Taps through the front of a mini fridge

As much as I would love to build even a basic keezer, due to space I'm instead looking at converting a small fridge. Almost all of the designs I see have towers coming out the top. Is there any reason to not route the taps through the front of the door?

The taps coming out of the door are a bit low, around waist height.

I have a mini fridge with a tap through the door. Its a little low, but there's also a couch next to it so it actually works out pretty damn well!

Thanks for the prompt feedback. Very strategic placing with the couch! This project isn't necessarily ideal, but as I have 2 beers carbing/conditioning in kegs now, and my goal is to pour pints from them in 2 weeks on my birthday, this is the route I'm going to have to take for now. Depending on how the project works out, I may even be able to place the mini fridge on top of my workbench, making the tap height a little more tolerable!

This was my first keezer, a mini-fridge with two taps in the door. I built a stand to raise it up so I wouldn't have to bend over so far. As you can see, I also installed a removable drip tray in the stand. It didn't take long before I outgrew two kegs and now have a 4 keg version

i have a 2 keg mini fridge with taps through the doors, it's sequestered off from the public anyways so aesthetics aren't paramount. i just put the taps up as high as i could, and the tap handles stick above the fridge top similar to the above. still below hip height but i can assure you the beer is just as good, just a little further to lift to dump it in your gob

As light as those mini fridges are, you could set it up on a counter top somewhere. It would be a great height and you wont get the dust bunnies collecting under/behind it as fast as they would on the floor..

Thanks for the pictures and the reinforcement! That style just isn't that common amongst the threads and I wanted to make sure there wasn't a reason that prohibited it. Just picked up a nearly new GE 4.5 cubic foot fridge off Craigslist. I'm hoping I'll be able to make necessary modifications to it over the next week so the kegs have a chance to cool and carb for a week before pulling the handles. I'm really going to have to keep myself occupied that week to resist the temptation to sample!

First the bad news - as I was bending the freezer divider out of the way I snapped the coolant line right off.

Now the good news - I decide to cut my losses, drove to Sams Club, and picked up a brand new one. Less than two hours later, the fridge is plugged in and I'm waiting for it to get to stabilize its temperature.

This isn't exactly what I was looking for, but it ought to work just fine in the meantime. Thanks again!

Looks good! I mounted the taps as high as I could on mine and quickly realized that you need to take the handles off when opening the microwave door that sits atop it so fair warning.

Good to know! Right now I think they are just at flush with the top. I went slightly higher to make sure the shanks had enough clearance above the top of the kegs. It's definitely tight in there, but so far everything fits and functions. Now I need to figure out exactly where I'm going to stash it in my garage.

I know this is old, but I'm looking to do the same. What size shanks did u use? Where did u get them? Thanks!

After putting the fridge up on a small shelf in my garage, they are at nearly a perfect serving height for me. The shanks I used came with a kegging combo kit I picked up nearly new on Craigslist. I think they are 5" which are a bit long, but I haven't been motivated enough to replace them. They are just high enough to clear the top of the ball lock keg handles inside the fridge. The kit I picked up is the same as this: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrew-deluxe-2-tap-system.html.

tonyc318 said:

I know this is old, but I'm looking to do the same. What size shanks did u use? Where did u get them? Thanks!

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kscarrington said:

After putting the fridge up on a small shelf in my garage, they are at nearly a perfect serving height for me. The shanks I used came with a kegging combo kit I picked up nearly new on Craigslist. I think they are 5" which are a bit long, but I haven't been motivated enough to replace them. They are just high enough to clear the top of the ball lock keg handles inside the fridge. The kit I picked up is the same as this: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrew-deluxe-2-tap-system.html.

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Thanks for the info man! I appreciate it.

Anytime, glad to help! Feel free to post a picture once you get yours up and running. Since last spring I've added several stickers for "flair" and upgraded the faucets to Perlicks. Eventually I will build my dream keezer, but in the meantime this little setup didn't set me back too much, and it continues to effortlessly pour pints of homemade heaven. As a matter of fact, as I sip my Alaska Freeride APA, I'm almost disappointed that I didn't pour a pint of my Galaxy Pale Ale......

Enjoy the kegging project, I can almost guarantee you'll love it. I don't mind bottling, and still regularly bottle certain batches, but there's just something different about pouring your own pint from a keg. Cheers!

tonyc318 said:

Thanks for the info man! I appreciate it.

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What do you think is the shortest possible shank u could used on a mini fridge door?

I had replaced the inside door panel with fiberboard. I just measured mine and I could lose 1.5" off my shank length and still have plenty of threads to hold onto. YMMV. Measure twice, cut once!

tonyc318 said:

What do you think is the shortest possible shank u could used on a mini fridge door?

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Can y'all post a pic of the inside of your fridges? I am looking to see if I can do a few 2.5g in my bottle fridge.

I'm kind of liking the idea of this and adding a 2 to 3 foot stand on the bottom... What's the smallest cubic foot fridge I could feel comfortable getting 2 kegs into, 4.5ft3?

I thought I had some pics saved on my phone but I was wrong. I'm out of town for training but can snap some pics when I get back on Thursday.

HDIr0n said:

Can y'all post a pic of the inside of your fridges? I am looking to see if I can do a few 2.5g in my bottle fridge.

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