Keezer "5ive"

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

futzwash

Active Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
37
Reaction score
1
Location
Pomona
Hey guys,

I would like to start off by saying that I have not had the pleasure of having ever tasted a Home Brewed Beer, but that will change very soon.

Here’s the deal...
I have been debating over numerous 50th birthday gift ideas for my father over the past few months, I finally settled on getting him a pre-assembled kegorator (or so I thought). My initial goal was for him have a keg on tap (probably some sort of IPA from BEVMO, sorry…I know commercial kegs are shunned upon here on HBT). So after randomly finding the "show us your kegorator" HBT thread on Google, I came upon numerous cool ideas, but one really stood out... Jester’s Keezer. From there, I knew that a "Keezer" was the way to go. Not only would it allow my dad to have up to 3 commercial kegs from BEVMO (if he so desired), but it would also allow he and I to dive head first into the world of Home brewing. The plan is to give my dad the keezer before his birthday on Oct 5th, and it will be a cool father/son project to complete together with the completion goal close to his b-day (I know it doesn’t give us much time!)

So I decided to spend countless hours researching keezers knowing that if i wanted to put this huge thing inside the house where our pool table is, it would have to look "nice enough" to be approved by my mom (SWMBO). So after showing her numerous keezers, we settled on a Coffin Keezer. I have named my little project Keezer "5ive" simply because it will have 5 taps.

Here is a list of Keezer "5ive" inspirations:

Jester369 - The 'Keezer' Project - 6/11/2008
JakeTheHopDog - keezer-build-another-one-way-169440
kegtoe - nates-keezer-build-153984
ubermick -building-coffin-trying-not-lose-my-cool-179528
Lilrascal -my-keezer-build-176752
firefly765 -my-jester-clone-copycat-keezer-188696
jetlink1983 -jester-keezer-build-twist-200037
LesserChance -new-keezer-build-233737
Hoppopotomus -knotty-pine-cedar-log-keezer-build-223902
jmcbroom -keezer-project-31221
notrealdan -my-kegerator-255232
Reeg68bird -new-keezer-kegerator-build-completed-262561
Agentaaron -mesa-breweries-new-keezer-262539
mtbiker278 -another-keezer-build-jester-rip-off-259905
snowveil -show-us-your-kegerator-29053

I know I’m forgetting lots of other people, so sorry in advance! I have seen hundreds of keezers over the past 2 weeks, and haven’t bookmarked them all, but mine surely will take bits and pieces that I’ve seen along the way.

Here is a list of requirements for the build:

New Freezer (can save money on used, but want the reliability of new)
Must have coffin with drip tray because it will be over nice carpet
5 Taps (4 for beer & 1 for pre-mix cocktails/sodas.)
Must fit 4 corneys on the floor, a 5# co2 tank, and a 2.5-3g corney on hump
Small enough to not interfere with the pool table
Tall enough so I didn’t have to build a collar
Only nice wood and granite could show
Must be mobile (We live in CA and we love to entertain in our backyard.)
Cost less than $1000 total ( I know, it’s a pretty nice budget. :tank:)

Over the next few weeks, with the help of all of you, I will complete this project (while researching how to brew beer) and the end result will be to turn a light beer drinking father/son into home brewers all while building a keezer that looks good enough for SWMBO in home approval (I think that is code for wives, but in this thread it will be my mom because SHE MUST BE OBEYED!)

Sorry for the long post, but I look forward to your opinions and advice!
 
All of the hardware, taps (perlick), splitter and freezer will get you pretty close to your $1000 If you need kegs, regulators and CO2 that will obviously be more. Then you have the cost of making the freezer/keezer look pretty.
 
Ok so this past weekend I went out and purchased a Frigidaire 8.8 Cu. Ft. chest freezer from Lowes. The price was $279 + tax and no shipping b/c i was picking it up, but I have a lowes business credit card so we received 5% off. Randomly after all was said and done, the price including tax came to $242 (which is more than a 5% discount, but i wasnt going to complain).

