Bev-Air Fridge Conversion to Kegerator

I purchased a back bar Beverage-Air commercial refrigeration unit with the plan to convert it into a kegerator. I have about twelve 5 gallon cornies and it fits all of them with plenty of extra room leftover. I was considering going more on the cheap with a chest freezer conversion but really wanted the ability to build a bar around this thing in the future and loved the idea of being able to open the doors out from the bottom for keg loading/changing. I also found a killer ceramic 2-tap draft setup on Ebay which I built into the rig. I went with a 2 inch copper pipe to encase my 2 lines. The first beer pulls cold with no foaming at all and I don't have to have a fan to move the cold air up into the draft system.

Bev-Air unit:



Ceramic CruzCampo tap:



Installing the post with some great stuff around it to hold it in place and insulate:



Finished install:


I could have purchased the bev-air unit with the taps already installed but it is more expensive, plus I wanted to have the tap location in the center and use my own instead of the stock ones they provide. I couldn't be happier with it.

Very cool. I am looking at doing the same thing with a unit as yet to be purchased. What did you use to cut through the top? Did you end up warping the stainless at all? Totally agree about the pre-built units. I am pretty sure they use crappy taps and there is no way it would be woth the money considering I'd just have to replace everything with forward seal faucets and whatnot. Same with the Keezers man. They just don't look good.

Cheers,

-J

Nice keezer!,

I really dig that ceramic tower. Now you need a drip tray. Barproducts.com has cheap stainless good quality trays if you don't have one already. Also, you going to dress that tower out with a sticker or logo of your brewery? Your going to enjoy that rig for sure.

Snake10

Jazong- I used a hole saw with my drill to cut through the top. Can't remember the size off hand but it was just barely larger than the copper pipe. The stainless is thin so with a little oil for lube, it cut right through it and it is in terrific shape around the cut with no warping. There is just wood and some fiberglass type insulation between the stainless and the other side. Not too thick.

Thanks Snake- Yeah, I ended up using my old drip tray that I had on my previous ghetto fridge kegerator. I can't decide if I want to alter the tower yet as I think the drunken fat guy is pretty cool. I may at least replace the CRUZCAMPO lettering with my brewery name (Outlaw Joelsy Ales).

Wow that is classy!! Good job!