Weekend Project - Build a keezer

[Uppsala9496]

Weekend project for me is to build a keezer and get the pale ale and stout I have into kegs.

Freezer and kegs were purchased last weekend. Temperature controller showed up yesterday and the c02 cylinder and keg lines/faucets should show up Saturday.

Anyone ever build a fridge or freezer for kegs of homebrew?
I'll be going with about a 10" collar so that I can fit 5 kegs in the freezer if I want. It holds 3 right now with no collar. Adding a taller collar will allow me to squeeze 2 more in there if I want. Would like to eventually get some nitrogen for stouts.

Goal is to have this done this weekend so that I can enjoy it over the thanksgiving weekend when I am stuck putting up all of the Christmas decorations (lights, tree, various crap my wife has that she insists get set up throughout the house).

What I have failed to mention to my wife is the total cost of this thing. She saw kegerators are about $370 for a 2 tap system. I showed her I could get a freezer at Home Depot for $160 and 2 lines of keg equipment for $140. She told me to go for it since it's cheaper and the project will keep me occupied.

Failed to mention that it is $50 per keg (bought 4), $65 for a co2 cylinder, $20 for a temperature controller, and then whatever the wood, screws, varnish and chalkboard paint is going to set me back.
Oh and the extension cord, socket and box for the controller.

All told I am probably going to be about $650 in for this thing. Paid cash so the wife won't ever know exactly what things cost. Early birthday/christmas gift to myself.

 

[sdifox]

thought you were supposed to use fridge, not freezer?

and you must be new at this marriage thing. She will find out what it really cost :biggrin:

 

[destrekor]

What size kegs are we talking here?


Also, is the freezer modified to not entirely FREEZE? I'm seeing this keezer thing quite frequently with 7.0 cubic ft. chest freezers and similar when searching the interwebs... I imagine they aren't running at the full freezer temperature?

Also, I was under the impression of full size kegs, like, barrels, and fitting five in a freezer would be an epic freezer. I'm assuming these are like the projects I'm seeing right now, which are using Cornelius Kegs.
Which I guess are common in the home-brew world. hmm


One of these days, mostly when I have the space, time, and money to dedicate to the hobby, I am definitely getting into homebrew. Love the concept, absolutely love beer, and I enjoy the science behind it all and imagine I'd enjoy the steps.

 

[alkemyst]

I am so cool beer just chills in my hand.

 

[darkswordsman17]

What size kegs are we talking here?


Also, is the freezer modified to not entirely FREEZE? I'm seeing this keezer thing quite frequently with 7.0 cubic ft. chest freezers and similar when searching the interwebs... I imagine they aren't running at the full freezer temperature?

Also, I was under the impression of full size kegs, like, barrels, and fitting five in a freezer would be an epic freezer. I'm assuming these are like the projects I'm seeing right now, which are using Cornelius Kegs.
Which I guess are common in the home-brew world. hmm


One of these days, mostly when I have the space, time, and money to dedicate to the hobby, I am definitely getting into homebrew. Love the concept, absolutely love beer, and I enjoy the science behind it all and imagine I'd enjoy the steps.

D'oh I can't read for shit...

I think he intends to put in 2 kegs at a time, and then have 2 on standby so it'll always have some on tap. I was going to say, I think homebrewing would be more interesting use of the money, but I think he might have already done that. Still seems a bit excessive unless he has his own personal bar thing and sells the beer he makes to friends for cheap (or can float the cost of giving it away to friends for free).

Kegerators are one of those things that seems awesome but in reality just don't end up being all that great. Obviously there's some factors that come into play, but for the cost and no more than they actually use it, plus the pain in the ass it becomes when you need to move. Its kinda like aquariums or pool tables. They're great to have, but unless you're all about it they don't seem to be worth it.

 

[destrekor]

D'oh I can't read for shit...

I think he intends to put in 2 kegs at a time, and then have 2 on standby so it'll always have some on tap. I was going to say, I think homebrewing would be more interesting use of the money, but I think he might have already done that. Still seems a bit excessive unless he has his own personal bar thing and sells the beer he makes to friends for cheap (or can float the cost of giving it away to friends for free).

Kegerators are one of those things that seems awesome but in reality just don't end up being all that great. Obviously there's some factors that come into play, but for the cost and no more than they actually use it, plus the pain in the ass it becomes when you need to move. Its kinda like aquariums or pool tables. They're great to have, but unless you're all about it they don't seem to be worth it.