Exterior dimensions:
41"W x 23-1/4"D x 34-1/4" H

Interior Dimensions are:
Hump: 11"W x 16-1/2"D x 18"H (hump to lowest part of lid)
Floor: 25"W x 16-1/2"D x 28"H (floor to lowest part of lid)

I dont have 4 corney kegs to try and fit in here yet, but I did cut 9" circles (which will allow me plenty of room for either ball or pin lock kegs when i finally decide which ones to get.... ANY SUGGESTIONS?) and can fit 4 with some extra room on the floor, and both a 5# co2 tank (roughly 17-3/4"H) and 2.5G corney on the hump.

To start we will probably only have 1/6and 1/4 barrel kegs on tap until we start homebrewing, so i can fit (2) 1/6 barrels and (1) 1/4 barrel on the floor.

Here are a few pics of the freezer before we started construction on the frame:

Photo Sep 25, 10 31 33 AM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 10 31 40 AM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 10 34 25 AM.jpg
 
@bad habit:
Sorry, the $1000 budget is for just to get the keezer operational, with 5 taps and hardware, w/o kegs and QD's. At first i will only be renting kegs from bevmo, so i didnt include deposits into the cost...

im putting a spreadsheet together of the costs and will post it soon.

Thanks though!
 
Went to homedepot and purchased supplies for the frame and base. Here is what i got:

Base: (2) 2x4's for the depth (on bottom) and 2x6's for the width (on top). 2" casters looked like they would be good enough, but i have read wayyyy to many threads saying they wished that they went bigger from the start, so thats what we did. All four casters are swivel and the back two are swivel locking that way we can put it outside and it wont go anywhere.

A note about the height:
We will be attaching the casters to the 2x6's. The reason to attach them to the 2x6 instead of 2x4s is threefold:

1. the footprint of the bracket that attaches the caster to the wood is over 3" wide, and it we tried to attach them to a 2x4 (really only 3-1/2" wide), they had a chance to split the wood and/or not fit at all.
2. it allows the 2x4s on the base to already start hiding the casters below (the goal is to not see them at all).
3. we wanted to save an extra 1.5" on the height

Our keezer is already roughly 34" tall + when you factor in a 2x6 (1-1/2" tall) + 2x4 (1-1/2" tall) + 3" casters (4" tall with bracket), the top of lid is now at 41" high just with the base attached. KEEPING THAT NUMBER BELOW 40" for me WAS A MUST!

Then when we add 3/4" wood on top + 3/4" tile + 13" clearance from tile to center of shank... We are at roughly 55" from the ground to center of shank...

I know that I want roughly a 3" clearance from the freezer to the outside of the frame on front and two sides, with the back completely open. (that should give it plenty of room to breathe, if it still gets hot i will install fans and/or vents.)

P.S. I know that most of you already know things like how a 2x4 is actually only 1.5" x 3.5", but im trying to be as helpful as I can for the people (like me) who havent ever had to actually build something before. I want to help connect the dots and help people looking to build keezers plan out there build beforehand.

Here are a few pics of the Rolling base before we started to build up the frame:

Photo Sep 25, 12 45 17 PM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 12 45 31 PM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 1 11 12 PM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 1 10 46 PM.jpg
 
Time for the frame!

Ok, so my last post kinda started to talk about what we are gonna do, but i'll go into more detail here.

The Base is 1-1/2" bigger than the freezer on both sides and the front & is 2" deeper in the back than the freezer so when we push it up against a wall, the base will hit about 1/2" before the hinges do!

The frame is going to be made up of 2x4s both vertically and horizontally. There is one vertical 2x4 on each side along the back, two vertical 2x4s on each front corner and one vertical 2x4 front center.

Each 2x4 in the front is only 3/4" off the ground and sits lower than the rolling base, so when we put it on in its final resting place, the 2x4 vertical pieces of the frame + the finshed nice wood will be almost flush with the carpet.(therefore completely covering the casters.) Also, it still allows us to reach underneath the finished wood and grab the frame to lift if we need to go up a stair or something (w/o having to grab the nice wood.)

