In the middle of my keezer build...

So I literally just joined the site about an hour ago after hearing about it from a fellow brewer. Quick background: I have been brewing for just about two years, stepped up to all grain about 6 months ago, and now my obsession snowballing out of control. Evidence: one corny with picnic tap and mini CO2 tank has now grown into a keezer build!

Anyway, here is goes:

Original freezer off of CL, thing was less than a year old, got it for 50 bucks, its the Holiday 5.3. Top is off.



And with two corny's inside checking for fit. This thing holds three easily and will fit a 5# CO2 tank on the hump.



Lid off and upside down with weather stripping/seal thing taken off



I had to cut the outside lip off of the lid's plastic cover in order to get the boards of the collar to sit flush against the lid

I used 1x6 pine boards for the collar. I had originally considered attaching the collar to the fridge itself, but because the cornys are going to take up the entire floor of the freezer, that would put at least one of the corny's directly under the shanks, which would make it a pain to get in and out. I would have had to take one of the corny's out, slide the one under the shanks over, and then lift that one out. Too much of an inconvenience for me, so I decided to move the collar to the lid. This also made me reconsider the wood selection and downsize from a 2x6 to a thinner 1x6 board in order to keep some of the weight down.

Here are the holes I drilled with a 15/16" spade bit. Holes are about 4" apart.



Here is how I attached the boards together. I applied wood glue in all the joints before screwing in this metal elbow pieces to add extra strength. I am going to lay down a nice thick bead of clear silicone to attach the wood collar to the lid, but I put one of these "l" brackets in each corner to attach to the metal lip of the lid to hold it on extra tight.



And here's a close-up of the corner hardware:



Testing the fit on the lid...my cuts actually turned out pretty true!

And here is the test fit on top of the body:



And my awesome, totally professional wood clamps for overnight!



So that is what I have so far. Lots of progress still to be had, I am going to Lowe's tomorrow to pick out the stain color, which is actually where I wanted some help from all of you here.

First question: Not having much experience with staining, is the normal stain then polyurethane coating enough to ward off any problems with moisture, wetness associated with use on the freezer?

Second: What color do I go with? I am keeping the freezer white, and had an inkling toward which I think would look best, but just wanted to get some other opinions. Here are minwax's color options (I know they are hard to see)



I think my top choice right now is the one in the top row to the far right which Minwax calls "Early American" It is a mid range darkness with just a little bit of a red hint in it. I think a "redder" stain would be a good combo with the white. Anyway, just wanted some outside input. Thanks everyone!

If I were doing it I would go to a boating supply store and buy a clear finish. Will last 1000 kegs at least! Color choice ask your wife or significant other.

Looks good! I would go with something light, but depends on the grain of the wood. As you see in the samples, it can soak it in and cause real variances in your stain. Polyurethane maybe?

Also, I didn't search again, but with that collar height, I THINK you can fit a corny on the hump if you move your CO2 tank external... Just a thought welcome to the boards!

I would suggest coating with Spar Urethane Varnish. It is super durable, easy to apply, and looks nice.

So I have a few more progress pics to show off now. I got the collar stained, and all sealed up and attached to the lid.

Hinges Attached



Lid Attached, and weatherstripping applied to the edge

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Just curious, if the freezer wont hold any more kegs, why did you off set the faucet mounting?

Well I am only installing three of the four taps for now, so offsetting leaves room for the fourth, as well as I plan on installing a permanent metal bottle opener and wanted to leave space on the wood collar to mount it in the front. Good question though, my buddy who came over today to help me asked the exact same question.

Ahhh, I missed the holds four part.