bar finishing
Eric Stein
and inset them. Let's talk about it.
Eric
Patrick Callahan
Beyond the obvious PS1 logo, we can do some hackerspace iconography like wrenches, soldering iron, etc. Perhaps some beer iconography as well, like a beer stein, hops, etc.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Beer Church: Chicago" group.
To post to this group, send email to beer-chur...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/beer-church-chicago.
Kevin Grant
I approve of this plan of action.
Ryan Pierce
I am guessing he will need me to disassemble the draft tower. Now would be the optimum time to add more taps, shorten the hose ducts (if we are cool with the fridge orientation) and possibly talk to Aeva about 3D printing vertebrae to finish this.
It assumes the bar will still be used, given the unfortunate state law issues, too. I think we can do something with tap locks in the near future.
Thoughts? What is the timeframe on this?
Ryan
Ryan Pierce
Alrighty, here's my initial thoughts on the matter...Not only do bars tend to become a social gathering point, but the location where ours is in the lounge means that it's the first impression new people get coming in the the lounge. I've got rough 'good, better, best' ideas, but I think we should at least go 'better', and emphasize the collaborative effort that it's become. "This was initially built by one of our members. It used to be a door, and the wood structure underneath was made from the electronics loft in our old space. The taps were put in by someone else. It was completed by even more. Here, let me draw you a beer brewed by yet another..." Not only should it be cool for our own enjoyment, but it will make a fine example of what the members are capable of, and what the space is about in general.OK, I'll get off my soapbox now and get to the point.Ryan, yes, we'll have to pull the draft tower off, and it would be the optimal time to expand the taps and do a bit of tidying up. I figured you'd be thinking that, which is why I wanted to touch base with you and Eric before I resorted to JFDI. As far as the timeframe goes, I'd like to be started in a week, with completion in a month tops.As far as the bartop itself goes, it seems to me that the best way might be to start from scratch. I mentioned to Eric tonight that I have a Habitat For Humanity ReStore right by my workplace and a new door comes cheap. Besides, my trimwork on it isn't as good as I'd like, and it's kinda stuck in my craw. We could take our time with it (depending on how stupid we get with it) and that way it can stay in service while the new bartop is made. Then, we can disassemble it on, say, a Friday, complete the base over the weekend, then reassemble it with the new bartop during a beer church meeting so as to give it a proper christening and accept the congratulatory accolades of our comrades in booze.Good: The cheapest and quickest option. We keep the old bartop but dress it up. It has been stained over the course of the past year, but it could be painted, or disguised with overlays, pictures, the PS1 logo in bottle caps, whatever. Then, polyurethane bartop sealer over the top. The base would be covered over in plywood and painted to match.Better: Eric wants to do laser cut tiles to inlay into the top. Love the idea. Inlays under the thick layer of bartop sealer would give the bartop depth and a very unique look. The other advantage of this is that the tiles could be made to fit the bartop exactly, even around the taps and the drip tray, so there wouldn't be any undecorated negative space. I think if we go that direction we should go the more traditional route with wood stain. I think a stained bar with the black pipe around the footrail and the taps would look sharp. The plywood for the base might not be fine furniture quality, but perhaps a cut above the cheapest stuff we can find.Best: Now we're gonna get stupid. Ryan, why'd you have to post that link showing the interactive LED panels? Now I've become used to thinking about them in the grand design. We'd need 8, six for the front edge and 2 wrapping around the sides of the draft tower. I highly doubt we could think of anything better than this, or that would leave a more lasting impression on guests or prospective members. An interactive LED bar would have a cool factor somewhere in the sub-zero range. But, it is pricey to say the least. Eric said flat out that the board won't pay for it, and I wouldn't expect them to. However, I would be willing to eat the majority of it, just because I'd love to do it (and for my name to be spoken in reverent tones by drunk hackers 'til the end of time). Maybe we could pass the hat at Beer Church and try to gather enough to stop the worst of the bleeding.Well, those are my initial thoughts. Let's get the discussion and the ball rolling...Greg D
Ryan Pierce
Also I'd like to note that one of our members owns a beverage services
store and has been wanting to give us free stuff. What should we ask for?
Right now we are configured with 2 taps that are both Perlick "creamers"
- pull to get beer, push to build head. What do people think of those?
