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Crafting A Unique and Functional Beer Tower

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Unique beer taps
Every home bar needs a kegerator.  There are many approaches to obtaining a kegerator, but making it your own requires some imagination and a willingness to apply yourself to the modification of the inner workings of your home draft system.  Designing a unique and functional draft beer tower modification can be as simple as gluing fabric or fur to the draft tower, or as complicated as creating a LED light-up Plexiglas tube.  When my home brewing friends and speakeasy acquaintances ask me what they can to do spice up their home bar, my first answer usually has to do with modifying the draft tower on their home draft system.  I tell them what I will tell you – the only limit is your imagination.

There are many out of the box options for replacing your draft tower.  Some companies offer kits that can add taps to the tower you already have, and others offer a stylish chrome plated alternative to the thicker tower that is stock on most kegerators.  There are also the towers that allow for multiple taps: Single column double, triple, or even quadruple faucets are available, “T” Style, Mushroom style, Column, Elbow, and even Ceramic Draft towers are available commercially.

These draft towers can be good starting points, especially if you are interested in having multiple types of beers available at the same time.  Many of these designs can stand alone to make your draft beer set-up unique while maintaining function, especially if you do not have a well developed theme for your home bar.

If your home bar does have a well-developed theme, you will need to go one step further with your draft tower to ensure that it stands out.  Having a rotating seasonal theme on your home bar adds some added interest. This is where experience with set design and things like Halloween decorations can come in handy.  What follows are a few examples of some of my favorite unique draft beer tower modifications.

The Orcish Mead Hall

One great home bar theme that is very unique is the Orcish Mead Hall.  This room was outfitted with a large variety of weapons on the wall – swords, clubs, axes, and shields.  There were grisly battle standards adorned with fake severed limbs and the tables and stools were made of rough-hewn wood and stumps.  Naturally, a stainless steel draft tower did not fit in with the theme of the bar.  It was a simple modification to make it fit in, however.

The first thing was to make a bar top that obscured view of the kegerator’s main body.  The top from an old dining room table was cut down and a U shaped notch hole was cut and fitted over the kegerator.  The draft tower was removed and disassembled.  A large Styrofoam rock, or “Fake Boulder” was carved to allow the draft tower to fit into it, giving the impression of a natural spring spewing beer, mead, etc.  The tap handle was removed and a cow bone was fitted with the properly threaded bolt to be mounted onto the tap as the new handle.  The end result was very Orcish indeed.

The Boxing Ring

The Boxing Ring is a speakeasy that had a lot of old boxing memorabilia lining the walls.  The tables had reproductions of old boxing posters from the 1800s through 1950s, stories of various boxers, all laminated with resin to make a smooth and easy to clean table top.  The person who built the bar was a real fan of using that plastic resin to encapsulate different objects for artistic purposes.  So what did she do?  She made a resin cast block with gold painted beer lines and golden painted boxing gloves encased inside.  The block looked for all the world like a huge block of ice with boxing gloves and beer lines frozen into place.  The area immediately surrounding the end of the block was molded hollow with enough room to attach the beer faucet, which was screwed into the epoxy resin.

The Workshop

The Workshop was a home bar that was built into a wood and metal working shop.  It was utilitarian and had a unique function as well – the kegerator, when beer wasn’t being dispensed, looked for all the world like a rolling tool chest with other tool boxes stacked on top.  It wasn’t until the top tool box was opened that the beer faucet was revealed!  Perfect for keeping visiting clients and newbies in the dark about the consumption and location of alcoholic beverages in the work site.

The Rolling Crypt

The Rolling Crypt was a parade float that was pulled by a bicycle and resembled a crypt.  This was no ordinary parade float, however.  The rolling Crypt had four soda kegs hidden inside it, and a variety of black and green tentacles dangling from the rear crypt door.  Inside one of these tentacles was a beer spigot dispensing the Dead Horse Ale from within.  While this was not technically a draft beer tower modification, the same principles of construction could certainly be applied to a draft beer tower, especially if your home bar has a gothic motif.  A tombstone draft beer tower would be fairly easy to present – just make sure to stock up on Halloween decorations in the fall.  Also, stone fountain statues may be easily converted into beer fountains – or at least dispensers.

LED Plexiglass Draft Tower

This project works well in a technological or futuristic environment.  The LED draft tower acts as a kind of new wave lava lamp, and can be programmed to strobe, gently cycle through different colors, or maintain one color.  Your local electronics shop can help you with the circuitry, and the Plexiglass and all the tools needed to build the basis of this draft tower can be had at TAP Plastics or a similar retail plastics outlet.

