Kegging and Lagering help needed

Howdy,

I would like to get into brewing 'lager-beer', rather than ale all the time.
Kegerators seem to be for holding one or two corny kegs ready for dispensing, but are not big enough for ferminting several kegs, ' 4-5-6-8... over a long period of time.
Old refrigerators look like **** and I was thinking a freezer would be a better choice.
with one or two taps, to save a little on bottling.
Last year I bought a temperature controler for an old fridge, but the old fridge deal fell through.
I was thinking a freezer would have more space for corny kegs and the cold air wouldn't fall out the door every time it was opened. I am still looking...

1. Can a freezer have a tap mounted on it somewhere?
{The last refrigerator I tried wouldn't hold a temp. near 30-40 degrees.}
I don't brew in the summer as it is too hot.
2. Wouldn't a cheap freezer have a better insulation, more 'corny' capacity,
and better motor than a cheap refrigerator?
3. Anybody here on the forum use freezers for their ferminters?
4. I did a major search and one guy said 'freezers'!
5. One corny keg, on tap, at a time would save me lots of nights up bottling.
6. Any input would be appreciated.


J. Winters Knife and Sandymae

Thanks

Do a search on "chest freezer" and you should come up with some results which meet your needs. For serving purposes, you can construct a wood collar and attach the lid to the collar and the collar to the top of the freezer, then insulate. This way you can drill for taps directly into the collar and dispense from the freezer. Or, if the freezer is tall enough, you could just go the cobra head route and save some work. I don't recommend drilling through the freezer itself however unless you are 100% positive there are no cooling lines running through the spot you've chosen.

Check you local Craigslist for chest freezers, usually there are a variety and many times people are getting rid of them at no cost. A larger one in the 15-20 cubic foot range can hold a dozen corny kegs or you can mix and match kegs and fermenters. Your temp controller should work on it as well. There's no reason why you couldn't lager in the freezer during the summer while simultaneously serving from it if it was large enough. Good luck!

This is a old picture of my set up (I've cleaned up this mess since, I promise Mom).

I removed the lid of the chest freezer and replaced it with a sheet of oak veneered plywood, with an oak trim around the edge. There's enough room inside for five cornies, my CO2 bottle and all the plumbing.

You have to minimise opening and closing the lid to avoid condensation inside