Draft Equipment

Putting The Home Bar Together The Easy Way

When you have your bar and your cabinets built, you’ll want to get to drinking in it…Now.  But, I’ve seen some make shit jobs that aren’t really all that great.  Then, I’ve seen some expensive setups that are way out of the reach of most of us.

So, here’s the home bar the easy way:

The kegerator is the first thing you put in your bar.  It keeps your keg cool and it adds style in an inexpensive way.

This kegerator can actually make the entire bar.  If you choose to use a kegerator like this to hold your kegs, you can make it a part of the bar’s counter top.  Then, you only need counter space on each side.  That’s a setup made easy, as easy as it gets. 

Grab a tap handle of your favorite beer and now you’ve got something to really get you bragging.  There are tap handles of all kinds, from your favorite domestic to your favorite import.  As a promotional tool, every beer you can think of has a beer tap handle for commercial uses as well as the home bar enthusiast.

But, just in case you have a beer of your own or some other “unrecognizable” libation, get the beer tap handle you can write anything on that you want. 

Tell people, “Try Me!”  Give your concoction a name.  Have fun with it and write, “Make Your Own Beer…” or whatever else you might come up with to prank your friends.

You’ve got the bar.  Dress it up in style.  The kegerator and a beer tap handle can turn any room into a bar.  Your bedroom, your dorm room (oops), your garage, your basement, your tree house…

Anywhere!

How To Make Your Home Bar More Bar And Less Home

When you are trying to create a bar in your home, of course you begin with the taps and the handles, mirrors and signs.  You built a bar!  It has to look right.  Right?

But when the bar is in place and you think you have it all, what kind of lame bar serves draft beer in plastic cups?  And I’ll be willing to bet that’s what you have.  Red plastic cups that you bought at the grocery store.  Hmm…all that work and then you tap out at the end.

Well, you can add some specialty glasses so that your friends are drinking in style.  This is where it gets tricky, but you can manage.  You don’t just want to get mugs of any kind.  You need to stock up your cabinets with mugs of all kinds.

Vintage mugs from old fashioned beers add such a touch of class.  Especially when you have friends asking you where you got the mugs.  That’s when you realize saving money on those red plastic cups wasn’t worth it after all.

But, don’t stop there.  You should have Pilsners and Pints, Dimpled Mugs and Retro Pubs.  Get mugs with different logos like Coors, Molson, Blue Moon and Killian.  It’s a blast to make sure that you drink out of the right glass for the right kind of draft.

Logo Beer Glasses

DIY Kegerator – A Beer Keg In Your Refrigerator Or Wherever Else

It’s been a dream for many beer drinkers around the world.  But, putting a keg in an old refrigerator for your apartment, den or garage isn’t that hard to do when you have the right material.

A Kegerator Conversion Kit is all you need and there is something that you may have never thought about, but it’s a surprise and I’ll tell you in a minute.  These conversion kits change any old refrigerator into a kegerator in minutes.  Install the shank and faucet directly in to the door of your refrigerator and hook up the Co2 inside.  You’ll be drinking from your kegerator in no time at all.

But, here’s something that not many people think about.  The Kegerator Conversion Kit can also be used for other home bar designs.  Wall mount it to a closet.  That’s right!  Turn your closet into a kegerator.

All you need to do is install the shank and faucet on the wall the way you would the door of your refrigerator.  Then, grab a large trash can full of ice just like you would for a normal keg party.  Hook up the Co2 inside the closet and you are ready to drink some cold beer with the keg hidden in the closet, fully functional for your party.  Of course, this is really only good for keg parties when you have them.  But, you can try to keep ice in the trash can as you keep swapping out kegs.

As this idea starts to spark the imagination, I want to see Kegerators everywhere!  Garages, Bedrooms, Kitchens, Living Rooms, Bathrooms, through the wall to the Patio outside…etc.

Beertaps has the Kegerator Conversion Kit you need!

Making Money Drinking Beer

You watch people on television having a great time.  Some of the reality television shows allow their contestants to be viewed while drinking.  Some actors like Norm have made a career out of it.  But, can you get paid to drink beer?

It would be nice to know, wouldn’t it?

I loved watching Tara Reid get drunk on the Wild On… episodes that she hosted and on the Taradise show that had a short run.  You sit back and watch the show thinking, “Man, why can’t I land a gig as sweet as that?”

