Buffalo Brew Fab centers business on keg products

Fabricating keg urinals started out as a small project for Brandon Farrell of Buffalo Brew Fab, but now it’s the foundation of his shop. Images: Buffalo Brew Fab

In a world where plenty of young men consider two-by-fours stacked on cinder blocks a functional piece of furniture and an old dorm fridge as an acceptable side table next to a recliner, we can’t be surprised that somewhere at sometime someone inquired about making a table out of a used keg.

However, the follow-up question might leave you scratching your head: “Hey, can we make a urinal out of a keg?”

Brandon Farrell, owner of Buffalo Brew Fab, found himself in that exact situation. He had spent about 20 years honing his craft as a welder/fabricator working for a couple of companies in the area when he finally struck off on his own around 2018. At that time, he was creating keg tables for customers and doing sign work for local businesses. He came across a keg urinal on the internet one day and that caught his attention. Creating a urinal out of the temporary storage device used to transport the mind-numbing nectar that forces the drinker to make routine visits to the restroom was almost poetic.

But this was not a simple chop and assembly job. Being a fabricator, Farrell wanted to do the product development right.

“I just sort started figuring out how to work it,” he said. “I built this thing six different times until the product is where it is now.”

Farrell said he uses new kegs for each of these applications. The opening is cut with an angle grinder and a cutoff disk. A steady hand is needed to cut through the 16-ga. stainless steel, and that has come with experience.

“You’re trying to cut a groove out with a flat disk, which is kind of tough sometimes,” Farrell said. “You just have to make sure you hit that angle right so it’s not just square.”

The edges are then sanded down, and a frame guard is applied over that. In addition to the front, a hole also is cut at the bottom of the keg for the drain.

Not too much welding is required. The hanging brackets are affixed to the keg, and a fake bottom plate also is put in place inside the urinal.

The bottom plate was a byproduct of Farrell’s original R&D. The plate acts as a splash guard, evenly dispersing the incoming liquid waste and allowing it to flow toward the back where it makes its way to the drain. Those that are hawking competing urinals made of kegs on special-interest websites often lack this sort of design feature, according to Farrell, which can leave users a little wet and a lot frustrated.

Keg urinals fabricated by Buffalo Brew Fab have become a big hit for the company. Images: Buffalo Brew Fab

Buffalo Brew Fab’s work has caught the attention of a lot of people, and the company has shipped product all over the U.S. One of the more high-profile installations in recent months was providing keg-related furniture for a new beer garden at Rogers Centre, the home field of the Toronto Blue Jays. Farrell said he and his four workers shipped out keg products in the powder-coated colors of the Blue Jays—red, blue, and black.

All of the keg fabrications have provided a nice foundation on which Buffalo Brew Fab has been able to slowly build the business. In addition to that work, the company fabricates signs for home décor and takes on contract fabricating work, such as a repair work for a conveyor line or building a new gas panel for a local manufacturer.

“I would say that the keg stuff is still the bread and butter that keeps the doors open and the workers busy, and that allows us to take on other projects that come about,” he said.

He’d love to see some of his keg-related products get picked up by a national retailer. But until that happens, he’ll keep serving the home decorating whims of the young and single North American male, with whom HGTV has yet to truly connect.

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