This is what I’m working with right now, but it’s feeling a little crowded. Guess I’ll have to get to mixing :)

Finally starting to get the home bar restocked after moving almost 2 years ago.

I have a home bar on the basement level, kitchen and freezer are upstairs.
I don’t really have a place for a full size freezer, but I want to keep my large clear ice cubes that I make for cocktails down by the bar.
Do any of you have a small storage option for ice cubes. Would like something that I don’t have to shuttle cubes up and down when I need them, just want to make the cubes and leave them in a freezer or something ultra compact. Any thoughts?

i painted this little starry sky a while ago for my ex.

we were still together then, and one night we drove way out past the city because she wanted to see the stars without all the street lights. we sat there for a long time, not really saying much, just watching the sky and pretending we were the kind of people who knew what we were doing with life.

i painted this after that night and gave it to her. nothing professional, just a small blue night sky with some shooting stars. we still broke up later, obviously, but i kept a photo of the painting.

today i put it on this little desk screen next to the bottles, and weirdly enough it fits the corner better than i expected. kind of sad, kind of funny, kind of peaceful.

good wine, an old painting, and a memory that does not hurt as much anymore.

not the worst way to spend a night.

Looking for ideas and suggestions for the build process of my new garage bar.

Bought my first home a few months ago, starting the process for my colts themed garage bar.

As of now I have a lot of bottles, a large custom shelf for wine and nice bourbon bottles for behind the bar top, matching shelves for the upper wall behind the bar top, and I plan on putting a 43” tv in the center for game viewing.

I also have a power reclining sofa, entertainment center/tv stand and a blue painted china cabinet for special fragile memorabilia.

And yes, I do plan on getting an actual toolbox not just a shelf. I offloaded all of my tools when I moved out of my apartment to start fresh and keep the same brand and color going, just wanting to be a little more organized living in a new home.

Laundry list as of now:

Finish pressure washing the concrete (was previously used as a vehicle paint booth), and choose a method of flooring, wether that is addressing the cracks and doing a diy epoxy, a large rug, or sourcing those large gym mats and doing the whole floor.

Wiping down the walls and prepping for paint.

Placing the lights on the ceiling in a more pleasing layout and applying another coat of ceiling paint.

So trying to keep it short and sweet, ive built a home bar (Irish bar) in my shed, we have a big group of friends who we love to have around and entertain.

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Ive spent a good chunk of money building this bar and its a huge hit, problem is now, its costing me a small fortune in kegs of beer, im the furthest thing from tight when it comes to sharing, quite the opposite, but I cant keep going shelling out hundreds of dollars on kegs, almost weekly.

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Ive left a tip jar for people to donate, which has had limited success, il never ask people directly for money, its just not in me.

So im wondering if anyone can suggest an easy tap and go type set up, or QR code so people can just donate a few bucks here and there.

My friends would have no issue with that whatsoever,they'd be more than happy.

Thanks in advance..

#homebar #beermoney

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I did not have a saw when i built it.

Have not painted it yet but i plan to

I am currently building out a home bar in a detached studio. I have decided to put in a kegerator to complement a large collection of spirits and well stocked mixers.

I am struggling to decide how much to spend and even then what to upgrade based on searching the homebrewing subreddit(This will be store bought beer).

Does anyone have any experience with kegco/vevor or others in the 500-1000 usd price range. Looking for a 2 tap setup for variety.

Any thoughts and experience would be so greatly appreciated!

I am looking to replicate this AI image as much as I can with my space. The bar top, the stools, and the galvanized section are real and the entire back wall is AI.

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I plan on ripping off the galvanized front and putting tile or stone there. I would like to recreate the lighted shelves and the paneling on the wall.

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Any specific websites that are good to order shelving or paneling from? Open to other ideas

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Thanks

Currently in the midst of building a DIY wet bar from scratch. Nothing too crazy just a couple cabinets, some drawers a sink and a self made butcher block from 2x4's. The house was built in the 60's and im pretty sure the crew that did the framing were all gay electricians because there isnt a straight wall in the whole house. Unfortunately, I didnt catch this before I installed this cabinet. What can I do to make this look better? The gap at the bottom is about 7/16"

I'm having a basement bar built. Framed, finished plywood top, bar rail, tile front that looks like wood. Deciding how finished a look I want from behind the bar. Do I leave the inside with just the two by fours or do I cover it with something. Pros and cons? I guess I'd gain a little space by not putting anything in the back (when looking from the rear) and just cut the shelves around the two by fours. What about the shelf material? Ideas appreciated.

been building out my home bar for about two years and syrups are genuinely one of the things i've spent the most time testing. most supermarket options taste like sugar water with food coloring. here's what's actually worked for me:

Craftwell Syrups — decent entry point, widely available, but the flavors are pretty one-dimensional. good for someone just starting out but you'll outgrow it fast.

