2015 Will be the year of Brewing and a Kegerator!

Hello All

After a couple year hiatus from brewing beer (I have a list a mile long of excuses that prevented me from brewing) I am getting back at to it in 2015. Along with brewing beer I am going to build a kegerator!

I picked up a Danby compact refrigerator (DAR440) on craigslist the other day. Poor college kid had no idea what he had. It was essentially brand new and I got it for a steal. I want my kegerator to have a 2 tap tower. I have looked at a bunch of conversion kits online and none of them seem to be the complete package for what I am looking for. I essentially would like to upgrade the tower to be stainless and include all stainless Perlick Faucets. I also want to upgrade the regulator to be able to control the pressure in both kegs to keep one under pressure to poor while carbonating the other. So since I seemingly can't purchase a kit "off the shelf" I would like to build a parts list that I can either shop around online with or slap on my LHBS and have them fulfill the order.

So I have some questions to aid me in my parts list:

How many kegs will a 5lb CO2 tank last for? Do any of y'all who have 5lb tanks wish you had a larger one?

MY LHBS sells refurbished corny kegs, I assume I need to know what they have in inventory before identifying which kind of tap I need (pin lock vs. ball lock)

I think that I will probably want to get a tap that will fit a commercial 1/6th keg. My understanding is the HB taps will not work on a 1/6th commercial keg? True? If so what kind of tap do I need?

I think I want to go with quick disconnects on the lines? Good idea?

What's the general conclusion on the best inside diameter of the tubing? 3/16"

Is the gas line and beer line made up of the same tubing or are they different types of tubing. Length of each?

Has anyone successfully wired in a thermostatic switch to control the tower cooling fan so it is not running 24hrs/day?

Eventually I am going to relocate the tower to a bar top once I build the bar in my basement in a year or so. Is there anything that I need to consider? Just extend the pipe insulation from the fridge to the relocated tower?

Sorry for the long post and all the questions. I like to jump into a project with both feet and not look back.

Thanks in advance!

Toben

Just bumping this to the top, can anyone help me out?

Thanks,

Goon said:

How many kegs will a 5lb CO2 tank last for? Do any of y'all who have 5lb tanks wish you had a larger one?

Click to expand...

Do you want the tank to live inside the fridge or outside? If inside, that is the largest you can reasonably have with the refrigerator you have purchased. I have mine inside, it makes for a cleaner look. Downside is that sometimes moisture an case problems with the regulator(s) and the liquid stays cold, rendering the gauge to read "full" until the very end, when it goes "empty" (think more like "has gas" to "no gas" as the reading, as opposed to "x psi")

Goon said:

MY LHBS sells refurbished corny kegs, I assume I need to know what they have in inventory before identifying which kind of tap I need (pin lock vs. ball lock)

Click to expand...

Refurb are great, and ball lock is the norm. But, your decision needs to be based on the fridge you have. Some Darby models, like my own, will only fit two "pepsi" style kegs (true ball lock) which are taller and more slender without a good amount of modification. Converted pin lock to ball lock kegs ("coke" kegs) are shorter and wider. I have two ball lock tall kegs in mine with a 5# CO2 tank and regulater, and there is not much room for anything else.

Goon said:

I think that I will probably want to get a tap that will fit a commercial 1/6th keg. My understanding is the HB taps will not work on a 1/6th commercial keg? True? If so what kind of tap do I need?

Click to expand...

Ball lock and pin lock are the connector styles, and most home brewers use one of these. "Commercial" kegs would be a Sanke connection. You can buy adapters to switch between (I think).

Goon said:

I think I want to go with quick disconnects on the lines? Good idea?

Click to expand...

I do not think so, but that is your call. The more fittings you put in the liquid lines, the more turbulence can be created, and thus more foam. Unless there is a compelling reason, I would not. Also, for both liquid and air lines, more connections mean more opportunities for leaks.

EDIT: I just reread your question, are you talking about the QDs for the line to keg connection? If so, then the answer is yes, it is the only way to go. One for liquid (usually black) and one for gas (usually gray).

Goon said:

What's the general conclusion on the best inside diameter of the tubing? 3/16"

Click to expand...

That is the most common, and most people use 10 feet as a start, but that can go up or down depending on your system and style of beer. There is a chart or calculator floating around this forum that someone may chime in with.

Goon said:

Is the gas line and beer line made up of the same tubing or are they different types of tubing. Length of each?

Click to expand...

I believe so, as they are both vinyl tubing, but the air hose is usually 5/16 and rated for the intended use (gas pressure). Most people use red or blue colored hose for the gas to make identification easier. The length depends on your system, but 3 feet or so, per section/connection, would probably be sufficient.

Goon said:

Has anyone successfully wired in a thermostatic switch to control the tower cooling fan so it is not running 24hrs/day?

Click to expand...

Are you installing a tower cooling fan? Or are you taking about the refrigerator itself? Either way, the answer is yes, but the way to go about it would be different, at least in my opinion.

Goon said:

Eventually I am going to relocate the tower to a bar top once I build the bar in my basement in a year or so. Is there anything that I need to consider? Just extend the pipe insulation from the fridge to the relocated tower?

Click to expand...

This is difficult to answer for me without seeing the plans for the new bar, but in general, your fridge will now have a hole in the top. You would have to make sure that there is some insulation for the relocated lines to allow the fridge to run efficiently. You may opt to just buy a small chest freezer, it would probably be a cleaner installation for a minimal cost.


Best of luck! Post any more questions you have.

