First and foremost, a HUGE thank you to all who posted pictures and ideas in the "show us your kegerator" post. it was a million pages of inspiration and I went through every one of them.
It all started with an innocent little beer brewing kit from my brother in law. A few pints and a Google or two later I stumbled upon this awesome forum. Needless to say the consensus was apparently that I needed to keg instead of bottle, which suited me just fine because being like any real man, I relish the idea of going overboard in a hobby and also having rational and valid excuses to buy more gear... especially beer related gear. This seemingly simple and small project began a mere year and a half ago... a simple set of goals with what in hindsight appears to be the most complicated implementation I could come up with which when combined by my good old army schedule, became something of a monumental task.
Yep... still ain't finished with it.
Theory:
I could totally do this in, like maybe, two weekends tops...no problem
Overriding Goals:
Must be wife approved (isn't everything though?)
Must incorporate woodworking techniques I have no idea how to do
Must be as lightweight BUT as sturdy as possible (army moves a lot)
Must comfortably seat 6 brews with two on reserve. Why you ask? Because I can.
Hardware:
steady supply of beer... Fat Tire holds me over until I can serve my own
7.2 cu" freezer
6 corny kegs
love controller and temp probe
lots of pine, oak, wood glue, nails, etc.
6 taps and associated hardware to include a Guinness tap
Remaining:
Edging for bar top
bar top epoxy
trim on coffin and bartop
oak panels for sides
tap handles
All remaining plumbing
lighting in coffin
brewery emblem
fans for coffin and freezer side ventilation
geeking it out with beer remaining displays and anything else I come up with
The frame that the freezer sits on is 5 feet long and 2 feet in depth with casters raised on either side so the freezer itself is actually lower than the casters mount point. With the height I was adding with the collar and the bar top I needed to keep the actual freezer as low as possible while still maintaining mobility.
The collar is actually two collars made out of planks, so I have a hollow to run the air hoses through, all topped with spare 1/4" underlayment which in the future will be painted white. The top boards are screwed in allowing future access and the screws are hidden by the weather stripping. The outer collar extends out to create a shelf for the regulators and the love controller and also to create a top for a future 2 corny chilled storage area on the right hand side.
The top was a new technique for me called a torsion board, pretty much the same concept behind airplane wing assembly. It is INCREDIBLY strong and amazingly lightweight(WAY lighter than the standard 3/4"-1" plywood top). I takes a bit of time and serious careful measurement. Also learned it needs to be assembled on a flat surface because it will mirror the surface you assemble it on. And since I couldn't find a suitable 32" driptray I decided to make it myself out of wood and incorporate it into the top.
Recently I had a party and needed the kegerator at least operational, hence the tap handle and everything pretty much being unfinished. It was tested quite thoroughly the friday prior by my close buddy and myself checking and rechecking with 6 pitchers of Aviator Steamhead (local NC Brewery).
When beer is involved, if it's worth checking once, it worth checking at least five more times afterwards...
I will continue to update as work progresses...
But with beer flowing the progress may be less so...
It all started with an innocent little beer brewing kit from my brother in law. A few pints and a Google or two later I stumbled upon this awesome forum. Needless to say the consensus was apparently that I needed to keg instead of bottle, which suited me just fine because being like any real man, I relish the idea of going overboard in a hobby and also having rational and valid excuses to buy more gear... especially beer related gear. This seemingly simple and small project began a mere year and a half ago... a simple set of goals with what in hindsight appears to be the most complicated implementation I could come up with which when combined by my good old army schedule, became something of a monumental task.
Yep... still ain't finished with it.
Theory:
I could totally do this in, like maybe, two weekends tops...no problem
Overriding Goals:
Must be wife approved (isn't everything though?)
Must incorporate woodworking techniques I have no idea how to do
Must be as lightweight BUT as sturdy as possible (army moves a lot)
Must comfortably seat 6 brews with two on reserve. Why you ask? Because I can.
Hardware:
steady supply of beer... Fat Tire holds me over until I can serve my own
7.2 cu" freezer
6 corny kegs
love controller and temp probe
lots of pine, oak, wood glue, nails, etc.
6 taps and associated hardware to include a Guinness tap
Remaining:
Edging for bar top
bar top epoxy
trim on coffin and bartop
oak panels for sides
tap handles
All remaining plumbing
lighting in coffin
brewery emblem
fans for coffin and freezer side ventilation
geeking it out with beer remaining displays and anything else I come up with
The frame that the freezer sits on is 5 feet long and 2 feet in depth with casters raised on either side so the freezer itself is actually lower than the casters mount point. With the height I was adding with the collar and the bar top I needed to keep the actual freezer as low as possible while still maintaining mobility.
The collar is actually two collars made out of planks, so I have a hollow to run the air hoses through, all topped with spare 1/4" underlayment which in the future will be painted white. The top boards are screwed in allowing future access and the screws are hidden by the weather stripping. The outer collar extends out to create a shelf for the regulators and the love controller and also to create a top for a future 2 corny chilled storage area on the right hand side.
The top was a new technique for me called a torsion board, pretty much the same concept behind airplane wing assembly. It is INCREDIBLY strong and amazingly lightweight(WAY lighter than the standard 3/4"-1" plywood top). I takes a bit of time and serious careful measurement. Also learned it needs to be assembled on a flat surface because it will mirror the surface you assemble it on. And since I couldn't find a suitable 32" driptray I decided to make it myself out of wood and incorporate it into the top.
Recently I had a party and needed the kegerator at least operational, hence the tap handle and everything pretty much being unfinished. It was tested quite thoroughly the friday prior by my close buddy and myself checking and rechecking with 6 pitchers of Aviator Steamhead (local NC Brewery).
When beer is involved, if it's worth checking once, it worth checking at least five more times afterwards...
I will continue to update as work progresses...
But with beer flowing the progress may be less so...