I hope this article has given you all the ideas you need to come up with your own unique draft beer tower modifications.  Remember, there is no shame in using hot glue!

Break Out The Kegerator, It's Bachelor Party Time!

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bachelor party kegerator

Let’s face it – bachelor and bachelorette parties are a time to have fun, let loose a little and enjoy a last wild night before the wedding.  There are many options of what to do during bachelor and bachelorette parties, but most options include drinking, in some shape or form.

One way to really get a bachelor or bachelorete party rolling is to break out the draft beer dispenser!  Because of its small size, you can take it with you just about anywhere you go (assuming it is legal to do so!)  That means you and your buddies will have cold tasty beer with you, available at a moment’s notice, to keep your spirits high throughout the night.

So, what’s the point of bringing a mini portable kegerator with you during a bachelor party?  Well, the answer is simple – you can have access to beer wherever you are.  Many guys opt to rent a limo for the evening to take them to their destination (or destinations) during the bachelor party so they can live it up, and drink it up, without having to worry about who’s driving or how they’re getting home.

If you’re driving around in a limo, then chances are that you want to have a few beers along the way – and what better way to do that than to bring along a mini kegerator with you so you can dispense the beer yourself as you head to your intended destination.

A mini kegerator is sized to fit one of those small 5-liter mini kegs of beer.  This size is probably perfect for you and your buddies for the night (or if not, you can bring a few) and provides the same great tasting, draft beer that you would get at the bar you’re headed to, for a lot less money.  This means that you can have a few beers along the way and save some cash when you hit your destination, since individual beers at bars and clubs will cost way more than the price of the beer in your mini kegerator.  If you’re headed somewhere rather far away, such as a casino, it also means that you can get the party started before you get to where you’re going.

If someone attending the bachelor party doesn’t already have a mini kegerator to bring along to the party, buying one for the groom-to-be can be a great gift.  You can buy a mini kegerator for around $100 – $300 and fill it with a 5 liter mini keg for the bachelor party.  The guys at the party can even each chip in a few bucks and make it a group gift that the groom will surely appreciate.  The guest of honor will have a great gift to start his new married life with – and you will have a reason to head over and visit!  Mini kegerators are a great addition to any home bar, and because they are portable, they can be taken to parties, can be used out by the pool or on the deck, or can be the centerpiece at tailgating parties.

Girls can get the same benefits from using a mini kegerator at the bachelorette party as guys can.  Just as during the bachelor party, girls can take a mini kegerator with them in the limo while heading out for a night on the town so they can enjoy some great tasting beer along the way.  Some mini kegerators even dispense wine.  The nice thing about having a mini kegerator is that wherever the bachelorette party may go, there is some free-flowing fun along for the ride.

So, when planning your next bachelor or bachelorette party for a friend, think about bringing along a mini kegerator to add to the fun – and to lower the cost of buying drinks at the bar.  It’ll be an addition to the party that all participants should truly appreciate!

It's Tailgating Season with Draft Beer!

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Wings. Chips. Hot dogs. Beer.  There’s nothing like the fun – and the food – involved in tailgating before the big game.  Tailgating parties are not only a prelude to the football frenzy, they are part of the football frenzy.  If you love to tailgate, then having a portable beer cooler or a mini beer kegerator is an added bonus that will surely make you one of the most sought after attendees at your next tailgating party.

This is for the professional tailgater – $4,999.99 from Poplin Fabrication

Beer is almost always a big component of the tailgating tradition.  Whether in bottles or cans, football fans want their beer cold and they want their beer fresh – no matter how low the temperature may drop outside.  Even when the windchill starts to dip, no one wants to drink warm beer.  That’s why having a portable beer cooler can make you lots of friends at your next tailgating extravaganza.  Portable beer coolers come in a variety of different sizes to house different quantities of beer.  They work by plugging their 12V cord into the car’s cigarette lighter or alternate power source so the interior contents can stay cool.  Portable beer coolers are versatile because they not only chill cans and bottles of beer, they can chill snacks as well.

If you really want to be a hit at your next tailgating party, consider bringing a mini kegerator instead.  There’s nothing like the taste of genuine draft beer when you’re celebrating before the big game, and no matter how many cans or bottles of beer a portable beer cooler may hold, nothing beats the taste of beer on tap.  It’s pretty hard to bring a full keg to the parking lot outside of the football stadium, so bringing a mini kegerator can do the trick instead.  Mini beer kegerators fit the mini-sized, 5 liter kegs of beer, such as those sold by Heineken and other brands.  The kegerator keeps the beer cold and dispenses the contents of the mini keg from a tap, just like a larger keg of beer.  This gives you all the benefits of draft beer taste, in a convenient ‘take-it-with-you’ package.

