So looking to do a basic Keezer, advice?

Browsing threads for a while and did the same when ordering my keg setup, here is the basics of what I am putting together.

Holiday 7.0 cu ft freezer from Lowes $189
A419 Temperature controller from NB $79
Deluxe 2 tap system from Midwest Supplies $355 (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrew-deluxe-2-tap-system.html)
and once I pick up the freezer will begin looking at lumber.

Guess my main questions are;
1. Has anyone used this freezer? Any luck?
2. Should I pick up some weatherstripping to place on the collar?
3.How would you secure the co2 tank inside or out? Bungy? Crate?
4. What is best in life? Crushing the enemy, seeing them driven before you. Hearing the lamentation of the women? Or Crushing grains, mashing them in a tun, and seeing them ferment before you.

A couple things I would do differently, based on my experience:

- Go with the STC-2000. $20 on ebay. I have two of them now and they work great and are easy to install.
- If you can afford it, spend the extra money and get Perlick 525 faucets and stainless shanks. I think that most people who have a keezer for a while end up being happier with stainless faucets and that much happier again with the Perlicks.
- You can always go with a larger freezer now and add more kegs/taps as you can afford to. You will probably find that two taps isn't enough and you'll want to upgrade. If you get a bigger freezer, upgrading is as simple as buying a keg and the hardware. If you start with a smaller freezer and can't add any kegs in the future, upgrading becomes a lot more expensive.
- Don't buy a new freezer. Check craigslist. Ask friends. My last freezer came out of my buddy's garage and cost me $60 and a case of homebrew.

Do those kegs come with new poppets and o-rings? If not, you will want to replace them.

To answer your questions:
- No
- I would. It's cheap and sure won't hurt.
- Mine's inside. My freezer came with a separator for items in the compressor hump area and it lives there.
- I would have to see pics of the women first.

Just make sure that the cooling coils do not go through the shelves when you choose a freezer and the rest looks great. If the coils do go through the shelves it makes converting a little more difficult, but still not impossible. Mine has them in the shelves and works great on an STC-1000 set up in a 2 outlet "Old Work" box from Carlon. If I had it to do all over again, I would only change the brand of freezer and leave everything else the exact same. Good luck and don't forget them pics or it didn't really happen. Just kidding, because I am the worst about remembering to take photos as I go. Wheelchair Bob

LovesIPA said:

A couple things I would do differently, based on my experience:

- Go with the STC-2000. $20 on ebay. I have two of them now and they work great and are easy to install.
- If you can afford it, spend the extra money and get Perlick 525 faucets and stainless shanks. I think that most people who have a keezer for a while end up being happier with stainless faucets and that much happier again with the Perlicks.
- You can always go with a larger freezer now and add more kegs/taps as you can afford to. You will probably find that two taps isn't enough and you'll want to upgrade. If you get a bigger freezer, upgrading is as simple as buying a keg and the hardware. If you start with a smaller freezer and can't add any kegs in the future, upgrading becomes a lot more expensive.
- Don't buy a new freezer. Check craigslist. Ask friends. My last freezer came out of my buddy's garage and cost me $60 and a case of homebrew.

Do those kegs come with new poppets and o-rings? If not, you will want to replace them.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! I only went with A419 because the extent of my wiring/electronics skills are putting new batteries in a remote and graphics card/hard drive in my pc. If it's not that complicated and I won't kill myself doing it I'll definitely give it a go(specially if cost is far far better). I've lurked on craigslist and the most I've seen for freezers and fridge units are pretty sad. Either it's side by side fridge units for $500 and up or the freezers are 3cuft. Saw a 10cu ft for $800 but had no cash at the time. There's a sale right now so cost wise buying new wasn't too bad of a kick to the pocketbook. But believe me I still keep looking and hoping. This freezer should at max hold 4kegs tight. Size wise comes down to space and how much I actually drink. Going bigger def would be nice in the long run but I usually go in moderation so 3-4 taps should serve me fine.

I have cluster migraines and in the past I ruled out beer drinking entirely as most the ones I tried immediately resulted in massively painful headaches. But thanks to homebrewing I'm making and discovering beers I can drink without regretting it later.

I picked up a few sets of o-rings before I ordered the kegs to keep in storage and the off chance the rings came needing replacement(also keg lube and KLC). I know I'll likely replace the faucets later but for now will see how it all does. I also say that because the set arrived today lol. Where I live I'm sort of at the mercy of the internet as my LHBS doesn't carry much in the way of kegging and one out of 4 employees really is helpful. Next choice brewstore is 2hours away and Seattle Expensive.


Something I meant to ask, after talking with a good friend of mine. Mini humidifiers? Best way to keep kegs off the floor? Or should they be fine.

Next will be picking up a fan for the collar. Thanks again for the help and info!