Also, the horizontal 2x4's that make up the top will actually act are 1/4" lower than the top of the lid. That way, once the weight of the wood/coffin/shanks/taps/tile is on the lid, the seal will still hold the cold air in, but it wont have upwards of 100 pounds resting on it. Instead the plywood attached to the top will support most of the load (hopefully allowing the weather seal to last longer!)

Here are a few pics of the frame:

Photo Sep 25, 2 04 22 PM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 2 32 59 PM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 6 08 35 PM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 6 24 27 PM.jpg
 
I've never built a keezer, but aren't you supposed to build a 2x6 collar so the cornies fit? Other than that the build looks great.
 
So on to the Coffin...

Heres the plan: Since im doing a 5 tap keezer from the get-go with realistically no room/need to expand from that, i am building a 32" W x 9-3/4"D x 15-3/4"H coffin. How did I come up with these numbers you ask.... a somewhat planned out guess. Heres my logic:

Width:
I will need room for 5 shanks/faucets which will be 4-1/2" apart on center. After researching drip trays, I found that although the most economical would be a 19" or 24" wide drip tray, i really want the drip tray to cover the whole width of the coffin. I like the coffins that have about 7" of gap on each side of the last shank before you get to the end of each side of the coffin.
____________________________
[------0----0----0----0----0------]
[--7"---4.5"-4.5"-4.5"- 4.5"---7"--]

[----------------32"---------------]

I didnt want my coffin to look "wimpy" and really like the look of it taking up lots of room on the lid. So a 30" wide stainless steel flush mount drip tray is perfect w/ threaded drain that will go to a 2Liter bottle to catch overflow. But I also wanted to be able to have a 1" gap for the tile to completely surround the drip tray. So:
1"+1"+30" = 32" Wide

Depth:
Since I hadn't ordered the shanks I figured that I would just take an educated guess on this one. I figured I will want to use 5-1/8" shanks so here is my reasoning from front to back... The shank will mount to a 3/4" piece of nice wood. Behind that will be a 2x4 so that i can have 1-1/2" of recessed depth to add a light. Behind that will be the coffin 3/4" coffin plywood. And behind that will be the other side of the shank. Then I want at least 2" of insulation, a 2" gap for the cool air and lines to run through. Then another 2" piece of insulation. Then 3/4" plywood for the rear of the coffin. So:
3/4" + 1-1/2" + 3/4" = 3" (the useful part of my shank needs to be at least this big)

3" + 2" + 2" + 2" + 3/4" = 9-3/4" Total Depth


Height:
I figured I would want the bottom of my Perlick 525ss's to be roughly 11" to the flush mount drip tray. Since i dont have the faucets or shanks yet, I went with a guess that it will be about 1" up to the center of the shank. I know that I will be cutting a nice 2"x6" piece of wood for mounting the shank to, so i wanted the center of that piece of wood to be 12" above the drip tray. Also the drip tray is going to be 3/4" taller than the plywood attached to the lid which is what my coffin will be sitting on as well). The 2x6" piece of wood will have 3 inches up from center of the shank. So:
3/4" + 12" + 3" = 15-3/4" Height

Although i just posted like 3 posts in a row, we got supplies from home depot, built base, built frame, and built coffin all in one 10 hour day (could have been done sooner but started drinking at noon, so our measurements took longer in the afternoon haha).
The only tools we used were:
2 drills (one for pilot holes + one for screws)
a 90 degree angle thingy (to make sure our frame would be straight)
a level
a chop saw
a tape measure
My dad works in the construction industry and is a pretty handy guy, but not a woodworker by any means.

Here are some pics of the coffin (sorry for the blurry cell phone pics): Whatcha think so far... any suggestions/comments? we could use all the help we can get!

Photo Sep 25, 6 23 59 PM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 6 24 17 PM.jpg


Photo Sep 26, 8 27 29 AM.jpg


Photo Sep 26, 8 27 23 AM.jpg


Photo Sep 25, 6 36 26 PM.jpg
 
@ cruckin78: Thanks! all in a days work... lol

@ wegz15: Actually one doesnt actually NEED to build a collar unless the height of their freezer wont allow for corneys to fit. I purchased a freezer that had an inside dimension from the floor to the inside of the lid that is 28" tall. Since Corney and Sanke Kegs are not any higher than 24" and around 26" with couplers, there is still 2" of room without a collar. Also, I feel that I will preserve the efficiency of the freezer by not adding a collar. Thanks tho!
 
