Greyhound

Recipes 

Almost all of the keezer builds I've seen involve making a collar and attaching the tap handles to the collar. I'm thinking of just putting a 2-tap tower through the lid. Is there a reason I don't want to do this? Will I be able to open the lid all the way, or do I need to keep my beer lines too short to allow the lid to open?

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"Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and waste a lifetime!" -Bill Owen

mashman

Recipes 

first off, beer line length is not a big issue, you may need slightly higher pressure to dispense

here are some pros and cons

pros
it looks cooler
you can put an extended top on it so its like a bar you can sit at
the height is higher for taller people
its easier to install a drip tray

cons
you have to move the keezer away from the wall to open it
you have to figure a way to blow air up the tower to cool the lines


there are probably more but I haven't had my coffee yet....if I think of them I will edit the post

Greyhound

Recipes 

How is this done with a typical kegerator? I'd expect those to have the same issue.

__________________
"Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and waste a lifetime!" -Bill Owen

mashman

Recipes 

theoretically you really don't have to blow air up there, but it helps with foaming.... what you should do is make one of those "irish coffin boxes" like many have done on here, and skirt the keezer with wood, then you can just put a small computer fan in the box to circulate air

lots o ideas here:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/show-us-your-kegerator-29053/

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/show-me-your-keezer-165677/

Shackled

Recipes 

The main reason for the collar is to allow room for the kegs and co2 tank to fit on the hump usually found in the freezers.
Tap handles in the collar makes for one less thing to buy as there is no need for a tower.
And if you decide you want another tap and have room for the keg you just drill another hole in the collar vs buying another tower if you dont have room for another tap in it.

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"Do you ever feel like your life is being controlled by a 3 year old with an etchasketch?"

-Brian-

Greyhound

Recipes 

I like the looks of the towers better, but those are all good reasons to go with the collar. Thanks for the reply.

__________________
"Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and waste a lifetime!" -Bill Owen

abernat

Recipes 

One technique I've seen for keeping tower lines cool is to sheathe them in copper tubing that extends ~6" into the body of the freezer. Beer line and air are terrible conductors of heat, but copper is pretty good.

Greyhound

Recipes 

If I decided to go the tower route, I was thinking of doing that exact same thing! I guess it wasn't a crazy idea.

__________________
"Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and waste a lifetime!" -Bill Owen

BrewMoreBeers

Recipes 

if you go with the tower, make sure you reinforce the lid before you mount the hardware. the tops of the lids are very thin sheet metal. if you do not reinforce it your tower will wobble and may break free.

GlenF

Recipes 

I have a 3 tap tower on my freezer. I used a copper pipe which goes from the inside of the freezer to about halfway up the tower to cool the bev lines. Every beer i pour has perfect foam and temps.
Also, I turned my keezer so that it's perpendicular to the wall, so I can open it completely w/o needing to move it at all.

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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.