You get paid to roam around the world, find the best places ever and drink their alcohol to show people at home how fun it is.  That’s the gig of the century.  But, then the thought occurs to you that only blessed people like Tara Reid get gigs like that.

Well, not anymore.  Getting paid to drink is no longer a gig for the beautiful and talented.  It’s a job all of us can have.

It seems that there are plenty of beer companies starting a trend.  They love to pay people to drink their beer and give them feedback.

“Just two nights ago I attended a beer & wine discussion group and for about 1 hour of my time, sampling a few different beers and wines and answering some questions I received $70.” Tim Costello, author of Make Money Drinking Beer.

It does appear that the blessings have been passed on to the rest of us.  So, if you think you can participate in a drinking group where people will be drinking and talking about drinking, the learn more about how to make money drinking beer…

So You Want To Become A Bartender

What exactly does it mean to be a bartender? A bartender is someone that serves beverages, and in some cases food behind a licensed bar. Bartenders can be found in any establishment that has a bar, such as bars, restaurants, night clubs, pubs and taverns.

The majority of the drinks that a bartender will be serving contain alcohol in them. They also serve beer and wine, along with other types of alcohol. Not only do they serve alcohol they also have to serve juice, soda, water, and non alcoholic beverages to those who do not drink alcohol.

Not only do bartenders have the responsibility of making and serving drinks, they are also responsible for the over cleanliness of the bar area. They must make sure they have enough clean shot glasses, wine glasses, mugs, and drink glasses at their disposal, so there is a light amount of dish washing that is involved.

In most scenarios, the bartender is expected to dress appropriately to add to the atmosphere of the bar. In some establishments, the bar tender might participate in flair bar tending, which contributes to the entertainment in the bar.

A professional bartender should have in their head hundreds of recipes for drinks and shots. The quicker that you can serve the customer the more likely you are to get a good tip. It is not very professional to go over and look at a recipe book while the customer is waiting on his or her drink, especially if you are working at a busy night club.

A good bartender must have excellent people skills, as communication and also a person that will listen to the customer. When people are drinking they are more to open up, and sometimes as a bartender you must be that shoulder to cry on. Knowing what your customers are going to order is also a good thing, you will learn this over time.

In most countries, tipping is expected of the customer, and this is how the bartender gets the majority of their income, as most bar tenders are paid minimum wage. In some places, minors are allowed in bars, and it is the bartenders responsibility to check for identification before serving them alcohol.

If this sounds like a lot of work, with not much reward, there is always a bright side. You are working at an establishment that serves gallons of liquor each day, and you are in charge of it. The job of bartender is management, customer service, and so much more! Even a bar tending job looks good on a resume when you present it in the right way.

George Washington – Beerthusiast

Posted by CarBoy Films

The Father of Our Country loved his beer.  English–style porter was George Washington’s drink of choice and whenever he could he would seek out the product of Robert Hare, a brewer in Philadelphia who was one of the first to make porter in the U.S. Washington was no stranger to homebrew either and this recipe from a personal notebook he kept will make 30 gallons of ale, enough for a large household like Mount Vernon.

"Take a large Sifter full of Bran, Hops to your Taste—Boil these 3 hours.  Then strain out 30 Gallons into a Cooler put in 3 Gallons Molasses while the Beer is scalding hot or rather drain the molasses into the Cooler. Strain the Beer on it while boiling hot let this stand til it is little more than Blood warm. Then put in a quart of Yeast if the weather is very cold cover it over with a Blanket. Let it work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask. leave the Bung open til it is almost done working—Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed."

"To Make Small Beer” is the title of this recipe. “Small beer” is normally brew made from the second runnings through the mash for strong ale and the beer that is created has very little alcohol (about 3%).  However, a note on the NPR website says that the above recipe produces a beer with an alcohol content of about 11 %.  If this was George’s “small beer” then consumption of his “large beer” must have somehow disrupted space-time for its imbiber. Compare that ABV to a popular modern American brew, say Sam Adams Boston Lager at 4.9%, and you realize that “Town Destroyer”, as the Iroquois nicknamed Washington, wasn’t effin around.   In fact, I think he might have been trying to kill himself and anyone around him.

So if you try this recipe use caution (or just less molasses) and for God’s sake send us pictures of the aftermath.

