PatrickBuild an Outdoor Draft Beer Bar
Updated: Aug 3
We turned our "indoor" kegerator into an outdoor draft beer bar! It's easy and fun to transform the kegerator you already have into a multi-function draft system.
Add new draft lines and run them outside to expand your "taproom" and let some light in.
If you want the full beer-garden/taproom experience for you and your friends, set up a Keg Punk station and connect it to any extra TV or monitor you have.
If you REALLY want to take your kegerator to the next level, check out our guide to improving a basic kegerator. Download for free!
Improve a Basic Kegerator v1
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Laying out a Design
We have a standard kegerator that can hold three corney kegs with three taps on the front.
The kegerator sits in a shed but we wanted to be able to serve beer to people outside.
We decided to leave the kegerator where it is in the shed and add three new draft lines that would be dedicated to the outside taps.
Top-Down View
Outside View
Placing the Kegerator
First, we had to decide where we wanted the taps and the bar.
In our case, the long side of the shed had enough room for the taps, bar, and space for people to stand.
On the inside of the shed, we have our kegerator in the corner near where the shanks will go through the wall.
PUTTING IN THE SHANKS
The thin sheet metal wall of the shed couldn't hold the shanks in place on its own, so we built a nice backboard with three shank holes for the outside.
Then we drilled matching holes in a simple board for the inside.
We ran the shanks through the inside board, then through the wall, then through the outside backboard and used the shank nuts to squeeze everything together in a nice sturdy hold.
RUNNING THE DRAFT LINES
We drilled three holes in the back side of the kegerator collar and ran the new draft lines out to the shanks.
The draft lines are only a few feet long but we added some simple insulation to help with foaming.
The picture below shows how the shanks are secured through the inside board, then through the wall, and finally out to the backboard.
SETTING UP THE TAPS
After running the draft lines, the taps were secured to the shanks and a drip tray added to the backboard.
To avoid a puddle of beer at the bartenders feet, we ran a tube from the underside of the drip tray into a waste bucket.
ADDING A DIGITAL TAP LIST SCREEN
As a finishing touch, we added a Keg Punk station and connected it to an old TV to display our tap list.
We mounted the Keg Punk touchscreen to the right of the taps so the bartender could easily manage taps and adjust the tap list screen.
This is a pretty cool upgrade for any draft bar or kegerator.
Building an outdoor draft beer bar is fun and easy.
The outdoor space allows you to invite more people to enjoy that hard-earned homebrew.
Manage your keg inventory and taproom from one place
Keg Punk helps breweries with inventory, taproom management, and analytics. It acts as a central hub for the entire team to seamlessly maintain an accurate inventory count while simultaneously generating unique analytical reports.