You're not messing around. Looks like you're making good progress. I'd still have a pile of 2x4s sitting there.
 
I know you want to hide the casters, but those locking ones are gonna be a PITA to reach, aren't they? If it wasn't already too late, I would suggest swapping the casters and 2x4s. They would still be hideable behind whatever panel is going there, but you could also reach the brake a little easier. It would also spread the base out, making the unit more sturdy, since all the 2x4s are doing is holding the 2x6s together right? No load is transferred through them to the floor?

It looks awesome though! I can't wait to see it finished.
 
Ok, so i received my shipment from beveragefactory.com the past week but was in New York, DC, and PHX so i am finally getting around to opening it.

At first I was going to use Kegconnection, but after numerous try's JUST TO TRY AND PLACE AN ORDER (litterally like 3 phone calls/day for 5 days)... I gave up. Plus if I would have used kc, to keep costs down I would have had to just go with the perlick 525PC's (which are chrome :() and would have wound up still needing to get a 30" drip tray and low boy couplers from bev factory anyways.

Then out of neccessity for finding a company that I can actually place an order with, I found a killer loophole to get really good pricing from Bev factory for all my components for the keezer by purchasing a "Custom Two Keg Door Mount Kegerator Keg Tap Conversion Kit".

Here all you need to do is pick and choose which components you would like to add to your setup (in two's) and get really good deals. The great thing about this is that you can add as much or little to the order as you want. If all you need is two 525ss's and two shanks (or if you need four!), then you can get them for $39.40 each.

I ended up adding two custom kits(that include everything i need for my setup) but didnt do the checkout process till i had all the items i needed (that way they would only charge me $8 for shipping and no tax) and here is the breakdown:

1st I added this order to the cart:
Custom Two Keg Door Mount Kegerator Keg Tap Conversion Kit
5 lb. Aluminum Co2 Tank [BF C5] - $56.00
Premium Pro Series Double Gauge Kegerator Regulator w/ Two Product Out - $61.70
Two 11' Beer Line Assemblies - 3/16" ID Beer Tubing - $8.55 ($4.28 each)
Two 11' Long Air Line Assemblies of 5/16" ID Tubing - $11.40 ($2.28 each... this will be enough for 5 air lines that will be 4' long)
Two - 5 1/8" Inch Shanks w/ Nipple Assemblies - $26.60 ($13.30 each)
Two - Perlick PERL 525SS Keg Beer Faucets - $52.20 ($26.10 each)

2nd I added this order to the cart:
Custom Two Keg Door Mount Kegerator Keg Tap Conversion Kit
Two 11' Beer Line Assemblies - 3/16" ID Beer Tubing - $8.55 ($4.28 each)
Two - 5 1/8" Inch Shanks w/ Nipple Assemblies - $26.60 ($13.30 each)
Two - Perlick PERL 525SS Keg Beer Faucets - $52.20 ($26.10 each)

Then I went and added these items seperately:
two low-boy sanke coupers - $85.40 ($42.70 each)
one 30" stainless steel drip tray - $71.20
one 30" stainless steel upgrade grid - $35.00
one perlick 525ss faucet - $34.15
one 5-1/8" long shank with nipple - $17.05

Then purchased that all together, and shipping was only $8.90 with no tax.

I then called bev factory to see if they could give me a discount to offset the single purchase price of the faucet and shank, since i was buying in bulk anyways. so they gave me a $14 discount for the one faucet/shank combo.

Also, I put all my purchases into an excel spreadsheet and realized that the Subtotal ($601.55) was about $70 more than what the prices should have added up to. They said they would look into it because it didnt add up for them either. About 5 hours later I got a call from a sales rep who said that their website's automatic cart added the wrong numbers and so they re-calculated everything and my total was:
Subtotal - $532.60
Shipping - Fedex Home Delivery - 8.91
Total Delivered Price $541.51 :mug:

So you can see that if you add my shank and faucet purchases together, im only paying ($39.40 each):tank: , $.38/ft for bev hose , $.52/ft for air line.

