Show us your Kegerator

Well done, d-668!

Here is my treasure chest! Someone far more skilled/creative than I painted the outside of the 50's(?) style fridge, but I found it in a basement of a house that a buddy of mine was renting in Indiana University. THEY WERE GOING TO LEAVE IT THERE! so into the truck it went and came back with me to my garage! (its taking longer than I thought to convince SWMBO to let me bring it into the house...) Also picture is my brew assistant Paul.

So sorry to ask the dumb obvious question but are those chest freezers that have been converted? Is there a plan/kit that most people follow? Sorry for asking the newbie questions.

freeland said:

So sorry to ask the dumb obvious question but are those chest freezers that have been converted? Is there a plan/kit that most people follow? Sorry for asking the newbie questions.

Click to expand...

Yes, many are chest freezers and many are converted "dorm" refrigerators, but no, there's really no "plan" to follow. Just lot's of previous trial and error stories strewn about the board to follow as examples... and plenty of kits available for the plumbing... or you can piece that together as well, as many have done.

Finally took a pic of mine. Its still a work in progress.

At the risk of posting prematurely, here's mine.



I picked up the Holiday 7cuft from Lowes for $180. I can fit four ball locks snugly onto the floor and a fifth on the hump with collar.

freeland said:

So sorry to ask the dumb obvious question but are those chest freezers that have been converted? Is there a plan/kit that most people follow? Sorry for asking the newbie questions.

Click to expand...

The chest freezers make great "keezers" with the addition of a external thermostat to get the temps where you want them.
Some go with homemade collars, mostly wooden, to add space so that a keg can sit on the hump if there is one, and they also serve as a place to attach faucets, regulators, etc. Don't drill into the body of a chest freezer, you will almost surely hit a line and brick the freezer.
Some do towers or coffins, which are nice but they need more clearance to open the lid, the upside is the more traditional appearance and height of the faucets (keeps my dog out)

GroovePuppy said:

At the risk of posting prematurely, here's mine.

I picked up the Holiday 7cuft from Lowes for $180. I can fit four ball locks snugly onto the floor and a fifth on the hump with collar.

Click to expand...

Looks like the start of something good. Post pics as you go along.

HBHoss said:

Looks like the start of something good. Post pics as you go along.

Click to expand...

It will contain beer. how bad can it be!

...........

bendavanza said:

The chest freezers make great "keezers" with the addition of a external thermostat to get the temps where you want them.
Some go with homemade collars, mostly wooden, to add space so that a keg can sit on the hump if there is one, and they also serve as a place to attach faucets, regulators, etc. Don't drill into the body of a chest freezer, you will almost surely hit a line and brick the freezer.
Some do towers or coffins, which are nice but they need more clearance to open the lid, the upside is the more traditional appearance and height of the faucets (keeps my dog out)

Click to expand...

If you go with a collar, I HIGHLY recommend attaching the collar to the lid versus the body. You will need to move the door gasket, but that's not as tricky as it looks. It's probably just kept on by plastic rivets that can be popped off.

With this setup, you never have to worry about banging your faucet stems witht the kegs and you don't have to lift them as high.

I agree with the advantage of having the shanks move out of the way when opening the lid. I struggled with design ideas until I realized that I didn't have to use the original lid at all. I was going to cover it up anyway and it turned out to be much simpler to make a whole new lid. I still need to post pics, especially since my tap handles are finished now.

Mine's been serving beer flawlessly in our theater room for about a month now, so I thought I'd introduce it to the world.

8.8 cf Kenmore with 2x8 painted collar. The black enamel paint matches the freezer much better than the camera flash makes it seem. Kegconnection dual body gauge, and 10# tank. I just got a AHS gift certificate, so a 3rd faucet is about to make an appearance. Still noodling over what to use for tap handles.

cford1 said:

Holy crap... Ten taps? That thing is HUGE!

It reminds me of the sad story of the Monstrator....

Click to expand...

Sad Sad when I read this...


...so I built something last night to hold me over:




Couple of 575SS faucets, Johnson A419 controller. The left tap has a US or EURO adapter, the right is a homebrew QD.

ShlouBrew said:

here's my setup:

Click to expand...

This guy is serious. I LOVE the poster!

I paid $224 for brand new 1/2 barrel kegerator in Home Depot. Despite all bad reputation on Internet I love it: the lowest temperature is below freezing point and there is plenty of space for 1/2 barrel keg or 2 Cornies. You cannot beat the price.

that poster is a nice one! but the systems are what i wouldn't mind having more.

Here's my first keezer......been testing it out in the garage......

ignore the mess behind it....I'm cleaning up today.....

Joe C said:

Sad Sad when I read this...


...so I built something last night to hold me over:

Couple of 575SS faucets, Johnson A419 controller. The left tap has a US or EURO adapter, the right is a homebrew QD.

Click to expand...

Sweet little hold-over. Is this in the new place?

HBRunner said:

Here's my first keezer......been testing it out in the garage......

ignore the mess behind it....I'm cleaning up today.....

Click to expand...

Sheeesh, forget the background stuff, but looks like there is some spilled brew on the floor! Au Tragic!

Nice work HBRunner! What does the inside of your tower box look like?

Tripod said:

Sweet little hold-over. Is this in the new place?

Click to expand...

Actually, It's my parent's house.

Speaking of Tripods...
I didn't have one with me when I took this series of pictures, but it still made me happy. The beer tastes phenominal as well.

brewmonk said:

https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=31732&limit=recent

Click to expand...