Image by cliff1066

Garrison Keillor – View of Cincinnati, Love of Beer

Cincinnati Poem

We’re in Cincinnati and it’s good to be here
In a city of pork and a city of beer.
Old beer signs everywhere you walk:
“Good Old” Brucks, Brenner’s XL Pilsener, John Hauck
Barbarossa, King Gambrinus, or Crown.
You eat you some Pork hocks with leeks and garlic cloves, you need beer to wash it down.
Similarly, to go along with a pint of beer, you need more than a pretzel
You need Pork Meatloaf with brown gravy and spaetzle.
A big pork sandwich and something to drink,
Geisbauer, Bierbrauer, Linck.
Nothing chintzy
Here in Cincy.
Like it or not, Cincinnati was not vegetarian.
It went for pork shanks with bread dumplings and a pitcher of Bavarian.
No lemonade, no cranberry juice, no apple cider,
But a big mug of Weber’s, Lackman, Jackson, Mohawk, Gerke, Burger, or Foss-Schneider.
And all of the pig was used, even the snout
To make Bierwurst, Mettwurst, Bratwurst, piled high with sauerkraut.

Beers with distinguished names like Butcher & Weidmann and Windisch-Muhlhauser
To give a sense of dignity to the drunken carouser
City of suds and city of swine,
Some greasy goetta sausage and a glass of Christian Moerlein,
Or Little Kings cream ale

Beer by the bottle, the barrel, the hogshead, and the pail,
Golden brown glasses of beer with nice big heads
And Hudepohl-Schoenling, Cincinnati’s finest, hu-dey “Hu dey think gonna beat them Reds”
It was the national capital of beer.
In 1890, they produced a million barrels a year.
Old breweries along McMicken Avenue on the hill north of Liberty Street,
Making beer out of water, yeast, sugar, plenty of hops, and wheat.
Oh in Cincinnati there was lots to do:
You had a Hudy and a Pork cordon bleu.
Cincinnati was a regular culinary riot.
How sad to be on a diet.
What a terrible loss.
To miss out on the roast pork loin with beer sauce.
And it is politically incorrect
And you may object
To my saying so, but I suspect
Something joyful and boisterous and profane
Was lost when we decided to abstain.
A man sitting down to pork braised, roasted, fried, boiled, battered, with a glass upraised,
A man who is a little fried himself and his eyes are glazed.
That may have been the night he became your daddy
Here in Cincinnati.

_____

If you ever find a place that you want to call home

and you can name off the reasons why,

then you’ll be as lucky as this guy!

Top 10 Oktoberfest Party Ideas

Oktoberfest takes place over 16 days in September and October every year in Bavaria. In addition there are many private Oktoberfest parties thrown throughout the world. You can throw your own with the help of the following Oktoberfest party ideas:

1. Make your invitations out of card. Make cut outs of lederhosen, beer kegs, beer steins, beer glasses, beer goggles or bratwursts. State clearly that anybody who does not dress up will be charged on the door!

2. For costumes, guys get to wear the awful lederhosen. Hold them up with some braces and you will look truly ridiculous. Get yourself a hat with feather and some knee height socks and you are set to go!

3. Ladies, you get to wear traditional Bavarian or Alpine peasant girl costume. This includes a lacy blouse and tight bodice. You can also dye your hair blonde and tie it up in cute pig tails.

4. Your decorations should be in blue and white to represent the color of the Bavarian flag. Get plenty of blue and white balloons to stick up everywhere.

5. Try and make your venue look like a traditional brau haus bier keller! You can do this with long wooden tables and benches stretching right across the room!

6. Bake some gingerbread men and hang them from the ceiling. Make cut outs of lederhosen, beer glasses and beer kegs and also hang them up!

7. They may not be attractive but get some German flags for the walls. Also get plenty of miniature ones for the table decorations.

8. If its in your budget why not hire out a brass band to play some traditional beer hall music.

9. You should make some of the many famous German dishes such as; garlic bread, weiner schnitzel, sausage stuffed mushrooms, pretzels, sauerkraut, nuremburgers, meatloaf, bratwurst, black forest cake, apple strudel and gingerbread.

10. Of course, the most important element of any Oktoberfest party is the beer. Make sure you stock up with plenty! Make sure it is German beer! There will be people wanting to try many different sorts of beer so get in a variety.

Things You Should Know About Calories In Beer

The habit of consuming beer on a regular basis in the belief that it is good for health has been in practice for the past many centuries. This drinking habit has not taken into account, the calories in beer. The high-tech mega organizations of present days, in trying to promote human relations, organize social gatherings and outings for relaxation, where drinking a glass of beer has become a fashion.

