New Rolling Bar Prototypes Come Equipped With Schweiss Hydraulic Doors

Fairfax, MN - The Budweiser Clydesdales have been known to pull a few kegs of beer in their day. Fast forward to the 21st Century and TurboTap USA and its sister company, Bar Pods USA, have introduced a new way to transport the King of Beers—or any other adult beverage— to large events where people gather. Just as importantly, they provide the means to quickly and efficiently serve it.

Debuting in 2014 at the Nightclub and Bar Convention in Las Vegas, NV, Bar Pods are all-inclusive, velocity-service, waste-reducing concession bars for beer, wine, and/or mixed drinks on tap. The units are both mobile and customizable. They come equipped with the TurboTap, a patented retrofit draft-beer-dispensing device made from high-grade stainless steel that slips over the end of a standard U.S. beer faucet. Many of these pods will likely come outfitted with one other important item—a smooth-operating, whisper-quiet hydraulic door from Schweiss Doors.

The Bar Pods design is still evolving but the latest iteration—ready for market—includes a 23.1 ft. x 8.10 ft. side-mounted Schweiss container door. It is operated by a compact, mount-anywhere Schweiss hydraulic pump. In the closed position the door becomes the pod side, readying the unit for travel or downtime. When open, the single-piece door acts as a shade canopy for customers bellying up to the bar.

“It is an amazing door. I would say that it has lived up to everything we imagined plus more,” said Terry Oneil, General Manager for TurboTaps and Bar Pods. When asked what he liked best about the product he said: “5,000 pounds of door opening effortlessly.”  He also liked that it doubled as a shade canopy when open. Oneil ranked the integration of the Schweiss Door into the primary Beer Pod design as one of his favorite improvements.

Click to see the Schweiss Hydraulic Container Door in action

Different door styles are available, but Oneil said the hydraulic door is the company's preference. Clients who buy them, however, can decide on the door style of their liking.

Bar Pods LLC currently has two units for display purposes but plans to build as many as they can sell in the upcoming years — fleet sales are their goal. They have offered rental units, but their business model is geared toward sales.

Bar Pods are steel-framed structures that can be custom built on wheels or provided with fork holes that would allow them to be lifted onto a flatbed trailer. They have a self-leveling system for use in any location. Standard Bar Pod sizes are 8’6” x 12’ or 24’ x 12’. Any variation on the standard models is an option. Bar Pods have R45-grade, quadruple-fan-cooled walk-in coolers. The cooler in the larger pod can hold up to 50 half-barrel (15.5 gallon) kegs. Walk-ins include self-closing doors that can be opened from the inside. Auto-keg switchers will automatically go to the next keg when the beer runs out.

The “Mixed Drink System” has free-flow, high-speed liquor and mixer guns that allow drinks to be made in three seconds. The auto-switching bottle system detects when a bottle is running empty and switches to the next bottle.

Wine System Bar Pods have a bi-level, divided walk-in cooler for proper temperature storage of red and white wines, fast pouring free-flow tap delivery systems and large wine keg capacity.

Bar Pods are available with digital heat and AC climate control, windscreens, internal lighting, programmable POS systems, 1,600 capacity cup dispensers, hot water hand washing sink, abundant under-counter storage spaces, independent service entrance door, electric extending shade awning, roll down security windows and ice machine. They can also include security video monitoring systems and much more.

For marketing capabilities, all exterior walls, select interior walls and shade awnings of Bar Pods can be wrapped with sponsor logos. Flat Screen TV’s and DVD players can run constant product videos.

Though perhaps the most high-profile, the Bar Pods container application is not a one-off proposition for the Minnesota-based hydraulic and bifold door manufacturer. Mike Schweiss, founder and president of Schweiss Doors, had recognized the upside potential in that niche market even before the Bar Pods order came in and has built both containers and container doors for a number of customers.

“Schweiss Doors offers a container door kit, making it very easy for the customer to install,” said Mike Schweiss, President of Schweiss Doors. “We sell thousands of doors for all applications ranging from hangar doors to doors for agriculture, commercial, industrial and residential uses that our customers often install themselves all over the world. This door is no different, only that the size is smaller, which actually makes it easier to install with our step-by-step instructions.

"We want to go up and beyond Bar Pods' first request and visit their factory in Las Vegas to see how we can aid them in installing Schweiss container doors, so they feel real comfortable with it.”

About Schweiss Doors

Schweiss Doors is the premier manufacturer of hydraulic and bifold liftstrap doors. Doors are custom made to any size for any type of new or existing building for architects and builders determined to do amazing things with their buildings, including the doors. Schweiss also offers a cable to liftstrap conversion package. To learn more, visit www.bifold.com or www.schweisshydraulicdoors.com.

And to learn about Schweiss' new Build Your Own Door Kit, which gives customers the plans and essential components to build their own Schweiss Doors, visit  www.bifold.com/build-your-own-door.php.