Hey everyone! I've been brewing for about a year now and regularly lose sleep thinking about a new beer I want to brew. I've been lurking around HBT for quite a while now, but I thought I'd start a thread on a small DIY project I'm undertaking. I'd love your input/suggestions as I get it together.
Here's the deal: I'm a grad student and I live in a rented house. The house came with a spare fridge in the basement, which has sat empty since we moved in. Since it belongs to the landlord, I'm reluctant to start drilling holes in it. My plan is to build a kegerator inside the fridge, with taps available as soon as I open the door. Here's the fridge (you can see I'm racking my newest brew, Kal's Electric Pale Ale):
Being a grad student, this will be a 3 phase project to spread out the cost a little:
Phase 1: Corny + CO2 + Regulator + Picnic Tap = lamest kegerator ever. This is just to get the most expensive parts together. This morning I ordered a 5lb CO2 tank, one pin-lock corny, and a premium 2-keg basic kit with a dual regulator upgrade from KegConnection. The dual regulator might be overkill, but I thought it would be nice to be able to serve at different carb levels and I wanted to try to future-proof the setup as much as possible. I took out the door shelves and installed a simple floor, which seems to work well so far (that's a 5-gal carboy for scale):
Phase 2: False wall and Perlick faucet. I plan to put up a false wall inside the fridge a few inches inside the door and run faucets through it (with the kegs and CO2 tank behind it). I still need to figure out how I'm going to hinge it and keep it closed, as well as figure out lighting in front of it. I'm thinking about a rope light or LED strip across the top with a piece of moulding to make it look nice (any idea if I could power it from the existing interior light with a light socket/outlet adapter like this?).
Phase 3: Second keg and tap. I just can't help myself. Hopefully will be easy after installing the first.
So what do you guys think? Doable? Suggestions? Thanks!
Here's the deal: I'm a grad student and I live in a rented house. The house came with a spare fridge in the basement, which has sat empty since we moved in. Since it belongs to the landlord, I'm reluctant to start drilling holes in it. My plan is to build a kegerator inside the fridge, with taps available as soon as I open the door. Here's the fridge (you can see I'm racking my newest brew, Kal's Electric Pale Ale):
Being a grad student, this will be a 3 phase project to spread out the cost a little:
Phase 1: Corny + CO2 + Regulator + Picnic Tap = lamest kegerator ever. This is just to get the most expensive parts together. This morning I ordered a 5lb CO2 tank, one pin-lock corny, and a premium 2-keg basic kit with a dual regulator upgrade from KegConnection. The dual regulator might be overkill, but I thought it would be nice to be able to serve at different carb levels and I wanted to try to future-proof the setup as much as possible. I took out the door shelves and installed a simple floor, which seems to work well so far (that's a 5-gal carboy for scale):
Phase 2: False wall and Perlick faucet. I plan to put up a false wall inside the fridge a few inches inside the door and run faucets through it (with the kegs and CO2 tank behind it). I still need to figure out how I'm going to hinge it and keep it closed, as well as figure out lighting in front of it. I'm thinking about a rope light or LED strip across the top with a piece of moulding to make it look nice (any idea if I could power it from the existing interior light with a light socket/outlet adapter like this?).
Phase 3: Second keg and tap. I just can't help myself. Hopefully will be easy after installing the first.
So what do you guys think? Doable? Suggestions? Thanks!