I dunno - I'd immediately see the value in a kegerator if I home-brewed. I'd want to brew in larger batches, and would rather bottle less of it, keg more of it. If I could have all my beer on tap, I would. Bottles and cans are convenient, sure, but fresh out of a keg so much better. 🙂
And most of my drinking is going to be at home - I'd rather save bottles to be entirely for taking with me to a buddy's or something (or gift-giving). Since I'm at home, if a kegerator is in a remotely convenient place, it isn't that big of deal to go to it for a refill instead of reaching for a new bottle in a fridge.

And let's face it - when I get into brewing, if I went bottles-only or at least had a lot of bottles, I'd want a separate beer fridge. That would likely be in the same location I'd put a kegerator, so walking to that spot is the same either way.

 

[DesiPower]

ttiwwp

 

[darkswordsman17]

I dunno - I'd immediately see the value in a kegerator if I home-brewed. I'd want to brew in larger batches, and would rather bottle less of it, keg more of it. If I could have all my beer on tap, I would. Bottles and cans are convenient, sure, but fresh out of a keg so much better. 🙂
And most of my drinking is going to be at home - I'd rather save bottles to be entirely for taking with me to a buddy's or something (or gift-giving). Since I'm at home, if a kegerator is in a remotely convenient place, it isn't that big of deal to go to it for a refill instead of reaching for a new bottle in a fridge.

And let's face it - when I get into brewing, if I went bottles-only or at least had a lot of bottles, I'd want a separate beer fridge. That would likely be in the same location I'd put a kegerator, so walking to that spot is the same either way.

Oh absolutely I think there's factors that would make it a lot more worth it (and the scenario you're talking about and I have a hunch applies to the OP is a great example of when it would), but most people I know that get them it really doesn't make sense (like in college they sound like a great idea but really aren't). For many its one of those deals where the best one is the one your friend/relative has that you can borrow when you need to.

 

[TonyG]

Kegging is the way to go for homebrew, though you will quickly find that 2 taps is not enough. I have a 3 tap setup, and definitely wish I had a couple more. When you get tired of the cheap chrome faucets sticking, look into the perlick 525 series, not cheap, but they are worth every penny. Also, did you get a gas manifold for the dual kegs, or are you planning on coming out of the regulator to "T" hose barb?
I just added a triple tap tower to a ready made kegerator that happened to fit 3 corny kegs.

 

[ControlD]

All told I am probably going to be about $650 in for this thing. Paid cash so the wife won't ever know exactly what things cost. Early birthday/christmas gift to myself.

That's why I still bottle mine. One of these days I want to build a keezer as well, but there is always some other piece of equipment that comes first. Now that I am doing all grain, I am hoping to get a decent crusher for Christmas.

 

[Crusty]

What kind of faucets did you get? Are you planning on carbonating your kegs with your CO2 or are you going to keg condition in the same way you would with bottles?

I have been kegging my beers since batch 1. Started off with just 2 kegs... now I've got 8 kegs and all of them have beer currently. I too have a keezer, but it's still just the chest freezer with my kegs in it. I've got 3 beers waiting for kegs too...

1x Russian Imperial Stout
2x Oatmeal Stout
1x Red IPA
1x American IPA
1x Kolsch
1x Lemongrass Witbier
1x Nut Brown Ale

 

[Scarpozzi]

I built one a few years ago.

1. Try to find some Perlick 425SS faucets. The new Perls are one piece and harder to clean.
2. I used a 7cu ft GE freezer. I can fit (barely) 4 kegs in this setup. I only drilled holes for 2 faucets...this is my preference. I wanted a party setup and didn't want blanks for confusion. I can have 20 gallons on tap (more if I bring my second kegerator online). With only 2 taps, I'm able to make party guests drink through a keg before I tap a new one....logistics so I don't have 4 partially empty kegs.

3. Order beer hoses from a beverage supply place...they simply taste better and are rated for food grade use.

4. Make sure you get check valves on all your gas lines to help keep beer from going back into your CO2 system. I try to purge my tanks before I hook them up to make sure the gas only flows into the tank and not back out the gas line in foam form.

5. Buy weather stripping to go between the collar and the top of the fridge. I used metal reinforcement and screws to secure the wooden collar to the freezer in the back where the old hinges used to screw in. I caulked the front/sides/back to seal it up and make it as air tight as possible. Then I reattached the hinges to the wood via wood screws.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By_m3eJnSuAJT3E2LUEzbjRXT0E/edit?usp=sharing

Another note about my setup. I went to Northern Tool supply and bought a furniture mover for $15-20 and simply put my kegerator on that. I have a double tap grate/drain that will go under my taps, but when throwing parties, I just put a 5 gallon paint bucket from Home Depot or Lowes under the taps. I put them close enough together that 1 bucket covers both. When partying, foam is sometimes and issue and it's nice just to let the taps run for 30 seconds to a minute to clear the lines after switching to a new keg..