The next step is to buy a 3 way secondary regulator, 30ft of bev hose (for soda/rootbeer on 5th tap) and a 2.5 g corney keg as well as a few 5g corney's with quick disconnects and mfl fittings when I start homebrewing (then it should be complete)

I decided that I would buy all the hardware for inside the coffin so that way from the outside it looks finished, even though we wont have 5 kegs on tap untill we start homebrewing.

Here is a pic of everything laid out after i opened the boxes:

Photo Oct 07, 6 05 04 PM.jpg
 
@ wegs15: haha yea.. Acutally I do! I ended up with some left over wood because we changed a few things along the way. thanks for the comment!

@ djfriesen: That was going to be the plan originally!!! im not saying that my way is right by any means, but we decided to go this route mainly so when we went to pick up the keezer (up 1 step) we wanted to grab onto the bottom of the frame on the two front corners without putting any pressure on the nice wood paneling in the front. The way we have it setup will allow us to grab the 2x4's (if it was the other way, then the 3/4" wood panels on the front would stick down about 2" and when we would go to grab it, we wouldnt be able to grab the frame and would be picking the whole keezer up by the nice wood in front. Also, we are trying to keep the size of the frame as small as possible because the wider/taller it is the more likely it will interfer with our pool/ping pong table. On a side note, this thing is super stable!

The locking casters are in the back and will only be needed when we take it outside for parties and such. Also, the back is the only way to reach underneath the keezer once we put the wood panels on the front/sides. Most of the time it will be sitting on flat carpet so the locks wont need to be engaged.

Thanks for the insight though! I appreciate it.
 
Also, while on Vacay I decided to purchase the TSS2-2100 from love-controls.com. I am going to be using the same controller as Hippopotomus' Knotty Pine Keezer Build. The TSS2 ($69) has two inputs/two outputs but doesnt come with temp probes, so i made sure to purchase two TS-11's "Probe, PTC sensor, brass cap, 10 ft (3 m) length" for $8.50 each. One probe will be inside the coffin and one inside the keezer. Each will be seperate inputs that will control the coffin fan output, and the keezer compressor output. Just like Hippopotomus'.

That made my total with shipping + tax about $102.

I will post a pic of the controller when i get home tonight!
 
On a side note, I am wondering where exactly to put the controller. I really would like to put it on the front of the coffin like notrealdan's. I love how its centered between the 4 taps as well. However, since i have 5 taps, I cant center the display and have an even number of taps on each side. So I think i will be putting the controller next to the farthest right tap. Since there is 7" of space between the right tap and the coffin wall, my setup should be like this (from left to right):
the furthest right tap -> 2" space -> 3" wide controler -> 2" space -> Coffin Wall.

It should make my coffin look like this:

___________________________________________
[---------0-------0-------0-------0-------0---(TSS)---]
[--7"-------4.5"-----4.5"----4.5"---- 4.5"---2"(TSS)2"-]

[--------------------------32"--------------------------]

I know this might have alot of people up in arms, but i think that I would like it better than having it down below in the frame.
 
@John0228 : thanks for the support. I should have it kegged by the end of week. I have all the hardware necessary for 2 sanke taps and if i had more couplers could expand it to 3. First keg is gonna be Arrogant Bastard by Stone brewing Co.

Tonight i will drill the 5 1" holes for the shanks and two 2" holes for the coffin ventilation, the hole for the controller and start wiring the controller!
 
Hey man.....just sent you a PM about your temperature probe questions. Very nice work so far.....and the progress has been lightening quick. Great job! :mug: I also had some issues with getting my order placed with KC, but they finally came through for me and they have been great with any follow up questions I had early on, and when I placed my second order with them. I just calculated my total cost for my keezer and I'm hovering right around $1000 for my build in total, so it can be done on your budget. Granted I only paid like $125 for the freezer (3 month old CL find) and the cedar log trims were all free, but I only have 4 taps and you have 5. How are you coming along on your budget....are you going to make it? Keep up the great work....a very classy build so far!

oh...one more thing it's "Hoppopotomus"....not Hippopotomus ;)
 
Thanks to everyone who's been following my build!

