laerck

Recipes 

Hey, this is my first post on here, have been brewing for about 8 months and have 7 brews with my 8th in the carboy (an American Wheat). Im looking to build a kegerator for cheap without resorting to cheap quality.
Right now my shopping list includes:

A Minifridge with hole already drilled: $75
5g reconditioned Corny Keg: $55
Used Co2 tank: $60
Regulator: $40
Air line: $12
Beer line: $14
Single Tap Beer Tower: $55

Total Price: $311, that including all shipping, except for the fridge which I will pick up.

This minifridge is only big enough to hold one keg unless later I decide to run the Co2 from outside the fridge, in which case 2 is the max. Since I am still relatively new to homebrewing I was hoping someone could correct me and let me know where I may get parts for cheaper, or if I am missing anything in this setup?

Pie_Man

Recipes 

By single tap tower, I suppose that includes the faucet and tower elbow shank piece and not just the tower itself. I've been looking online at places like beveragefactory.com. There's also a vendor section of the HBT forum which might provide good resources. What size co2 tank are you getting? $60 for a used 5# co2 tank seems high, they sell new ones cheaper than that on Amazon. Also, check the classifieds section of this site for deals and you local craigslist. I sometimes see people selling cornies on CL, or as part of a kegerator build. In fact, I've recently seen several kegerators on my local CL that came with the fridge, tanks, regulators, and kegs for less than $350.

Some general guidelines that I'm following with my upcoming kegerator build:
- I prefer stainless steel faucets and shanks over chrome. I don't like the idea of chrome plating ending up in my beer glass. To me, ss is worth the extra money.
- If the corny keg's o-rings haven't been replaced, I would buy a replacement o-ring kit.
- You're going to want a tube of keg lube to prevent any co2 leaks.
- You'll want a socket for the corny keg posts and a faucet wrench so you can dissemble your equipment for cleaning.

laerck

Recipes 

Thanks, since my first post Ive found a 4# Co2 tank for $25, Im trying to get my build to around $250 so this definitely helped.
The place that Im getting the keg from replaces the o-rings before shipping them so thats included in the price
Didnt even know about needing keg lube, will have to add that to the list.
The part im the least knowledgeable about is the tower itself (everything else is self explanatory), so for reference I was planning on buying this tower from ebay
So it appears that everything is included in this: tower, shank, faucet etc.
I however do not fully understand the proper way to secure the tower to the top of the fridge, have looked at a couple of DIYs for kegerators but they all seem to skim over this part.

Will hopefully have my build going along in the next two weeks, and hopefully get to enjoy it soon after that.

Pie_Man

Recipes 

You're welcome. By the way, welcome to the forum.

I've never heard of a 4# co2 tank before. I'm wondering if the person selling is mistaken, or it's just a weird tank. Do you have a place in your area that will fill co2 tanks, not swap, but actually fill onsite? I have an odd shaped 5# tank and Airgas and other places won't exchange it, so I have to drive a little further to a specialized fire extinguisher business that will actually fill the tank. You may want to look into that before purchasing.

laerck

Recipes 

No it is actually a 4# Co2 tank, its noticeably smaller then the regular 5#
And I do have a place in town that caters to bars, which will fill up your tank while you wait

Pie_Man

Recipes 

Ah cool. Careful with the steel tank if you're using it inside the fridge, http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/aluminum-v-steel-co2-tank-172001/.

laerck

Recipes 

Another question, if I decide in the next few days to go to a double tap tower, will I also need to get a regulator for two seperate lines? Or is there a way I can use just a single output regulator for two different cornys?

Pie_Man

Recipes 

One regulator would work with a manifold, something like this: http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/regulator/distributors/c411_aluminum_two_way_air_distributor.shtml.

This will keep both beers at the same pressure. I believe that having check valves in the distributor is important, but I'm no expert.

laerck

Recipes 

What about using something like this?

beaksnbeer

Recipes 

If you decide to use a single tower I have one that was used for 3 months while I help a friend build his 4keg keezer $35 shipped

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