Another note about the CO2 tank. I bought a 10lb tank from my local gas distributor. For refilling, it's cheaper to buy the largest cylinder you can... I have a local gas distributor here that doesn't fill tanks, they just do an exchange... So I actually paid them for a tank-prefilled. From there, any time I need it refilled, I simply take it down and swap it out for $22 and it takes 2 minutes... One note.... I have a double guage on my tank that tells me when to order gas. As I keep it inside the Kegerator, it doesn't read the same as it would at room temp. (gas changes at different temps). Read your cylinder for the empty weight. It's stamped on the cylinder at the top....then throw it on a bathroom scale when you think it's low.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Just escaped conference call hell.

Going to use the 5 gallon cornelius kegs. Have a 6.8 cuft freezer that holds 3 with no collar. Building the collar allows me to run my faucets through the wood and put 2 more corny kegs on the compressor hump.

Simple temperature controller with probe will shut the freezer off at min temp and run it when it exceeds the set zone. I'm looking at 41°F to 44°F most likely.

Oh, and I've been married 8 years, and with the wife 11. I've been saving cash the last few months so it isn't as noticeable. $50 here, $20 there...

 

[Uppsala9496]

What kind of faucets did you get? Are you planning on carbonating your kegs with your CO2 or are you going to keg condition in the same way you would with bottles?

I have been kegging my beers since batch 1. Started off with just 2 kegs... now I've got 8 kegs and all of them have beer currently. I too have a keezer, but it's still just the chest freezer with my kegs in it. I've got 3 beers waiting for kegs too...

1x Russian Imperial Stout
2x Oatmeal Stout
1x Red IPA
1x American IPA
1x Kolsch
1x Lemongrass Witbier
1x Nut Brown Ale

Went with perlick 525's. Carbonating with CO2.
Pale Ale and Stout getting kegged tomorrow and starting a golden ale Sunday. Going to ferment that one at 60° with WLP001 yeast. Cold, but with a good starter it should produce a lager tasting beer without the hassle and patience of a lager (and if it doesn't the experiment failed and I'm only out time and $30 for the ingredients). Don't know unless you try.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Simple temperature controller with probe will shut the freezer off at min temp and run it when it exceeds the set zone. I'm looking at 41°F to 44°F most likely.

If you aren't stockpiling brew, it's nice to be able to turn it up to 55 degrees sometimes too to lager beer and cold crash it...

A couple of things I've found.....beer hoses often don't get as cold in the collar area because there's no cirulating fan in chest freezer. They work by making the bottom and sides cold.

You need to watch where you place the temp probe... If it touches the sides, your beer will be too warm. I typically run mine at 36-38 degrees. This is also because cold beer is far easier to force carb.....CO2 desolves into the liquid much easier the colder you get your beer.

I'm going to either outfit a small fan into my setup and power it somehow through my thermostat circuit or possibly manufacture some kind of hose carrier/thermal transfer device for my beer lines to keep the beer between the keg and faucets as cold as I can. If these end up being too cold, you'll have condensation form on your faucets outside....so your kegerator will always have a puddle in front of it. If they're too warm, your first beer will always be 50% or more foam. It's a problem that most home-made kegerators have unless you live up north and keep it in a cellar or garage that's typically below 50 degrees anyway.

 

[Uppsala9496]

I'm looking to power one of the many, many 120mm fans I have laying around through the temp controller. Picked up the STC-1000 off amazon for under $18.

Need to figure out how to wire it with the fan where the fan only goes on when the temp controller turns on the freezer compressor (or should I do it as an always on?).

 

[Codewiz]

Yep, I built mine a couple of years ago.......

The biggest thing you need to do is make sure you have an AIRTIGHT seal between the collar and the freezer. Otherwise you will get mold going in there. I had that issue originally. Additionally, I used expanding foam insulation everywhere there was a joint.

Something else you probably havne't thought about but you need to regularly clean your beer lines.

I would recommend checking out reddit.com/r/homebrewing because there are TONS of pictures of people's keezer builds.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Thanks. I'll check it out tonight and come up with my finalized plan before the build kicks off tomorrow.

 

[Crusty]

I would highly recommend using MFL fittings instead of barbed fittings for all of your lines. It makes changing the lines out for cleaning and general maintenance so much easier.

I use a dual-output regulator on my CO2 tank that I keep one side at 30PSI for force carbing and bottle purging and the other at serving pressure that is hooked into a manifold to distribute the CO2 to the kegs.