If you are having a large gathering of people at your football tailgating party, you may need more beer than what is housed in one 5 liter mini keg, so you can simply bring along extra mini kegs to put into your mini kegerator so that you can keep dispensing great tasting draft beer throughout the duration of your tailgating party, rather than running short.  That makes it easy to transport the amount of beer necessary to satisfy all participants at the tailgating party, without having to lug a heavy keg or tons of cans and bottles.

The good news about opting for a mini kegerator filled with a 5 liter mini keg of beer for your tailgating party is that it is environmentally responsible way to drink your beer before the big game.  Using the mini keg saves on the many cans and bottles that would otherwise wind up in the trash or in the recycling system otherwise.  With a mini keg, all you need is a cup for each person, which can be refilled.

So, the next time you’re heading to the field for a tailgating party, don’t forget your mini kegerator or portable beer cooler.  You’ll be the hit of the party!

Reunions Are Ripe For Kegerators

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There’s nothing like a reunion.  Whether you are attending a family reunion, where you get together with members of your extended family that you don’t often see, or a school reunion, where you can meet up again with old school friends that you have lost touch with, a reunion is a once in a lifetime chance to reconnect, reminisce and rejoice.

Draft Beer at Family Reunion
Reunions are much anticipated events and often take lots of care and planning – and they often are accompanied by a good deal of food and drink as well, as everyone takes the time to catch up with one another.  So, with that in mind, it’s easy to see why reunions are the perfect occasion for using draft beer dispensers.

Unless the reunion that’s been organized is for a bunch of school-aged friends, most reunions are rather large events that are well planned in the food and beverage department.  Alcoholic beverages are typically a part of the festivities, and in some cases only beer and wine, or only beer are served to cut down on expenses.

Since everyone loves to have a few drinks while catching up with old friends or family members that have travelled from near and far, having a keg and keg dispenser on hand can be the most efficient and cost effective option for serving beer at a reunion.

Kegerators can be rented if you don’t already own one and are basically the refrigerated compartment that houses a keg or half keg of beer.  You may wonder why you would need the kegerator and can’t just get away with the keg, and the answer is simple – kegs of beer need to be kept cold or the beer tastes lousy and starts to go bad.

Back in your younger days, you may have been okay with just throwing a keg into a bucket full of ice and hoping that it would stay somewhat cold before the keg was emptied, but you can remember how lousy most of that beer tasted.  If you’re serving beer to a crowd of anything other than college aged frat boys, chances are that you at least want to make sure the beer tastes good – and that means you’ll need to keep it good and cold.  A kegerator will do that for you – and will also make an eyesore of a keg look more attractive if it’s being left out in clear view for people to help themselves.

So, if planning a reunion is on your list of things to do in the near future, make sure that someone is taking care of ensuring there’s a kegerator for the beer.  If no one owns a keg refrigerator, or the place you are holding the reunion does not supply one, you can easily rent a kegerator for the night or weekend to use at your event.

By having a kegerator on hand, you can focus on catching up with old friends and finding out what they’ve been doing since you’ve seen them last, rather than reminiscing about what it was like the last time you were drinking warm, lousy beer together.

Graduation Parties Are More Fun with a Kegerator

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Years of hard work culminate in graduation from school.  Surely, that is a time to celebrate.  Graduation parties celebrate not only how far the graduate has come, but the excitement of the new life that lies ahead.  Many a graduation is marked by a graduation party – whether a small intimate party just for a few family members or a big blow-out bash that includes members from the graduate’s class.  And when there’s a party, especially one like a graduation party, beer is usually in plentiful abundance.

a graduation kegerator

So, if you’re planning a graduation party for someone special, consider renting a home draft fridge for the event.  Kegerators are the perfect appliance to keep a keg of beer cold all day long and make it easy to neatly dispense beer from the tap.  This means that if you are having an open house party all afternoon in the heat of May, June or July (like many graduation parties are), the beer will stay cold even as the later guests arrive.

Of course, if the graduation party you are throwing is to celebrate a high school graduation, you should use your best judgment about having a kegerator filled with a keg of beer at the party, since most of the guests might be underage.  If that is the case, you do not want to invite trouble by having a bunch of high school kids find out that the party with the keg is at your house.

No, that would not be cool.  But, if you are throwing a college graduation party or a graduation party to mark the completion of grad school, law school, med school or the like, then by all means go ahead and break out the kegerator.  In those instances, you can be sure that having a keg of beer at the party will be a welcome addition to the recent grads.