First up, Here are some pics of the love controller for people who havent seen it before!

Photo Oct 11, 7 52 18 AM.jpg


Photo Oct 11, 7 52 29 AM.jpg
 
Next up....

We drilled all 5 holes for the taps. We started the first one with a 1" hole saw, but realized that we got a much tighter fit with a 7/8" hole saw.

Since we have 5 taps, and our coffin is 32" wide, started by putting the middle tap 16" from each side (which is our centerline). From there we decided on 4-1/2" spacing between the remainder of taps and that left us with 7" on each side of the last tap before you get to the end of the coffin.

A note to point out... HAVE A PLAN WHEN YOU GET TO THIS PART! Most people dont have the final piece of wood that will be stained and used for the front of the coffin yet and havent really decided how big that piece will be. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE SIZE OF THE FRONT FINAL PIECE OF WOOD BEFORE YOU DRILL YOUR HOLES! Since we knew that our front piece of wood will be 3/4" nice cherry wood, with dimentions of 32" wide x 6" (ACTUAL HEIGHT!) we are drilling our holes 3" down from the top of the coffin. This way, when your keezer is finished, the taps are perfectly centered!

Here are some pics... we are temporarily using a piece of oak that we cut to the same dimensions as our final piece of cherry wood. This way, when the final wood is ready, we will simply unscrew this piece and liquid nail the final piece on.

Photo Oct 11, 7 53 44 AM.jpg


Photo Oct 11, 7 54 03 AM.jpg


Photo Oct 12, 7 00 53 PM.jpg


Photo Oct 12, 7 01 00 PM.jpg


Photo Oct 11, 7 57 04 PM.jpg
 
We were going to use a 2x4 (as you can see in the picture from my last post) for the recesssed part (infront of the coffin plywood, but behind the nice cherry wood on the front), but the 2x4 was warping a little which made the front piece of wood angle angle down and since we had a bunch of 3/4" nice oak left over and wanted the recessed support to go all the way to the top of the coffin (not have the 2x4 1” down), we cut two 32" x 4-1/2" pieces of oak and together they will make sure that we have 1-1/2" recessed both in depth and height from the bottom of the finished 32” x 6” piece of cherry wood. Im not sure if that makes sense but ill take some pics tongiht to show you what i mean!
 
Spoiler Alert!!! I was gonna keep this little piece of my keezer a secret untill it was finished, but I cant show you any pictures of the progress if I do that, plus I am really excited about how it will turn out.

So, we decided against putting the controller in line with the taps, mainly because I didn't like how it looked with a big gap on the left side, and the controller taking up room on the right.

We have decided to put it centered in the recessed part of the coffin that will hold the backsplash. I haven’t seen it done before and wanted mine to be original!

Whatcha Think???????

Photo Oct 14, 8 17 07 AM.jpg


Photo Oct 13, 9 04 11 PM.jpg
 
futzwash said:
Spoiler Alert!!! I was gonna keep this little piece of my keezer a secret untill it was finished, but I cant show you any pictures of the progress if I do that, plus I am really excited about how it will turn out.

So, we decided against putting the controller in line with the taps, mainly because I didn't like how it looked with a big gap on the left side, and the controller taking up room on the right.

We have decided to put it centered in the recessed part of the coffin that will hold the backsplash. I haven’t seen it done before and wanted mine to be original!

Whatcha Think???????

Looks good! I want to put a love controller on mine and get rid of the Johnson controls a419. It works but the love controllers look cool!
 
Also, as you can see from the post above, we also cut two 2" holes in the lid, pushed two 2" pvc pipes in the holes, added silicone and placed a coupler on top and bottom for each to hold them and keep them snug.

I would have liked to have the two holes be wider than each of the end shanks, but as you can see from a pic of the inside of the lid (below), for me it is more important to make sure with our collarless keezer that the pvc/fan/beerline wont hit the regulator or kegs. We made sure by measuring where our kegs will be (even with numerous different configurations) so that directly below the holes we have plenty of room for whatever we needs to go into the keezer from the coffin.

