Keezer

[BillBoost37]

Latest project is no more bottles or cans.

Saw this and loved how he did it.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=233023

Snagged a 7.1 Haier from Wally's
Bought a boat load of stuff off Amazon and Ebay

Stopped over a buddies place on Saturday. He's into woodworking to the point that he built his own oak stairs and is building cabinets for the kitchen. If I need woodworking help, I hit him up, if he needs car stuff...he's here.

Building a box


Dolly to attach wheels to .. gotta have a base


Later that night, laminate is on and here's the test fit


Being a freezer, you need to change up the temp regulation. Ebay $11. Cut the hole and mounted it. Blue tape is to plan the tap handles.


Got tap handle holes drilled (starting with two). Time to glue the box to the base (box is known as a collar)


Insulation is cut and in place. It fits tight enough not to need glue


Wired it up, reattached the lid. Here's to a successful start up


Too tired to mount the secondary regulators. Primary sits on co2 tank


Following that link at the top of the post, I got the stainless bars for the lid. They really add.


Current bad picture, beer is flowing


Was asked to detail out the costs/etc.
2 Perlick SS630 faucets, 4" SS shanks, SS connection/ nut, faucet handle, faucet cap. $140
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o02_s00
2 Kegco SS taps with SS pins (short throw in case of slim keg) $68
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o03_s00
Primary regulator off CO2 tank $49
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o01_s01
Secondary regulators (3 pack, changing from 4 pack, don't need if you run all the same pressure stuff) $115
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o00_s00
Fan for circulation $17
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o00_s00
Oetiker clamps (because screw clamps are for other folks) ~$30 could have been less, but I bought in bulk and have tons of them for the future. These clamps require a special tool to crimp, somehow I had the tool.
2 Beer line connector (from tap to hose) $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o00_s00
Faucet wrench $8
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o03_s00
2 SS pull bars short for top of lid $26
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o06_s01
SS pull bar long for top of lid $17
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o06_s00
Rubber mat for top of freezer lid to put glasses on $11
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o02_s00
Perlick growler filler hose $14
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...ilpage_o01_s00
Temperature controller $11
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131161944796...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
SS drip tray $26
http://www.ebay.com/itm/360855293520...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Haier 7.1 cuft freezer from walmart $190
20lb CO2 tanks full $100 off CL
Misc hoses and cleaning kit $100
Misc insulation/casters/laminate $100
Puts the total around $1,000

This could have been cheaper had I been able to find a decent used freezer, not spent $100 laminating the collar box, been able to find a 5lb co2 tank cheaper, had left off the top rails and a lot of extras. And I could have cheaped out on the faucets, taps and shanks with chromed (what everyone gets in a kegerator kit etc). I will be putting cider on tap and the acidity eats the chrome and tains the flavor of stuff from then on. Didn't need Perlick faucet, they are the best and they also stay the cleanest. I'll end up adding two more faucets as there's room and planning was done for them.

Here's an example
2 Faucet keg kit
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=sr_1_3&sr=8-3
Add on a CO2 tank, temperature control unit, a used freezer then say a 2x4 for the collar and you are done.

[GMR Badass]

I've been planning on doing something very similar for my basement bar area. I plan on having the converted freezer in the storage room that shares a wall with the back of the bar. I planned on going with 2 taps on the bar side.

[CrazyGuy03]

This and an ice machine is heaven

nice work so far !!

[Bio248]

you can't really leave things tapped for a super long time, it goes bad. that's the issue with this.

[HighOctaneRacing]

Things won't be tapped for a super long time. Trust me.

Sent from my LG G3

[Bio248]

super long time is a week.

[blueguy]

If it's tapped longer than 24 hours...then you're not dedicated enough.

[Bio248]

a keg contains about 150+ beers. you better be having a rager otherwise it's getting stank real fast.

unless you're buying pony kegs or something. and that's lame.

[BillBoost37]

This freezer isn't big enough for barrels. Needs to be pony to fit in there. Freezer is 15" front to back, limiting me to certain sizes. I'll be working from the pony/corny/soda kegs. ~50 beers per.

Resealed the regulators today as I thought there was a leak. Seems I might have misunderstood CO2 and temperature readings. I'm keeping a close eye on it now. Damn faucets appear to not be coming in until Monday (muthaF). Got the regulators mounted, mounted the rails to the lid, wired the fan into the temp controller, ran a couple of the gas hoses and one of the tap hoses, rewired the green light on the lower front to be on when the compressor/fan are running (the temp controller tells me when the unit has power so the way the light was wired was redundant). Got the heads up that one of the SS hose to tap pieces isn't on time, luckily I already had one.

Luckily I have all of those pieces already and that will let me get at least one keg rolling. Need a clean way to cut the insulation for the two tap faucets. I'm thinking a tomato paste can with a sharpened edge, then tap it through the insulation. Wish I had a hot knife/wire right now but no one stock them local.

Been learning a lot since I started putting this together.

Basically where it sits now, but I took the cardboard out of the bottom, tank is up on the hump and one of the taps has another hose hanging off it.


Dying on Fedex to deliver these faucets

[Bio248]

sweet.

i like this idea, but i also don't really care about the environment so i'm totally cool with cans and bottles stacking up in my recycling.

[BillBoost37]

here... there's a deposit fee on cans and bottles. You pay extra when you buy and are expected to return them. Hence you stack them up instead of put them out with the trash.

And FWIW kegs don't go bad that quickly. If they did...I wouldn't be able to do this and have it be worthwhile.

[RivMan]

Kegs are good for months on CO2, I keep beer on tap at all times, and it's typically 5-7 weeks on a keg.

-Rob

[Bio248]

i'm too cheap for CO2, heh.

[MrPoopyButthole]

Looks awesome Bill.

I wish I had a Jack's Abby keg refill place around here.

[MrPoopyButthole]

here... there's a deposit fee on cans and bottles. You pay extra when you buy and are expected to return them. Hence you stack them up instead of put them out with the trash.

And FWIW kegs don't go bad that quickly. If they did...I wouldn't be able to do this and have it be worthwhile.

Oh so you are just like NY.

[BillBoost37]

4 pack of regulators was leaking. It's shipping back and they aren't offering it anymore on amazon. Going for the three pack since I could t off the main and use that as the fourth. It's always something

[BillBoost37]

Updated first thread based on request

[MrPoopyButthole]

Good job Bill!

[BillBoost37]

Regulator issues are ridiculous.. the high end kegco three pack regulators will be heading back. Middle one worked great for one keg and puked. Running off of first one for second keg.

Ordered the MicroMatic top end from Beverage Factory on sale. Sure I'll go from $140 free shipping to $200 including shipping, but hell...if these are the best that's for me. I'm beyond sick of regulators after having three different sets that had issues.

Meanwhile the first 1/4 barrel of Steel Rail went in 10 days. On the second and ordered a blueberry ale from SeaDog. Picked up a corny keg setup (homebrew) and will install that this week. Aiming to brew with a buddy in a couple of weeks.

[BillBoost37]

Update:

Keezer feels too small since it's 15 inches front to back and can't fit a standard 1/4 barrel. While that's not a real worry, it would be nice to put something cheap and simple on for the summer. Looking at upgrading freezer and buddy is looking at buying my current one. Also wife got me two new corny kegs for fathers day (we have pets lol).

Now it's time to brew with a couple of buddies and see if I like it enough to buy all that crap.