YeastMode said:

Do you want the tank to live inside the fridge or outside? If inside, that is the largest you can reasonably have with the refrigerator you have purchased. I have mine inside, it makes for a cleaner look. Downside is that sometimes moisture an case problems with the regulator(s) and the liquid stays cold, rendering the gauge to read "full" until the very end, when it goes "empty" (think more like "has gas" to "no gas" as the reading, as opposed to "x psi")

Click to expand...

My question was more based on how often a 5lb cannister has to be recharged. I will carbonation and keeping the kegs under pressure off the same cannister. My future bar will be able to accommodate the 20lb cannister if the 5lb has to be changed out often. Thoughts?

YeastMode said:

Refurb are great, and ball lock is the norm. But, your decision needs to be based on the fridge you have. Some Darby models, like my own, will only fit two "pepsi" style kegs (true ball lock) which are taller and more slender without a good amount of modification. Converted pin lock to ball lock kegs ("coke" kegs) are shorter and wider. I have two ball lock tall kegs in mine with a 5# CO2 tank and regulater, and there is not much room for anything else.

Click to expand...

Thanks, great information!

YeastMode said:

Ball lock and pin lock are the connector styles, and most home brewers use one of these. "Commercial" kegs would be a Sanke connection. You can buy adapters to switch between (I think).

Click to expand...

Thanks, I will see, hopefully this weekend, what my lhbs has in stock and go from there.

YeastMode said:

I do not think so, but that is your call. The more fittings you put in the liquid lines, the more turbulence can be created, and thus more foam. Unless there is a compelling reason, I would not. Also, for both liquid and air lines, more connections mean more opportunities for leaks.

EDIT: I just reread your question, are you talking about the QDs for the line to keg connection? If so, then the answer is yes, it is the only way to go. One for liquid (usually black) and one for gas (usually gray).

Click to expand...

Thanks!

YeastMode said:

That is the most common, and most people use 10 feet as a start, but that can go up or down depending on your system and style of beer. There is a chart or calculator floating around this forum that someone may chime in with.

Click to expand...

I have seen the link to the calculation website. A lot of people on here seem to agree that 10' of beer line is about right.

YeastMode said:

I believe so, as they are both vinyl tubing, but the air hose is usually 5/16 and rated for the intended use (gas pressure). Most people use red or blue colored hose for the gas to make identification easier. The length depends on your system, but 3 feet or so, per section/connection, would probably be sufficient.

Click to expand...

Thanks, the length I guess will be determined by whether or not I go with the Co2 tank inside or outside the fridge

YeastMode said:

Are you installing a tower cooling fan? Or are you taking about the refrigerator itself? Either way, the answer is yes, but the way to go about it would be different, at least in my opinion.

Click to expand...

I will likely install a cooler fan and the thermostatic control would control it and not the fridge. I just don't want to waste electricity and have the fan burn out from over use that may not be necessary.

YeastMode said:

This is difficult to answer for me without seeing the plans for the new bar, but in general, your fridge will now have a hole in the top. You would have to make sure that there is some insulation for the relocated lines to allow the fridge to run efficiently. You may opt to just buy a small chest freezer, it would probably be a cleaner installation for a minimal cost.

Click to expand...

I will probably use a piece of 3" PVC pipe to extend straight up from the hole in fridge to the hole in counter. I would also extend the insulation from the tower into the pipe to the fridge as well.

YeastMode said:

Best of luck! Post any more questions you have.

Click to expand...

Will do!

:d

I am not sure how many kegs can be carbed and served from one tank, as my current set up uses one tank to cold crash and carb, and the tank in my kegerator just "serves". I think I read someone that estimated around 10 kegs, but it is going to depend on many factors, such as temperature, carbonation level, line length, leaks, purge amount, etc. I will say, however, that with my two 5# tanks, i do not seem to be running to get them filled very often. I think I have carbed and served around 8 or 9 kegs and I am still not empty. If I had a bar, I would try to accommodate a 20# for convenience, but I would not deem it necessary for a two faucet system.

As for the fan cooling tower, I found that I did not need it. I put a 1" copper pipe in the top that goes into the tower and the lines seem to stay cool enough. I did, however, find my fridge to cycle quite a bit, so I hooked up a Johnson A419 and it made a significant improvement.

So you have an extra regulator and tank to carbonate for new batches? I like that idea. My bar area will have an accessible full size fridge to cold crash additional batches before I get a chance to kick the tapped kegs. I have 2 brewing setups so I can produce quite a bit of beer in a short amount of time.

Yep. It works well. I have a single regulator and 5# tank with a temp controlled chest freezer (fermentation chamber) in my garage, and a kegerator in my house with a single regulator and 5# tank inside.

It keeps everything in the house simple, just take out an empty and put in a full, no messing with the regulator pressure. For my carbing tank, I may add a simple T fitting so that I can carb two beers at once, but it has not been an issue so far. I usually just keg the first beer, burst carb for 3 days, and then keg the second. Plus, whenever I want to take a keg to a party or tailgate, I grab the tank and reg from my garage and don't have to disassemble the tank and reg from the kegerator, which I have neatly organized and coiled.

I use a 5 lb tank on a 5 keg kegerator. I can usually carbonate and serve around 10 (sometimes more) from a refill. If I was starting over, I would go with the 10 lb tank.

Thanks for the info guys, I think that I will go with 2 5lb tanks as mentioned above. Seems like a logical setup to easily carb and drink multiple kegs.

Goon said:

Thanks for the info guys, I think that I will go with 2 5lb tanks as mentioned above. Seems like a logical setup to easily carb and drink multiple kegs.

Click to expand...

Another benefit of having two 5# kegs is that if you have a leak from a keg or a line, you are only going to empty a 5# tank. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen from time to time.