Keezer Build, Louisiana Style

Hello all!! After months of research and countless hours of reading, the time is finally here to attempt my keezer build. FWIW, I have ZERO carpentry skills!!! I will actually be bombarding a close friend on numerous questions.

I recently purchased a 7.0 cu/ft Holiday chest freezer from Lowes. I paid around $170.




I plan on having 3 brews on tap. I know I could fit more, but 3 different brews is enough with how busy life is.




2 already kegged with the 3rd fermenting!!

The plan is to build a collar and a new top. I will try and insulate well. I will also build a dolly with casters so I can move the keezer around for different.

Stay tuned for more updates!!

I just built a keezer with that exact same freezer! I did 5 taps. which is the max I could fit in there with my 20 lb tank. I had the guy at lowes do all my cuts as I do not own many tools. It's not to hard. prepare for a few days of work. and above all, have fun!

I used 3/4" thick wood so the dimentions I used were, 37" for the front and back, and 19 1/8" for the sides. I didnt do 45 degree cuts, I just butted them up against eachother. If you're doing 45 degree cuts the sides should be 20 5/8"

What about the temp control? I plan on building with the same freezer. 5 taps in there is pretty good. I didn't think 5 would fit. Good. I only have 2 taps right now, but would like the extra space for carbing. (maybe more taps in the future)

Xalwine- Thank you for the demensions.

BTW Scooba- Where in La are you?

Nukinfuts said:

What about the temp control? I plan on building with the same freezer. 5 taps in there is pretty good. I didn't think 5 would fit. Good. I only have 2 taps right now, but would like the extra space for carbing. (maybe more taps in the future)

Xalwine- Thank you for the demensions.

BTW Scooba- Where in La are you?

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Lafayette, La. Hometown is the Westbank of New Orleans

If you open the front panel, and pull out the actual control unit, there is white tape around part of it. if you peel back the underside, there is a small screw, tighen this whole whole way, it keeps ABOUT 37-40 degrees. I need to test it with 5 full kegs, but im pretty sure you shouldn't need secondary temp control. I'll try to post pictures and results LATE tonight or tomorrow.

Scooba - I don't wanna hijack your thread so after my next post I'll leave it be.

Scooba-I don't want to hi-jack it either.Sorry. Please post pics of your build. Looking forward to following it. Good luck with it

xalwine-Thank you.

Here is the "dolly". I used 2 2 X 6's and screwed 1 X 4's on the bottom for support.




Those are 3" casters. I will put 2 locking casters in the front so I can pull the keezer from the wall and prevent it from rolling




I used carriage bolts and lock nuts to attach the casters.

The painting phase......





Yes, that is purple!!! I'm a huge LSU fan so obviously, this keezer will represent!!

Geaux Tigers!!

Nice job with the purple. Not a huge college fan of any sport, but it's nice to see someone spicing it up a bit instead of the same old oak tone wood.

Scooba said:

The painting phase......

Yes, that is purple!!! I'm a huge LSU fan so obviously, this keezer will represent!!

Geaux Tigers!!

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Man, I was following you until now.

Guess I'll have to paint mine orange and blue.
Geaux Gators

Nukinfuts said:

Man, I was following you until now.

Guess I'll have to paint mine orange and blue.
Geaux Gators

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Haaaaaa!! Come on Nukinfuts!!! A little team pride is important!! Seriously though, I have great respect for the Gators. As long as we are both cheering for the SEC!!

BTW I ran my freezer last night, even with the internal settings maxed out, it only gets up to 32 degrees. still about 8 degrees to cold. you'll need a secondary temp control.

A fellow cajun!

Good to see some Nola in that keezer, have you picked up any of their Brown Ale in a can? They just released them.

lcf8088 said:

A fellow cajun!

Good to see some Nola in that keezer, have you picked up any of their Brown Ale in a can? They just released them.

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Absolutely!! In fact, I threw down some cold ones on our Mardi Gras float!! All the other poor souls were drinking beer flavored water!! I had the real stuff!!

Scooba said:

Absolutely!! In fact, I threw down some cold ones on our Mardi Gras float!! All the other poor souls were drinking beer flavored water!! I had the real stuff!!

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Nice, I haven't picked any up yet because I haven't gone into the city but I will be there Saturday and plan on getting a few sixxers. Plan on going hit up the Nola Distillery and Abita Brewery with a few friends.

Here's the collar and top



I used select Pine 1 X 6's for the front and 2 sides. Those cuts were 45 degree cuts. The back piece is 1 solid 2 X 6. I wanted some strength back there. Then I screwed some cheap 1 X 6's from the inside to the select pine. Again, to add strength, I finished it with 4 corner brackets



The collar and lid will attach to the existing hinges



I used some insulation board that a friend of mine gave me. It seems to be very thick. I then taped all of the seams with some silver tape to seal any cracks

Next up.....staining.....,

Finally got back to the project after a busy, couple of days. To follow the LSU theme, I bought some water-based Minwax tintable stain.



