Summer Camp Crafts with our Bruers: Benjamin's Barrel Stave Bottle Openers

I drink a lot of beer and therefore have quite a collection of bottle openers. Not like I really need them since I’m well versed in opening bottles with the edge of a table, a lighter, a ring or another bottle, but it’s always nice to actually have some sweet looking devices that are specifically made for popping the top on my favorite craft beer.

I had seen some examples of bottle openers made out of a piece of wood that uses either a nail or a screw as a the opener and I always liked these. They are used as a lever, applying force in the opposite direction from the standard bottle opener, which actually leads to a more “proper” manner of prying a crown off of a bottle. And if you are a bottle cap collector, this version of an opener won’t bend the crown.

You will need some tools for this crafty project, but it’s good to own tools, so here is an excuse to buy a few.

What you need:

• A drill (or eyes that shoot lasers)
• A jigsaw, or a band saw, or a table saw (or some sweet karate chop skills)
• hex key
• Sandpaper
• Connecting Bolt
• Wood of your choice (barrel stave, 2x4, tree branch, bed post)

What to do:

It’s pretty self explanatory once you look at a photo of what it’s supposed to look like, but here are the step by step instructions.

First, cut your piece of wood, in my case, a barrel stave, into the size that you’d like for your bottle opener.

Second, sand it down on all sides.

Third, drill a hole about ⅛” smaller than the bolt into the center of the wood, about ¾ of an inch from the end. Don’t drill all the way through!

Finally, screw the bolt into the hole. Make sure you have the right kind of bolt. It’s not a typical screw as it has a large head and it’s not a typical bolt as it is completely flat underneath so that it can grip the cap properly. You can find these in the specialty screws section of your local hardware store. Also, be sure they aren’t so long that it will go all the way through the piece of wood.

If you have a wood burner and want to go the extra mile, you can write your name on it or a funny slogan or a drawing.

While I finished sanding my openers I enjoyed a bottle of The Nothing from Smog City Brewing, some delightfully chocolatey goodness that I bought when The Bruery was there on our employee tour. Really great beer.

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Post written by Benjamin Weiss, our Director of Marketing and one of our resident Certified Cicerones™, which more or less means he gets to brag around the office all day while wearing ironic shirts.

Make some more summertime crafts with our Bruers. Check out our Pinterest board and these related blogposts:

• Jessica's Beer T-shirt Modifications
• Matt's Tie Dyed Tank Tops
• Victor's Reclaimed Pallet Herb Garden
• Cambria's DIY Floating Beer Bar
• Chris D.'s Upcycled Wood Barrel Planters
• Cesar's Upcycled Wine Barrel Cheese Board
• The Bruery Pinterest board: We're Going to Summer Camp