CO2 bottle location

building my Keezer, is it best to have the co2 bottle on the inside or outside and reason why please somebody

It doesn't matter. The tank pressure is temperature dependent, but even at very low temperatures there will be more than enough tank pressure available. Put it wherever it's convenient. I usually keep the tank on the outside and only hook it up to boost the keg pressures occasionally.

I keep mine inside, and it is always on.

Advantage Inside...

No loose parts to get tangled, nobody can knock the bottle over...or screw with your adjusting knobs.

Disadvantage Inside...

Gotta open the Keezer just to check bottle pressure, swap out bottles, takes up space inside that could be used for beer.


Advantage Outside:

Easy to check bottle pressure, easy to swap out bottles, without opening keezer.

Disadvantage Outside: have to secure bottle some way to keep it from getting knocked over. Extra lines...have to drill another hole through keezer.

All in all...it matters not. As long as CO2 at the proper pressure gets to the kegs...It's all good.

I keep mine inside however I think it better in the long run to keep it outside. Not sure that the cold & moisture is good for the regulator and if you own a steel tank not sure about the rust potential. If you are exchanging tanks I guess no big deal. I recently took apart an old regulator that I bought and it had some corrosion on the inside, not sure of its history but be aware of it.

Other reasons as stated above I pretty much agree with.

If I were to drill through an upright freezer with the shelving being the coils that freeze... where would be the safest place to put this thing?

Of course, I'm eventually going to get a chest freezer, and then this is going to become a fermentation chamber, so I'm not sure if it's a good idea...

You must locate any refrigerant lines in the wallse prior to drilling. Typically, for an upright, the condenser coils are in the back, but not always. Some have them in the exterior walls. You know where the evaporator coils are (in the shelves), so those are easily avoided. Look to see if the condenser coils (sometimes just finned tubing) is mounted on the back of the freezer. It willl be large, so you can't miss it. If you don't see it, then it's likely hidden in the walls like my chest freezer. I have an upright like yours. I use it for storing my bottled lagers and hops. I run it at near freezing most ot the time. I did recently discover that you can fit a keg on the shelves if you lay it on its side and position it at an angle from front to back. I did remove the door panel on mine to provide more clearance, so if yoiur still has the door panel in place, this may not work. So, I can lager kegs in it or for cold conditioning any beer. The coils in the shelves are a PIA, but you can work around it. I got my freezer for nothing, so I can put up with a little hassle I guess.

Condenser coils are normally easily located because the condenser gives off heat. The hottest wall of the freezer is where the condenser is located. On both of my chest freezers it happens to be the front wall.

LandofOZ said:

building my Keezer, is it best to have the co2 bottle on the inside or outside and reason why please somebody

Click to expand...

Yes it is best to have the co2 bottle on the inside or outside ...

This topic has lead to much heated discussion among the homebrewing community. Recently they have come to a very general consensus. Essentially, they have declared that the optimum location for a CO2 cylinder is inside or outside of a keggerator type modified freezer. There really seem to be no viable alternatives, so for the moment, the topic is dead at least until new evidence surfaces.

It depends of your specific application of where your keezer is located.
For me it is not going to happen having a 50# Co2 bottle plus a 150 cu/ft
stout mixed gas bottle in a keezer. hell the bottle is taller than the keezer is long.
I have a laundry room in the family room to store the bottles out of sight plus a boxed in foundation to run the lines to the keezer. There is a close nipple thru the keezer with both lines sealed off with duct seal at both ends of the chase nipple. Big bottles for less refillings at a lot lower cost plus handy to adjust pressures with more room in the keezer plus no moisture problems with the regulators to worry about. I have the room to step up to larger 280 cu/ft stout gas mix bottles just roll them in place and rehook the regulators.
I want the maximum use of the keezer for corny's not gas bottles is my thinking plus an enclosed area to hide the biggest owner owned bottles for the cheapest refill cost per cu/ft or pounds Co2 sure is handy in my case.
I can see a 5# Co2 if going to a party with a corny but I have plenty of them available thru friends if needed.