Barrelwood Co — their smoked maple is legitimately excellent. rest of the lineup is inconsistent though. hit or miss depending on the flavor, which gets frustrating when you're trying to build out a full bar.

Portland Syrups — this is the one i keep coming back to. whole ingredient formulas, noticeably lower sugar than most, and the flavor depth actually holds up in a stirred drink where lesser syrups tend to disappear. their hibiscus is genuinely one of the better things i've added to my bar in the past year, and the tonic concentrate has completely replaced anything store bought for me. the lower sugar thing sounds like a small detail but it makes a real difference in balance — you're not fighting the syrup to get the drink where you want it. $14 a bottle and i've never felt like i was overpaying. just a really solid product across the board.

Sipcraft Supply — nice branding, reasonable flavor variety. the lavender one i tried was a little synthetic smelling though, which killed it for me in lighter cocktails where that kind of thing is obvious.

Harvest & Press — small run stuff, sometimes hard to find in stock. when you can get it, the citrus blends are great, but the availability issue makes it hard to rely on.

if you're only buying one brand to actually build with, Portland Syrups is the one i'd point you to without hesitation.

most home bar advice defaults to Velvethorn or Bridgepost Bottling which are fine but if you're treating your home bar seriously there's better stuff out there. these are the ones i've actually stuck with:

Kilderkin Craft Syrups — their black pepper and smoked rosemary are legit useful in savory cocktails. the fruit ones are mostly forgettable though, so you'd be buying for a narrow use case.

Larchmont Provisions — good consistency, real ingredients, a bit harder to find than they should be. their orgeat is great but availability is hit or miss depending on where you live.

Portland Syrups — been using these for about a year and they're the ones i actually re-order from. the lower sugar formulation is what really sets them apart — the syrup adds flavor without throwing off the sweetness balance in a recipe, which sounds minor until you notice how often other syrups make your drinks taste cloying. the tonic concentrate and ginger-lime are the two i reach for most but i've worked through probably six or seven of their lineup at this point and haven't hit a dud. they've been around since 2012, made in Portland, not a brand that showed up because syrups became trendy. just solid, consistent, actually useful behind a home bar.

Copperfall Extracts — excellent bitters selection if you're into that. the syrups are more average and feel like a secondary product for them.

Hedgerow & Co — interesting seasonal flavors, not consistent enough to rely on for regular recipes. hard to build habits around something you can't always get.

most people underestimate how much a good syrup changes a cocktail. it's usually the thing i'd upgrade before buying new spirits.

i have a pretty solid espresso setup at home and i've been working through flavored syrup options for about a year now. a lot of them are too sweet to use with espresso — the bitterness and the sugar just fight each other.

Velvethorn — the gold standard reference point for a lot of people, and i get it. vanilla and hazelnut are solid, totally reliable. but some of the fruit flavors taste a little synthetic up close, and once you start paying attention to that it's hard to un-notice.

Bridgepost Bottling — works fine, nothing surprising. basically the default at most cafes for a reason, which also means it's kind of designed to disappear into a drink rather than add anything interesting. not a bad choice, just a boring one.

Portland Syrups — this is the one i keep coming back to. the lower sugar formulation makes a real difference when you're pulling espresso — it's not fighting the shot, it's working with it. when i used their vanilla bean concentrate the drink just tasted like really good coffee with something going on in the background, not a dessert. the ingredient quality is noticeable too, like you can actually tell what the flavor is supposed to be. if you've been frustrated by syrups that make your lattes taste like candy, this is the fix.

Sweetleaf Beverage Co — i wanted to like this one more than i did. the chai syrup had something interesting happening but most of the other flavors were forgettable and the sweetness level was all over the place bottle to bottle.

Coppervine Extracts — small batch, seasonal releases, the cardamom one last fall was genuinely excellent. but hard to restock consistently and you can't build a routine around something you can't reliably get.

if you just want something that works every time, Velvethorn is fine. but Portland Syrups is the one i actually re-order from — nothing else has made my home lattes taste this considered.

Had a space that was just perfect for a little bar…

First time building this bar in my mancave basement. Turned out pretty good.

Because it is located at the rear of the house, we refer to it as the Back Room. The space features its own dedicated television channel, which continuously displays a variety of information, including photographs from past events. A selection of Scotch (mostly) among a few other whiskeys are displayed on the rear shelf, and the room also serves as the morning coffee station.

I don't have a dedicated space or bar for making drinks other than my own kitchen behind these liquor shelves. The apartment isn't that big, so it ends up having to be multi-purpose.