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TP: Looks like i'm going to be in Korea at that time. trac...

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bean: Dates updated to Sep 3-5

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Brad: Perfect! We could end our hike at the zoo. These date...

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Stef: pretty sure the 28th is BATZ

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TP: Cool. Looks like fun, excepting the rain, of course.

My name is Bean and this is my blog. Hence the name. If you have comments or questions, just leave them in the comments area.

(old search)

Well, It's been done since July, and it's been in a few pictures from SDP and Hallobean, but I still haven't blogged a solid blog about it, so, now I am.

Beanblog followers may recall that I (with the help of some friends) built a cold room back in early 2004 to keep the beer I brew and keg cold. I put some taps through the wall and mounted them on plywood. It worked, but it looks Spriglered (People that live in my neighborhood will know what that means). 3 taps were installed initially, with room for expansion, and 3+ taps pretty much means you need a bar! Luck for me, my dad (quite the handy fella) was onboard with not only helping me build it, but even buying some of the materials.

But slow down! First I'd need the basement to look halfway decent. A nice bar is a shitty basement isn't worth much, so I started putting up drywall. My basement is a walk-out, so anywhere there were studs, I slapped drywall up and anywhere there was foundation I painted it with polyurethane concrete sealer/paint. I left half of the basement unfinished and partitioned it off with adjustable curtains. It's not quite a fully-finished basement but it's close enough for me!

Then came the bar. I wish I'd have kept detailed construction notes and taken lots of pictures like I did with the cold room, but I was in such a rush to get it done I just forgot. My dad and I put the whole thing together over the course of 3 evenings. It's basically a cabinet with a short-studded wall built out from it and a couple solid-core doors laid on top. There were a lot of other details involved (wiring, plumbing the sink, the under-bar shelf, trim, handrail, paint, stain), but it was not really what I would call "hard." In fact, it was pretty easy, and fun to boot! A few pics of the finished product can be seen in this gallery or live and in person the next time you come to visit me. As you can probably tell, I've added an additional tap for a total of 4 - more than a lot of restaurants in my area.

My dad made the tap backer and shelves out of some oak planks he had left over from his old barn. I put in some stools, brewed some beer, and stocked the cabinet and under-bar shelf with bar-related items. End result: a nice bar with good beer and seating for 6 - all just 16 steps away!