. Your beer beer will last longer with mixed gas than with C02 because after a week or so the C02 gets into the beer and it will come out like like ice cream.
A new Wall Mounted Twin Gauged Mix Gas Regulator lets you adjust the pressure and keep an eye on how much gas is left in the bottle. Because it is new and has safety blow off valves its perfectly safe and doesn't need testing for 5 years.
You can use second hand regulators, but it's always wiser and safer to go with a new one.
Keg Couplers
Once you've decide what beer you'll be having you need to make sure you have the correct keg coupler. There a 4 main types listed below. We've given a few examples of which beers take what coupler but we can't list them all. If your unsure try Googling it or get in touch and we'll check for you.
All our couplers come with a Gas Inlet Valve and a one way Beer Ooutlet Valve plus 2 Metres Of Beer & Gas Line to take the gas from the regulator to the barrel and the beer from the barrel to the cooler plus you can buy them separately by clicking on the links below.
The most common coupler probably used by 75% of beers such as Fosters, John Smiths, Strongbow, Carlsberg, Moretti, Peroni, Heineken etc.
For brands such as Coors , Carling, Worthingtons, Caffreys, Tennents, Thatchers Gold etc.
Used Mainly for Stella Artois and Boddingtons.
Predominantly for Guinness.
If your not sure about which keg coupler you need you can you can check out our list of popular UK beers, lagers and ciders and the corresponding kegs here on the How To Choose A Keg Coupler
Beer Coolers
For a home or man cave bar you'll need nothing bigger than an under-counter "shelf" or "flash" cooler". In Home Bar Beer Coolers You'll find a wide range of used.. factory refurbished.. complete factory rebuild and new coolers which can run anything from one to four products.
The used ones have been thoroughly cleaned and bench tested for 3 days to check the "Compressor", "Fan", "Water Pump" and "Thermostat" are fully working.
A factory re build all the components are new often including new casing. 1 years full warranty.
New coolers are as you would expect. All new. Full one years warranty.
Which Cooler?
As for which cooler to choose we can use the Cornelius Maxi range as a guide line. The maxi 110, 210, and 310, have different size compressors to form different size ice banks and thus cope with different levels of dispense. Other firms such as MF Refrigeration and Booth Brandles make similar size coolers.
A factory rebuild all the components are new often including new casing. 1 years full warranty.
New coolers are as you would expect. All new. Full one years warranty.
You can find full documentation for Cornelius products here on their web site www.corneliusbeer.com/en/downloads
MF Refrigeration only provide product information on their web site www.mf-refrigeration.com
You can find full documentation for Booth Brandels products here on their web site www.brandels.co.uk/downloads-manuals/
Most of these coolers will have a cold water recirculation facility to run a Cold Water Recirc Python To keep the beer cold between the cooler and tap and chill a condensation font.
So to keep it simple we've labeled all our coolers "110, 210, or 310 type" and listed a few home bar scenarios and matched the home bar scenario with the cooler.
If, for example, its for a single product for you and a couple of mates and nice cold beer a maxi 110 or the equivalent will be fine.
For a single product with more dispense capacity and extra cold beer you can go for a 2 line Maxi 210 type cooler with the beer looped through both cooling coils.
For 2 products you can choose between a 210 or 310 and go for extra cooling coils for extra cold options. And the option to add more products later.
For 3 products you'll definitely need a 4 line Maxi 310 or its equivalent.
For four lines you're getting into commercial territory and would be better off with a mini remote beer cooler. see Commercial Dispense Equipment
If you want all singing and dancing for super chilled beer and freeze fonts you can go for a sub zero glycol cooler which have a digital clock that can be set to sub zero temps.
Advice on installing and maintaining your cooler can be found in detail at the Cornelius Maxi link above on the Home Bar Installation page. And replacement parts are available here in Home Bar Dispense Equipment And Parts or you can use the links in the main navigation panel above.
Remember its cold beer... Not Rocket Science
Dispense Fonts
The dispense font either clamps on to the edge of the bar or passes "through the bar " and is secured by a locking nut underneath the bar.
We have new, used and factory refurbished fonts. We try and highlight any signs of wear and tear or imperfections in the used items product description.
Home Bar Dispense Fonts most of these fonts are used but fully tested with lagged beer line, cold water recirculation pipes, drip trays and serving taps and will light up using a bar lighting transformer.
Home Bar Generic Dispense Fonts typically these are chrome fonts with oval or round badge housings. Branded to suit your choice of beers with a Home Bar Beer Pump Or T Bar Badges and a branded Home Bar Font Taps & Handles and illuminated with a transformer.
Home Bar Multi Tap Beer Pumps & Parts again branded to suit with a badge and tap handle and lit with a transformer. You can go for a high or lowline T bar, or a bridge font. They can also be 'through the bar" and made from chrome, brass, stainless steel or industrial pipe.
A multi tap font can be more economical and space saving and there's nothing to stop you having more taps than you need.
Some branded, generic and multi taps can be linked up to a coolers cold water recirc to make them condensate or even freeze.
Home Bar Light Box Display Fonts or dummy fonts. There's also nothing to stop you having dummy fonts or using illuminated vintage light box display fonts to help to create a busy working bar look.