Do you use the head building function? Do we want more, or just standard
faucets? Do we want to get a dedicated stout faucet and nitrogen tank
and regulator (assuming it is free, of course) to give us 3 general
purpose taps + 1 stout tap, or would it be better to have all 4 taps be
general purpose?
What kind of valves/actuators would we need? That + a turbine vane might
allow us to monitor and control volume consumed per person. Say, get an
RFID fob. There is a risk of the hardware introducing foam in the line,
but there's a good amount of distance to the tap that I'm hoping it
won't matter.
Thoughts?
Also, any thoughts on how to decorate the back of the fridge, assuming
we want it in this configuration?
On 7/10/2013 11:47 AM, Greg Daneau wrote:
> Ryan,
>
> Sorry, I didn't know about the legal issues that had cropped up at
> Beer Church (other than the 'How do we keep the kids' grubby little
> mitts out of it?' issue). Let's keep throwing 'good, better, best'
> ideas around here in the ether, then have the final
> ideas/arguements/votes at the next Beer Church. Sound like a plan (or
> the beginning of one, anyway)?
>
Greg D
Greg D
Damn. Seems my e-mails aren't getting simultaneously posted here for some reason. Whatever...
We definitely don't want to obstruct the airflow around the fridge's coils, so we'll have to do something that the air can flow through. We could build a frame and cover it in a fabric screen, like a stereo speaker. Or, we could try to use perfboard (like you hang hooks and tools from) if we need something a bit less accident prone. Come to think of it (just thinking off the top of my head here) that board looks a great deal like a blown up breadboard. How about we paint it like one, use wood blocks and metal strips for IC chips, pop cans for capacitors, etc. and make it look like a giant circuit? Just an idea, but I think we have to make the fridge fit into the design scheme for the bar, whatever that turns out to be, instead of the other way around.
As far as the taps go, I personally don't drink anymore, so any thoughts I have on the matter are largely irrelevant. But here they are anyway...
I considered myself a beer snob back in the day, and I suspect the majority of people showing up for Beer Church consider themselves the same. If all things are equal, we should definitely get the better taps. We can always pour Solo cups of PBR out of them, but we'd still have the versatility to please the snobs who consider it important. I also think that if we go to 4 taps we absolutely should have a dedicated stout spout with the proper nitrogen mix. Anyone who's ever had a Guinness (or any other stout for that matter) at a bar that runs straight CO2 will tell you how ungodly awful it is.
If you're out of town this weekend, Ryan, another week won't kill us. I suspect that we'll be hashing out ideas here in the ether for a few more days anyway. We could get together after next week's meeting, or we could get Eric to declare a Beer Church Special Session and make it a committee of the whole for figuring it out. I'm up for however it plays out.
Greg D
Greg D
Greg D
Greg D
As far as the new bar top goes, the epoxy coats were nerve racking, but successful. I put plywood over the top to protect it against dust while it was setting up. By now, it should be fully dry to the touch, and dust no longer a concern, but I am concerned that keeping it covered could keep it from venting fumes and effecting the curing process. If someone could (carefully) remove the plywood it would ease my mind. Also, if the aforementioned assistant could run a hand lightly over the surface and check for sticky spots, it would also be appreciated. Spots not dry to the touch by now are of grave concern. Otherwise, just stick the sign on the tap island and leave her be. She should be fully cured by Tuesday, and we can attach it to the base and I can do the final trim work. If all goes well, I will hand the keys to Ryan for the tap installation, and start haranguing people to get to work on the Beer Church crest.
Thanks,
Greg
Ryan Pierce
Fucking.
Rock.
I have purchased 2 faucet shanks of the same style as we got before and plan to get tubing from B&G. The idea is to set it up for 4 tap lines even though only 2 faucets are connected. Then we have options. Go with 2 Perlick creamer faucets. Or go with an actual stout faucet and a separate tank for beer gas (75% N2 25% CO2). The big question is what and how much NFC will donate to us.
In other news:
I left the fridge defrosting Sunday night. This is troubling. It frosts like crazy. I think it might be more efficient to use a heat gun. I dunno.
The CO2 tank looks low. It should be fine now but expect it to run out soon. I think we can probably get a donated refill from NFC if the really cool owner is on duty.
Ryan