Another use for a kegerator at a graduation party is as a graduation gift.  No, you probably wouldn’t buy a recent grad a full size kegerator that houses a whole keg of beer (that would be better left for the fraternity they might have just left!).  But, mini kegerators and portable kegerators make for great gifts that are a bit different than the norm and probably won’t be repeated by someone else.

Mini kegerators are small appliances, usually made of stainless steel and pretty nice looking, that house a mini keg of beer (only 5 liters).  They are the perfect size for the new graduate that is just heading out on their own in a new (small!) apartment, but that wants to be able to entertain friends or to just relax after their new job with a frosty, cold one.

For those that are often on the go, portable kegerators, which are also small, allow the new grad to take the party on the road with them (not literally!), so if they are heading back to their old stomping ground for a tailgating party (link) or to visit some frat buddies, the beer can be on hand.  Of course, you should just first make sure that the recipient of your graduation gift is over 21 years of age before presenting them with the gift of a mini or portable kegerator for graduation.  And you should make sure that the graduate will appreciate such a gift, rather than getting a new briefcase, pen set or ipad.

Graduation parties can be the perfect social occasion for setting up the kegerator, assuming the party’s guests are of age.  They also make for easy clean up after the party, since there are not loads of cans and bottles to have to pick up and recycle.  Speaking of recycling, tapping into a keg rather than cases of beer, is an environmentally responsible way to celebrate the big milestone and each half keg of beer can save as much as five pounds of waste from the aluminum or glass used for beer cans and bottles.

Happy Kegversary! A Kegerator to Express Love

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Your anniversary is approaching – a day representing years of blissful happiness.  Whether you’re married just one year, ten years or are coming up on an impressive number such as 40 or 50 years, the day is typically marked by some type of gift or gesture that represents a declaration of your love.

Anniversary Kegerator

The problem for many people, however, is finding a suitable anniversary gift that will truly be appreciated and enjoyed.  For women, it’s a bit easier than for men, since a gift of jewelry or flowers will usually do the trick.  But what to buy for the man in your life?  If he likes beer, think about buying him the ultimate guy gift for your anniversary.

A kegerator as an anniversary gift?  Really?  Sure, why not.  If your guy loves beer, or simply enjoys to spend time relaxing at home over a drink with you or a few of his buddies, then a kegerator may be the perfect gift to express your love.  It is a gift that recognizes the things that make him happy in life (beer), makes him realize that you appreciate all he does and indicates that you think he deserves a little time to kick back and relax, plus it’s a pretty cool gift that he he’ll enjoy.

Kegerators make the perfect anniversary gift for those who are married to beer lovers, because they are the type of gift that your guy probably wouldn’t buy for himself (because he’d think you’d get mad at him!) but that he’ll really appreciate having.

So, if you decide that you’re married to the type of guy that would love a beer refrigerator as an anniversary gift, then your next step is determining what to buy.  The first decision you’ll have to make is what kind of kegerator would he like and how much you want to spend.  You can get a mini kegerator for as little as $100, give or take a few bucks, or you can spend quite a bit more if you’re instead looking for an under the counter kegerator to fit into your home bar.

Home kegerators can vary in size and finish (such as stainless steel, black, etc.), so you’ll have a number of options to choose from.  If your guy prefers bottled or canned beer to the draft beer that is dispensed from a kegerator, you may want to opt instead to buy him a beer refrigerator.  A beer fridge is just like a wine cooler or wine fridge in that it is a mini refrigerated unit that is set up to easily store beer bottles or cans.

Buying your honey a kegerator or beer refrigerator for your anniversary may not seem like the most romantic of gestures, but you can rest assured that if your guy enjoys beer, he’ll enjoy your gift much more than many of the other “gifts for men” that are often marketed by businesses and stores.

A gift of a kegerator lets your man know how much you appreciate him and how much you support his interests.  It lets him know that you value his relaxation, want to enjoy quality time spent with him on a quiet night over a cool drink, or that you’re okay with letting him sit back with his buddies over a Sunday football game or a late night of poker while having a few cold, frosty brews.  What could express your love better than that?

Rock, Paper, Scissor For a Kegerator

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Saint Arnold Brewing Company is celebrating their 18th Anniversary with a Party on Sunday, June 10 @ the brewery in Houston, TX and what better way to do this?

Events will include a Rock, Paper, Scissor Tournament with a kegerators.com grand prize and a barbecue. All attendees are automatically entered in the tournament, and the winner will receive a  kegerator provided by kegerators.com! Go join them as they mark another year in business! Please make your reservation soon as this event always sells out.

