Dining Room—Choices, choices
TAPS outlet, of course.
You should be able to pull out a selection of beers with dinner without going all the way to the kitchen. Vinotemp makes a 24 bottle glass-front refrigerator for your big-bottle delights ($229); or you can hold over two cases of 12 oz. bottles in the Avanti Tavern Master compact glass door refrigerator (www.compactappliance.com; $269).
Two great places for glassware. Crate & Barrel will get you all the standard stuff you need: pilsners, stemware, shaker pints, and so on (www.CrateandBarrel.com). For branded glassware, steins, and novelty items like beer boots, head to Straubs’ (www.straubs.net). One-stop beer container shopping.
The beer? Cover your bets with a selection of the best all-around food beers: dubbel, festbier, pilsner, and IPA: New Belgium Abbey, Old Dominion Octoberfest, Schell Pilsner, and Bear Republic Racer 5.
Den—The Beer Man Room
TAPS outlet, right on your bar. That’s right, you’ve got a bar!
You’ve got to have your music, whether it’s oompah lager-lifting tunes or Tom T. Hall’s classic “I Like Beer.” Get to your local Tweeter store (or www.tweeter.com), where you can grab a fine micro-component shelf system for under $500 or a full-house Bose Lifestyle wireless system for a lot more. The important thing is that the controls to the system are here in your den.
This is your home bar room. You can go pro in a beautiful English pub way at EnglishBars.com (about $3,000 plus shipping), or do it yourself with some very helpful planning assistance from BarPlan.com (7 full bar plans for under $30). Then get barstools at www.AllBarstools.com, an absolutely overwhelming selection of bar furniture.
You’ll need bar supplies. They’ve got some very good stuff at reasonable prices at your local Bed, Bath & Beyond, plus glassware galore; or you could go to www.HomeBarSupplys.com (yes, they know it’s spelled wrong) and get pro-level stuff.
KegWorks.com also has a wide selection of glassware, including full and half imperial pint nonic glasses. Stock up, then put those stemmed glasses in a sharp overhead rack like the pros do (KegWorks.com, $50 and up).
You’ve got the bar; this is the room for your Craigerator. Craig “Craigerator” Jones (www.craigerator.com) customizes classic refrigerators, and they must be seen to be believed. Figure on dropping at least 3 Gs on this, but you will be the envy of every beer guy you know.
Let’s get hairy: the beer for the Beer Man Room is Russian River Pliny the Elder. Rock me, Hops.