Heres the pic

Photo Oct 14, 8 17 21 AM.jpg
 
@Newbrewb: thanks for subscribing, i feel like i don't get anything productive done during every day, as all i do is look at keezer build threads, and at night I build mine! haha

@ Jaysus: YES THEY ARE!:mug:

@ Jester369: Thanks! If it wasnt for you, I would be drinking out of a 1 tap kegorator conversion! Pretty soon I'll have 4 on tap! I might be picking your brain after I get this thing up and running about the best way to start homebrewing for a beginner (with a 5 tap setup!) haha

@ Jota21: Thanks for subscribing!

@ Hoppopotomus: see i got the name right this time! thanks for answering my pm's, your really helpin me out, and your build really helped me visualize alot of the things that I am doing with mine!

@ D_Ranged_Eskimo: thanks!

@ John028: Thanks! I toyed around with going the johnson or ranco route, but i really like the digital display being a focal point of my keezer (after my guest's get over the shock of my full blown 5 tap bar in my house!). I'll tell you how much I actually like it after tongiht... .(i have no electrical experience and am gonna WING IT!)
 
No Problem....happy to help! :mug: Love the TSS2 placement.....looks great. What are you doing for the backsplash again? I have ready so many keezer threads lately that I'm getting them mixed up. Are you leaving it wood and staining, or are you tiling? Just curious.
 
going to be doing a backsplash with 1x1 tiles similar to this design (got the idea from LesserChance).. havent picked it out yet tho... we are also doing a black granite countertop.. and flushmounting the 30" drip tray.. I want to have the thing pouring beers before i mount the granite/drip tray cuz i want to have it actually pouring to determine where to place the driptray so it is perfect for pouring under the faucets

Photo Oct 12, 8 08 11 AM.jpg
 
Ok. So we spent 1-2 hours wiring Keezer "5ive" up! We ended up putting a weatherproof box inside the coffin and around the controller so that hopefully no condensation will build up. From there we drilled 3 holes in the side of the box. One for the two probes, one for the incoming wire (from outlet box #1) and one for the outgoing wire (to outlet box #2)

It was very straightforward and easy because of I did tons of research before I went to get the parts at Home Depot. I suggest you do the same. I already had some 14-guage 4 wire laying around, so i decided to use that. (this turns out to be great when you come out of the controller and need to power outlet box #2 because you need 4 wires in order to do that (switchable hot(out1) / switchable hot (out2) / neutral / ground). I didn’t use the 4th wire for the wiring out of outlet box #1 and in to the controller box.


Here is what we did:

Cut the 15' extension cord right before the female plug. The male side will plug into a GFI protected outlet to power your whole keezer.

Wire it to outlet box #1 with a single gang two outlets box (always on) – one outlet will be extra so that we can use to plug a blender or something of that sort into if need be. The Second outlet will be used for the lighting system that will have continuous power and will be switched on and off via a remote control that comes with on/off/dimming/150 different colors/strobe/multi-color fading. (no need to wire in a switch).

Next come out of that box with a 5 ft piece of 4-wire cable (hot/neutral/ground/extra) , go into the coffin, then through a hole that we drilled in the side of the controller box.
Note: I know that the controller doesn’t need ground. We will be bringing the ground into the controller box, so we will be able to make it up with the ground that is needed in outlet box number two (switched on box that’s controlled by the love controller)

I have the wiring info below…

After wiring, we brought a 5ft 4-wire cable (out 1-switched Hot/out2-switched hot/neutral/ground) out of the controller box with another predrilled hole that we use to power outlet box#2.

We only need one plug per output (out1 powers keezer and out2 powers a coffin fan), so this fit in another single gang box.
Note: Make sure that if you do this setup, you break the connecter in between the two plugs on the HOT side and then label each, that way one plug is controlled by out1 and one is controlled by out2. The neutral can be wired into either one on the left and the ground goes to the green obviously.