Yes, it is yellow/gold. I could have painted it but wanted to show some of the wood grain.

I will put a couple of coats of polyurethane on it. I will also be putting trim on the collar to hide the seams of the wood. I did stain the top but I will covering it with something else to hide the screws.

Here's the collar with the weaterstriping applied to the bottom. I doubled the width up.



It fits!!!!









Still need to add the trim at the top and bottom and my top piece. Stay tuned

Ahh man...I was thinking this was pretty sweet until I saw the purple and gold...

Woo Pig Sooie! And sorry for the abnormally large hawg...Not so good at attaching the pictures.

Ryush806 said:

Ahh man...I was thinking this was pretty sweet until I saw the purple and gold...

Woo Pig Sooie! And sorry for the abnormally large hawg...Not so good at attaching the pictures.

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Haaaaaaaa!! I knew this design would get the college fans in a tizzy!!! Sorry about your hogs but at least you cheer for the SEC!!!

Just kidding!!!!

Scooba are you in BR??

Scooba said:

Haaaaaaaa!! I knew this design would get the college fans in a tizzy!!! Sorry about your hogs but at least you cheer for the SEC!!!

Just kidding!!!!

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I guess it's a good thing I'm not a huge basketball fan...*fail*

Anthonydazet said:

Scooba are you in BR??

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Not far. I'm in Lafayette, LA. Are u familiar with the Red Stck?

Sure is.... Live on highland rd right in the middle of BR

Scooba, hope you came thru the storms yesterday (3/11/12) without any flooding. I heard some areas had almost 20" of rain in just about 15 hours!

Beer-lord said:

Scooba, hope you came thru the storms yesterday (3/11/12) without any flooding. I heard some areas had almost 20" of rain in just about 15 hours!

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Thanks alot! We had 18 inches of rain in my neighbor's rain gauge in roughly 8 hrs. Thankfully, I probably live on the highest point in Carencro. My pool filled up but no damage to the house. Thanks for the concern!

Gotta say I love the color (I live in Baton Rouge, though, so it's easy for me to love)!!! Looking forward to seeing this build-out. I'll need to convert a freezer to a ferm chamber eventually but I've got a kegerator that I just built with 2 taps that will serve me well for the next year or so until I outgrow it!

Finally got the hinges screwed in!! They are the original hinges

Here is the exciting part!! The parts that actually poor beer!!




Perlicks 525's, chalkboard tap handles,











Still have some trim work and minor touchups to do. Will update soon!

looks fantastic... i'm working on building one myself this weekend with a buddy. I only hope it looks this good. Though I'm not a fan of the colors, I'm a Hokie and still remember the 48-7 whupping you guys put on us a few years back. Ouch...

Haaaaaaaa!! I knew this thread would bring out some team spirit!! I also hopes it inspires others to do the same!!

Geaux Tigers and Geaux SEC!!

jaytizzle said:

Gotta say I love the color (I live in Baton Rouge, though, so it's easy for me to love)!!! Looking forward to seeing this build-out. I'll need to convert a freezer to a ferm chamber eventually but I've got a kegerator that I just built with 2 taps that will serve me well for the next year or so until I outgrow it!

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Hey Jay, do you guys have a decent homebrew shop in BTR?

Scooba said:

Hey Jay, do you guys have a decent homebrew shop in BTR?

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Not one to be had. We can buy some basic supplies in at least one place but not a true LHBS. I've been to BrewStock in NOLA and liked it and the owner a lot. I hear there's a good one in Lafayette too that I need to go check out.

SEC 6 in a row!!

jaytizzle said:

Not one to be had. We can buy some basic supplies in at least one place but not a true LHBS. I've been to BrewStock in NOLA and liked it and the owner a lot. I hear there's a good one in Lafayette too that I need to go check out.

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If you find it, let me know!! If your talking about marcello's, they are a liquor store that sells some homebrew stuff. They are very knowledgable though. They have a few bulk grains, some basic kits, etc. They do not carry any liquid yeast.

Yeah, I was in a bind and swung by Marcello's to pick up a carboy last weekend. Their inventory is minimal but if I needed a quick fix I could grab a kit (I'm still an extract brewer) if absolutely necessary.

What stores are worth the trip to Laffy?

jaytizzle said:

Yeah, I was in a bind and swung by Marcello's to pick up a carboy last weekend. Their inventory is minimal but if I needed a quick fix I could grab a kit (I'm still an extract brewer) if absolutely necessary.

What stores are worth the trip to Laffy?

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Thats all I know.

Glad to see the LSU themed Keezer. Geaux!