Here are the party details:

Where:  Saint Arnold Brewing Company
What: 18th Anniversary Party
When: Sunday, June 10
Time: 1 PM to 4 PM
Cost: $35
Includes: Barbecue lunch, special glass and the Rock Paper Scissors Tournament
For reservations, please follow this link.

Please plan on arriving by 1:30 PM to participate in the tournament. Do you have your strategy? The Saint Arnold Crew will post the rules on their website prior to the event, but will also have them posted at the event.

 

Kegerators.com is a proud supporter of the Saint Arnold Brewing Company

Poker Night Is A Great Time To Tap The Kegerator

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For many guys across the nation, poker night is a night to get together with a bunch of buddies to shoot the breeze, drink some beer, maybe smoke some cigars, and of course, to play poker.  For those that have a home kegerator, poker night with the guys can be the perfect excuse to tap the kegerator and toss back a few beers while relaxing and having a few laughs.

Home kegerators provide the great tasting draft beer taste that you can otherwise only get at an actual bar.  They keep the beer cold and fresh and dispense the beer through a tap, just as the bartender would at your favorite watering hole.  The great thing about scheduling poker night at the house of whoever owns the home kegerator is that it can make you feel like you’re actually playing the game at your local casino, or in the back room of your local bar.  This can make “guys night” feel that much more authentic and can add to the ambiance surrounding your favorite card game.

In addition to the draft beer you’ll all enjoy from the home kegerator, poker night wouldn’t be complete without some good food.  Pizza is often a favorite of poker night, but depending on how much effort you want to put into the food at your get together, you may also want to opt for a barbecue, where you can make Guinness  sliders, hot dogs, ribs or steak.  Of course, you can also order in wings, Chinese food or some other favorite ethnic food.  Or, everyone can simply bring a snack or two and you can make do with whatever winds up on the table.  For the most part, everyone will be more interested in the great tasting beer than what kind of food is on the menu, so planning the menu doesn’t need to be too big a deal.

If your poker night games include a bunch more guys than would play in any one game at a time, you’ll probably notice that the extras that aren’t in the game will have no problem sitting out if they can hang out around the kegerator and have a beer or two when they’re not playing.  It’ll give friends time to shoot the breeze, tell a few jokes or catch up on each other’s lives.  If there’s also a dart board or a pool table nearby, that’s another good diversion for those that are not playing cards and will surely be a welcome addition to poker night festivities.

Of course, poker night doesn’t only have to be a guys-only night out and can be an equally fun night when there is mixed company or when it’s a ladies-only night as well.  And, whether poker night consists of guys only, girls only or a mixture of the two – and whether it’s a singles night or a night that those who are married get a break from the usual routine, poker night is sure to be a much anticipated night out for all.  Adding in some great tasting draft beer and some good eats are sure to add even more to the card-playing fun!

May Kegerator Deals

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DOWN WITH OVERPAYING!

Stop ordering expensive beers every time you go out to the bar! Pour ‘em at home!

“I’m telling you, Bill, it feels so good to not depend on local bars and big box chains for my beer. Now that we’re pouring beer at home out of our Magic Beer Machine we picked up, I feel like we’re making a difference.”

“By dispensing beer?”

“Yeah, by dispensing beer! These things are perfect for us; they don’t take up a lot of space, cost per beer is lower, and we can also use it as a fermentation chamber for making our own beer at home!”

“Well that’s a great way to save some money and help ease the burden on the local bars in this country.”

“PLUS we get to stick it to Wally World and the like! No more overpriced tasteless brews! Hell no, BYO! Keep your rice out of my life!”

“Right. The companies responsible for bringing the lowest possible prices to customers in human history. Those are the guys we want to stick it to.”

“Don’t you read the Internet? THEY’RE EVIL!

EDGESTAR HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED

Kegerator Deal: Get an extra $20 off the EdgeStar KC2000 Full Size Kegerator with promo code 20KEGMAY, now through 5/31

KC2000 EdgeStar KegeratorKC2000 EdgeStar Kegerator

 

Low, Low, Low Price ($339.00) on this new 6 Cu. ft. Igloo Kegerator with free shipping to the nearest store for pickup

 

Great refrigerator for a DIY kegerator conversion, Danby Compact Refrigerator DAR440BL has a new low price of  under $200 w/ free shipping.  Add the Double Tap Stainless Tower or add the double tap tower Kegerator Conversion Kit for a complete home draft system.

 

Not really a deal, but who wouldn’t want this in their home. The Beer Cave Kegerator is a complete walk-in beer bottle cooler and keg storage cave with beer dispensing tap. Go ahead and drool…