Would love more info on that. Looks very cool.

Joe C said:

Actually, It's my parent's house.

Speaking of Tripods...
I didn't have one with me when I took this series of pictures, but it still made me happy. The beer tastes phenominal as well.

Click to expand...

Great idea. I need a tripod and I'll have myself a new facebook picture

Bought this off craigslist for $25. It was white and came with a single tower, co2 tanks, all the lines and regulator and theremostat. So it was an incedible deal. My buddies say I am a Gypsy because I always find great deals. Last week I swapped out the single tower for a dual that came with a stainless steel drip tray for $25. I gave the drip tray to my buddy Dave at the LHBS for $25 credit. So I look at it like I got a dual for free. I painted it red last week too, its now called the keg-a-razor. The wife got me a custom carved tap handle, we both are Arkansas alumni. The custom tap handle she had a guy off www.etsy.com custom make it.

" Originally Posted by brewmonk
https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=31732&limit=recent
Would love more info on that. Looks very cool."

- - -
Thanks, it's a birch cabinet carcass w/ angled floor (a couple degrees), and draintray in front. It's hidden by a mahogany faceframe.

Mahogany panel door (inlay is epoxy/graphite). It's sort of Arts-n-Crafts-ish. varnished.
black painted styrofoam friction-fit inside.

Draft tower screws onto an oiled cherry base, slides into a rabbet in the bar-style counter.
I wish i knew what wood THAT was, its super heavy, maybe african-something ...?

(It comes apart for roadtrips. Original plan was for the tower to fit inside the cab for travel, that however has been nullified by the styrofoam.

Turned the handle on my lathe. It had an open, double helix spiral on top (till I dropped it.)

The little copper post cap on top is/will/might/maybe/ going to have some plexiglass under it and a tap light. I want to be able to touch the top, and turn on a pouring light (for while a movie is playing).

No drip tray yet, I need some design inspiration. Tower is too tall, I made it to fit growlers under it -(duh, overengineering) will soon be replaced by a 4-sided, raised-panel tower.

It comes with a highly sophisticated, remote refrigeration unit. (Ya want a cold one? swap out a keg from the basement.)

- -
haven't made a belgian since carving this, so Brother Tap hasn't been used yet.
https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=31769

-Da Monk.

It's not much, but it does the job.

Free fridge, scrubbed to hell, primered the body, stone flecked the door. The main tap runs soda water out of the pinlock keg (its what will fit under the cooling element) and picnic taps off the others. I want to install a 3 tap manifold and a beer gas setup (the wifey likes the stouts) and route the tank outside, but for now this works...





I got hosed and woke up with a bear head as my snuggle bunny one morning... apparently I stole it from a bar we were at... He now guards the kegerator from heavy handed "friends"

Not my proudest moment, but up there none the less...

ACheateaux said:

I got hosed and woke up with a bear head as my snuggle bunny one morning... apparently I stole it from a bar we were at... He now guards the kegerator from heavy handed "friends"

Not my proudest moment, but up there none the less...

Click to expand...

lol that sounds like something one of my buddies would have done in college. I cant remember how much crap he had in his room from random nights of drinking.

I love the look of the fridge too! Nice work :rockin:

I posted the chest freezer kegerator. but i didn't post the one I bought at Home depot for 150$ new ..



works well once I put the Perlick faucet on ,one thing I will not be filling up the 5 lb tank again. It costs almost as much as the 20lb tank.

You bought that at Home Depot?

Fishkill or Poughkeepsie?

Wappingers the one in the Imperial plaza, I think they call it the Pougkeepsie HD but they have one next to Marist too.

Ya I didn't know they had them until this one was in the clearance area. With no price on it the manager shot me the price and I snapped it up. I think they are 400+

springer said:

Wappingers the one in the Imperial plaza, I think they call it the Pougkeepsie HD but they have one next to Marist too.

Ya I didn't know they had them until this one was in the clearance area. With no price on it the manager shot me the price and I snapped it up. I think they are 400+

Click to expand...

Wow, I'm going to keep an eye out for one.

Sparky said:

Sheeesh, forget the background stuff, but looks like there is some spilled brew on the floor! Au Tragic!

Click to expand...

Yeah when I turned on the CO2, evidently one of taps was not closed all the way, and guess what? beer ran off the ceramic onto the floor.....

But it works great now...

14thstreet said:

Nice work HBRunner! What does the inside of your tower box look like?

Click to expand...

Right now it has the controller mounted in the back, and then I plan on putting the foam insulation around the lines to keep them cool.....There is an opening big enough to allow the cold air into the tower.....

I'll get pics later....

Here's mine: 25.3 cuft Kenmore chest freezer I think the largest they ever produced... Can easily fit 12 kegs.




But It won't look that way for long... I just bought a 10 tap double pedestal tower... so look for that to be incorporated soon...

As it stands I have 5 on tap, this is an old photo.

10 faucets? holy hell. you going commercial there or what?

Nothing spectacular here, but I'm excited to be able to keg my own home brew now. Here's a couple of pics of my kegerator.





Also ordered a second corny keg last night so I can brew a second batch to have a continuous flow of homebrew on tap from now on. Cheers

Nice placement next to the washer. Someone can bring you a beer when they change a load.

Here is the upgrade guys... I told you it was going to be cool:

Bowtie, that thing is beautiful! Did you buy that new or get a deal on it used?!?