The last thing I did was wire the two probes and put them through my last predrilled hole in the controller box. One will stay drop into the keezer and the other will stay inside the coffin.

Like I said up top, this whole process only really took 1-2 hours. It helps because I had the drawing of exactly what I wanted. Its really easy to get overwhelmed if you start to get confused, so DON’T TRY THIS STEP WHILE DRINKING BEER!

Try not to freak out!

After all the wiring was done, the last step was to plug it in to the wall (make sure that you don’t have your freezer plugged in first… that way if something shorts out it would only potentially damage the controller)… Luckily we heard the beeeep and the controller turned on when we plugged it in.

PS. I will post the parameters soon and how to set up the controller the way I did soon!

Photo Oct 14, 10 39 04 PM.jpg


Photo Oct 14, 10 39 23 PM.jpg


Photo Oct 14, 10 39 30 PM.jpg


wiring small.jpg


Photo Oct 14, 10 47 13 PM.jpg
 
LED Lighting
I really like the recessed lighting that many coffin keezers have and want to use led’s because they won’t put off heat, they will last forever, and they don’t use much electricity. I also want to be able to change colors, must come as a package kit, and have dimming as well.

After researching on the net, I found a perfect kit on amazon.com. It’s a “16.4 Ft RGB Color Changing Kit with LED Flexible Strip, Controller + Remote and 12 Volt 4 Amp Power Supply By Ledwholesalers, 2034rgb Kit” sold by LEDwholesalers but fulfilled by amazon. That way I get free 2 day shipping with my amazon prime account!

It cost $55 even and will allow endless features, here are some of the things that it does:
Over 100 different colors including automatic fading and strobe functions
Dimmer on remote
16’ of led rope. With LED’s
30,000 hour lifespan
3m adhesive peel and stick tape
150 Multi color LED’s: one every ¾”
Cutable after every 4” then connect wire via connector clips to go around corners and such
Wireless remote to control every feature (no need for switch just always on consistent power supply)

So I plan on using this to light up my keezer 4 ways (all of which will be controlled simultaneously via the remote:
1. 30” recessed portion of the coffin
2. Recessed under the plywood lid pointing down on the wood that hides the chest freezer frame
3. Under the skirt on the bottom to give it a glow from underneath
4. Recessed behind a nice chalkboard that will be mounted to the wall above & behind the keezer

I am getting the kit on Tuesday, so I’ll be posting pictures soon!
Below I uploaded the generic pictures from amazon for ideas of what it can do.

As always, I love suggestions.. KEEP EM’ COMING!

51mHHJY8moL.jpg


41-mePVQICL.jpg


41R8kElQQ+L.jpg


41wQq9N5tcL.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Can that led strip be cut and fastened together or does it have to be 16ft of continuous LEDs?

-=Jason=-
 
@ flomaster: Yes, It can be cut every 4". Then after you cut it, all you have to do is use 18g 4-wire cable and solder the connection and run as much length of non lit space you need, and then resolder the wires to the led's again. If you dont want to solder it, they have a connector that you can buy for like $2 each, but i just think that it will be a better, longer lasting connection with soldering it!

I kind of just stumbled onto this, because at first I was just looking around at lowes and home depot and could only find led strips in 12",24",36" and i since my coffin was 30" it forced me to look outside of the box.
 
I think I saw that when I was looking into back lighting my 63" hdtv, but never got around to dropping the coin on it.

carry on...

-=Jason=-
 
Ok, so last night I picked up a 5g keg called Jacked Up Red (8.5% ABV American Strong Ale) from Omaha Jacks (Microbrew in Rancho Cucamonga, CA) and tapped it.
Right away we filled up a pitcher and took it to a friends house and let me just say that it was a HIT! I ended up having to go back to fill up the pitcher 3 more times!!! Barely any foam on the first pour, and since we haven’t yet insulated the coffin, the temp was 73*. Keezer /Keg temp was around 40* and so there was a 33* temp differential.
NO BIG DEAL, this thing poured like a champ. I cant wait to get more on tap. I think I’m already addicted to it!
I will post a pic of the first pour tomorrow!
 
Back
Top