Beer is most commonly served at parties organized by friends for a weekend relaxation and fun, along with other alcoholic drinks. In the belief that it is not harmful to the body, beer is consumed freely. Considering, 150 calories in a (12 oz) mug of beer, 120 calories in a (8 oz) glass of wine and 100 calories in a (3 0z) shot of liquor, alcohol content being the same for all three, the calories in beer is the lowest of all alcohol drinks.

Based on this assumption that beer contains low calories, it is consumed more than it should at these social gatherings and weekend parties. Normally a person would consume a glass of beer, but some would consume 3 to 4 glasses which would mean the person is taking in 450 to 600 calories. A person never realizes that this way of life, the drinking of alcohol destroys his health after some time.

Calculating the calories in a mug of bear, it has been observed that a person taking just one beer after a meal everyday consumes 1050 calories in week. This adds 7 kg to body weight in one year increasing the waistline and stomach flab. When people take light beer they are unable to restrict themselves and consume more than they should, which causes more calories to be accumulated in their stomach area of their body ultimately making the person pot bellied.

In trying to vie with men, women have also started drinking more and we even have habitual drinkers. Nowadays you have women drinking 2 to 12 beers on an average, with some women drinking 2 to 3 beers a day and some drinking even 12 beers at the weekend. Women are becoming addicted to alcohol.

Persons taking alcohol on a regular basis are bound to have a pot belly or what is called a paunch. This condition arises because the fat and carbohydrates remaining unburned gets accumulated in the stomach portion. It is because the alcohol in the beer taken by a person gets burned first. The calories in beer are empty calories.

It has been noted in studies made that you cannot recollect even what you had eaten with your friends at the party, because you had consumed more beer than the advisable limit. The excess alcohol would have dulled your senses and made you eat more of the chips and margaritas, more than you normally eat adding to the calories.

Watching a game of football you might want to have a glass of beer with some snacks to munch, or you may want to enjoy an outing with your friends enjoying the cocktails. You might even want to have a glass of wine with dinner. Well! These are some of the things you might want to do for a little bit of relaxation and to have some enjoyment. But, the fact that the calories in beer and the other alcoholic drinks will be adding to your waistline should never be forgotten. The blushes of having a pot belly can be avoided, if instead of alcoholic drinks, you could just have a glass of fruit juice or some healthy beverage.

Surely, enjoyment and relaxation can be derived from the calories in beer, but when consumed over the limit it can cause harm to your body.

What To Drink In Australia

Although Australian have been known to be large beer drinkers, we are also lovers of fine wine. There are approximately 10,000 different varieties of Australian wines, as well as alcoholic lemonade made from Australian lemon crops, and a beverage made from rhubarb. You can also purchase imported wines, beers or spirits, however when you are there it is highly recommended that you purchase an Australian brand. There are also many non alcoholic drinks for those that prefer to take the healthy route or are nominated as the designated driver.

White Wine: When Australians first adopted table wine sin the 1960s and 1970s,their preference was for a sweet,Moselle type wine – Riesling and Gewurztraminer.Later,they embraced drier styles of wine such as Semillon,Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, the worlds leading white wine grape. They also began to show a passion for wood-matured wines. Today other varieties, such as Marsanne, have been successfully planted. Australian winemakers also use noble rot to make luscious desert wines.

Red Wine: The Grange Hermitage brand is the benchmark for Australian red wine. It was created in the late 1950’s by Max Schubert and he believed that wines needed decades of cellaring before they are at there optimal taste. At the other end of the spectrum, Wolf Blass, became popular with the make it and drink it now approach, with quickly maturing wines.

Beer: Australian beer is vat fermented real ale or lager, consumed chilled. At full strength is has an alcohol content of around 4.8 percent, while light beers have less then 3 percent. Some of the more popular lagers and stouts of today are James Boag and Cascade from Tasmania,Castlemain XXXX from Queensland, Fosters and Victoria Bitter (VB) from Victoria, Tooheys red and blue labels from New South Wales and Coopers Sparkling Ale (known locally as lunatic soup) from South Australia.

Spirits: Australian distillers produce fine dark and white rums from Queenslands sugar cane plantations. The more notable labels are Bundaberg from the town of the same name and Beenleigh.Australia’s grape vintage is also the basis of good value domestic brandies .Popular labels include St Agnes and Hardy’s.

As always, It is important to remember….No matter where you are when you are drinking DO NOT DRIVE HOME. There are car services available to take you home and if you are with a group of friend you should also have one a designated driver.