Cacaman's Spring Break Cheap Keezer!

Hello! My name is Alex. I am a 21 year old college kid. Unlike any college kid who went to the beach, or went on vacation, I decided to make a keezer this spring break (plan for the future right?)! However, just like any college kid, I am broke, and a had a budget of around $400...more or less what an out of town trip would have costed me. I decided to follow brewit2it's cheapest keezer build found here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheapest-new-2-keg-keezer-224848/

I got additional ideas from:

Rick 500's Black Frigidaire
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/converting-frigidaire-7-2-cu-ft-chest-freezer-162225/

Heyjaffy's "my version of Brewit2it's "Cheapest New 2 Keg Keezer"
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-version-brewit2its-cheapest-new-2-keg-keezer-229122/

And MysticPhantom's "Keezer with aluminum collar"
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/keezer-aluminum-collar-229956/

...and of course some creativity from my end.

Before starting: The first thing I did was order the ranco temperature controller. I was debating between a johnson and ranco. I ended up going with the ranco because I found one at around $50 not pre-wired. Wiring was not really a challenge, I just followed this guide, and it worked just fine:
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?644-Ranco-ETC-111000-000-120V-Wiring-Guide

The second thing was to buying the freezer. I decided to go with the Sam's 5.0' freezer, costed about $140.





Day 1: I used a 2x3 stud for the collar. Brewit2it cut his sides with flat corners, I decided to cut at 45 degree angles for a cleaner finish given the fact my dad has an electric saw.





Tested, and seems to fit fine to make a collar.



Next step was to drill holes. The closest size I had for my shanks, was a 1" drill bit, and it turned out just fine.

Day 2: The next day, I applied a couple of coats of red oak wood stain. I like Rick500's finished look, so I decided to pick that color. Here are the first and final coats.





Day 3: On this day I attached the already stained collar using L-brackets on the inside corners. You can see here how it sat on the freezer:



Note: Some of the corners did not seal right due to imperfection in my cutting. I used this product called "Liquid Nails" to seal the outside corners of the collar, and stained them with wood stain. It doesn't look perfect, but it looks much better than having some of those corners unsealed. You may be able to notice this at the end.

Day 4: I painted the freezer using Rust-o-leum appliance epoxy. It took 2 cans, but worked out great. Good clean factory-like look. Here's a pic during the painting:



Warning: Index finger may get extremely tired during the painting process.

Day 5: Here I finished and attached the collar. I used 2-sided tape to mount the collar as seen here:



When reattaching the hinges, instead of using brewit2it's breaking off method, I just used washers to attach them back. I believe heyjaffy did something similar. Here's a photo of it:



I decided to screw on the manifold to the back part of the keezer for easier access. Everything ended up fitting great.



Here is a pic of the final product:



...And of course the glamor shot



Note: Before anyone bashes and flames on my bud handles, please excuse them. They are the only ones I have, and I know my Mexican BMC uncles will love them!

Please post any questions or comments!

-Alex

Awesome. looks good. Nice job.

I have the same freezer.... but mine just holds dead cow.

Thanks yeast infection (loving that name).

captianoats said:

I have the same freezer.... but mine just holds dead cow.

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You should turn it into a kegerator!!

It's relatively cheap, as seen here

You passed on a pile of college snatch to build a keezer? Very dedicated, nice build.


_

wildwest450 said:

You passed on a pile of college snatch to build a keezer? Very dedicated, nice build.

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Thanks! That was the biggest price of all. But hey, think of how many this will bring home later on.

Cacaman said:

Thanks! That was the biggest price of all. But hey, think of how many this will bring home later on.

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short term loss, long term gain...i like it

Looks great - nice work

I just added a 3rd tap to mine for a 3-gallon keg that's on the way. I'll share pics soon.

Nice job!

Nice sacrifice! Ill have one in your name

You passed on this???



The keezer will last much, much longer! And will never get this hot! Good call!

wedge421 said:

Nice sacrifice! Ill have one in your name

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I'm truely honored
Nice arrogant bastard avatar btw

I look forward to photos heyjaffy. I was thinking of doing the same thing on that hump inside the fridge and putting soda or experimental batches. The only thing is I had trouble finding a good priced 3 gallon keg.

kellynm said:

You passed on this???

The keezer will last much, much longer! And will never get this hot! Good call!

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Yep.. Only they weren't wearing the top part of the clothing .

During the summer I'll have hundreds of them in my backyard rather than 1-2 in my hotel room

Cheers!

Please tell me after all that work you're not going to leave it outside are ya?

dallasdb said:

Please tell me after all that work you're not going to leave it outside are ya?

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My hard work will have to be appreciated in the outdoors. It's in the porch, so weather won't be an issue. The only issue will be not being able to showcase it in the living room, and the roaches out back

Cacaman said:

My hard work will have to be appreciated in the outdoors. It's in the porch, so weather won't be an issue.

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You should get a bbq cover that will fit over it! The paint will probably be fine, I wwould worry more about the wood getting weathered.

dallasdb said:

You should get a bbq cover that will fit over it! The paint will probably be fine, I wwould worry more about the wood getting weathered.

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That's actually a really good idea, I never thought about it. I'll go to academy later on tonight and see what they got. Thanks.

I like it....even saved enough for the Perlick's. Nice work. Kyle

Nice work. My first collar was made of framing material as well. No shame in doing on the cheap.

Very nice. You have something there that you will enjoy for a long time.:rockin:

Cacaman said:

I look forward to photos heyjaffy. I was thinking of doing the same thing on that hump inside the fridge and putting soda or experimental batches. The only thing is I had trouble finding a good priced 3 gallon keg.

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A little more info over in my thread: my version brewit2its cheapest new 2 keg keezer

Looking good heyjaffy! One addition I want to make is add a 2x4 square stand, attached with wheels with brakes. That will add some height, and make the keezer more mobile. I'm in no rush to do that though, keezer works great for now... Just need to find a solid recipe for a batch of beer!