Keezer advice

So I'm planning on putting together a kegging system, and I was was wondering if there's any major problems with just using picnic dispensers rather than getting proper faucets? Do they leak everywhere? This will be inside a converted chest freezer, so cleanup will be a *****.

Also, if I do go with faucets, is it better to build a collar or to use tower faucets? What's the installation like when using a tower faucet?

For your first question, picnic faucets are used a lot and work fine. I don't like them. I find regular faucets not only look better but they work better.

For your second question, you can do a lot of searching on here and find some good info. It is really up to you. I went with a collar and faucet route because I didn't want to drill any holes in my new freezer. I like the tower better because it brings the faucets up to a good pouring height for me (i'm 6'2") but again I didn't want to put a hole on the top of my freezer. You can also build a coffin around the whole freezer but that takes more money and carpentry skills.

1. Nothing wrong with Picnic taps....I have 4 kegs in my system and 3 are hooked up via regular taps....last one is hooked up via picnic tap. It is my "hidden" treasure. Before I got the money for the faucets, I used picnic taps exclusively. They both work well and get you drunk!

2. I prefer the collar route - similar to the last poster...I didnt want to drill any holes or make permanent changes to my chest freezer. Not that I ever plan on doing away with my keezer build and returning it to a chest freezer....

To each there own!

I am not using the lid at all and am building a complete new top with faucets in the front. I want to be able to keep bottles of beer and chilled glasses in the keezer, and I didn't want to mess with a trap door (which would essentially be required with a coffin design) or something fancier.

In truth, I like the design that a few guys have built, which have two sets of hinges, one for the lid (for easy access to chilled glasses) and one for the collar (to make it easier to switch kegs) ... but SWMBO wanted something nicer on the top, so we're doing some glass tile surrounded by black tile, which makes the dual hinge design pretty much impossible.

Picnic taps are fine (i use three faucets and two picnic taps in my keezer) but just be warned that they DRIP. Once you've gotten used to pouring with them, you'll be fine, but when your buddy goes out for a beer and the puts down the picnic tap...drip, drip, drip all over your freezer floor which is so. far. down.

collar v. tower: i have a 9.5in collar. i like it a lot, but I also built the keezer up off the ground a few inches. I've always thought that it "feels weird" to pour a beer at waist level, so aesthetically I guess I like either a really tall collar or a tower. If I did it again....I might go with the tower, because it can really be a pain in the ass to lift that 5th keg over the lip of the collar and push it down into the crammed freezer amidst all the hoses and tanks and regulators and all that. Whatever you do, have fun with it and post some pics!

A brew club member had a picnick tap fail in his keezer and dump an entire keg. As for tower/collar, if you have or may ever want kids or a dog, go tower to avoid tampering/licking! Can't over-emphasize that last bit enough. You do not want to have the feelings that happen when your 2 year old tuggs on that shiny thing and empties a keg in your rec-room, and you will not like the look on a friend's face when Fido is caught licking the taps.