Deciding how many taps to install

I have a Holiday 7 ft^3 chest freezer that is soon to become my keezer. I was wondering, from others that have this model freezer, how many taps do you have? And, if you have a certain number of taps how many do you wish you had installed or not installed? I am going to buy the premium all stainless kit from kegconnection.com as soon as I get my tax return back in the next week or so, and I need to decide which kit to buy. I really want 4 taps, but then I wouldn't even use all four if I had some kegs in there carbing up or conditioning. Maybe two or three taps is better? Just looking for some advice before I pull the trigger on my new setup. I plan on ordering enough extra kegs with the kit so I have about 6 on hand. I am also going to order a secondary regulator and an extra two way manifold so I can have some kegs on higher pressure, in case of force carb or soda for swmbo. Thank you all!

I have the 7.2 Magic Chef and I can get 4 cornies in there with my Co2 bottle and other stuff. I was going to put 4 taps on it originally but just installed one at a time. Now that I have 2 taps installed, I don't see me putting anymore on. When it is full, I have 2 kegs on tap and 2 carbing. 2 is enough for me.

If you have the money to invest in it now, I would just do all four from the beginning. I have a two tap kegerator and I always wish I had more. At the very least I'd want three, 1. session beer 2-pale ale/ipa 3-stout/porter/high alcohol.

I'm building my keezer now (GE 7.0) and it will have four taps. I originally planned to only install 2 taps but I decided to just bite the bullet and do 4 now and be done with it.

Plus, having more taps will allow you to have a larger selection of brews, apfelwein, soda, etc. available for when friends/family come to visit.

I'm in the same boat...I'd like to get everything at once for my keezer. The cost really adds up when you start getting 4-5 SS faucets/shanks/connections.

For those with 4 or more taps, do you typically have all systems go or are 1 or 2 offline? I was thinking of getting 4 regular faucets and a creamer, even though I could really only have 4 total kegs in my keezer. Would it be better to just swap out the creamer when not in use instead of having 5 taps available at all times?

I just started buying items for my keezer build, gonna pick up Holiday 7 or GE 7 whichever the store has at the time. Originally I was saying I only wanted 3 taps, but then I talked myself into 4. Even if you don't run tap 4 all of the time, it's nice to have ready to go when you get the itch for another brew on tap. As well, once you get your pipeline going you will be able to have 3-4 serving so go for it

Get all 4.

I have 3 taps but my wife commandeered 1 for a sweet stout which I don't drink, so I'm down to 2.

I've got four kegs in mine with four taps and I still have some room for bottles on the hump.

Ok I think I decided to go with four. Kegconnection has a new three gallon keg upgrade for 80 dollars so I may grab one of those too for putting on the hump in between full kegs, parties, etc. I'm just gonna buy a few extra kegs with the kit and get going on it. I've got three batches that are all one month in the primary thus far. Thanks for all the advice everyone!

I have 2 right now and will be moving to 5-6 as I complete my bar build. As many as you can fit is my suggestion. There's nothing wrong with having 4 taps empty 99% of the time. it makes it worthwhile the 1% when you have enough pipeline to have them all up. I am sick of the 2 beers I currently have and wish I had more options.

That's a good point, getting sick of the beers by not having variety. The holiday 7 will hold four ball locks on the floor it looks like from other builds on here.

I agree with as many as you can as money permits. I would go with 4. If you think you would use the creamer tap somewhat often, and you have the money for all of them, then go with 5 and leave some on empty. Are you going to build a coffin or use towers? Theres not much to having the extra tap, just another line and disconnect.

milesvdustin said:

That's a good point, getting sick of the beers by not having variety. The holiday 7 will hold four ball locks on the floor it looks like from other builds on here.

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It's super tight. I only shoved a fourth down on the floor once and had a hell of a time getting it back out. My current arrangement is three on the floor with my CO2 tank with plans to get a 3 gallon for the hump.

I am going to build an 8-10" collar for it, insulated. I don't think there are coolant lines on the edge of the hump, are there? If not, I am going to take a sledge and beat that thing in about an inch or so to make room for four on the floor.

There is a chance that there could be coolant lines there, I would be careful if you pull out the sledge. That is most likely where the compressor is also.

You should be able to get 3 on the floor and one on the hump with the 10" collar, just run your CO2 outside.

Sunbeam 7.2 from menards is perfect. 4 on the floor with 5lb co2 on the hump. no collar needed.

kpr121 said:

There is a chance that there could be coolant lines there, I would be careful if you pull out the sledge. That is most likely where the compressor is also.

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I know the compressor is there, thats why It's the compressor hump.... But the compressor is about four inches from the wall there, and I don't see a coolant line entering that section or leaving it. I only want to bash it in about an inch or less to make that fourth keg fit much easier.

yeast_infection said:

Sunbeam 7.2 from menards is perfect. 4 on the floor with 5lb co2 on the hump. no collar needed.

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I agree, a larger chest freezer would be nice, but I already own the Holiday 7 ft^3 one. Some say it fits four on the floor some say it doesnt. If mine barely needs a fraction of an inch to it, I want to create that small space in there.

milesvdustin said:

That's a good point, getting sick of the beers by not having variety. The holiday 7 will hold four ball locks on the floor it looks like from other builds on here.

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Only if you have a LOT of time to brew. I recently went from 2 to 4 taps, it's a lot of extra brewing to keep all 4 going, and I don't even have a day job.

By my advanced mathematical calculations, I believe it's twice as much brewing.


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milesvdustin said:

I agree, a larger chest freezer would be nice, but I already own the Holiday 7 ft^3 one. Some say it fits four on the floor some say it doesnt. If mine barely needs a fraction of an inch to it, I want to create that small space in there.

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4 ball locks will fit. I had to give the last one some convincing to get it down and then had to give it hell to get it back out. Bottom line is it was just too much of a hassle for me. Also, I wouldn't have at the compressor hump with a sledge... that sounds like a good way to end up with a large paperweight.

I would give it a few love taps.... maybe ill go to the junkyard and see what is inside that wall there on another freezer.

I have 6 and wish I could fit more (full size fridge). I say go with as many as you can fit. I have a full time job and just brew on my time off. Doesn't take that much brewing.

Yeah, I'm gonna fit four in the floor, and hopefully one on the hump. I will mount the co2 outside. I think a couple three gallon kegs are in order too to jam in there for extra. I decided I am going to do four taps and a dual regulator so I can force carb or serve soda. Thank you all for the input it helped me a lot. I was going to go with two, but you all doubled that.... I think this may be easier than convincing my wife that we need a second big green egg!

i bought 3, but plan to get a 4th for root beers/sodas exclusively. at least 3 should be fine.

Brewingkitty, your Jon lajoie signature makes me laugh, love that guy's stuff. He has his own channel on YouTube.

Don't you think that the answer to this depends on whether you force carb or not. I don't have a dual guage reg., so even if I had 4 full kegs, I would probably only be serving 2 at a time, unless it took a really long time to kick one of the kegs--which isn't very likely!