Newbie with kegerator questions

Hi everyone! My husband and I have been kegging our homebrew for about a year now and have decided to step up our game to get a kegerator. We are thinking that we want a 3 tap kegerator that can accommodate both corny kegs for homebrew but also perhaps 1 tap for a "guest beer." The kegerator will be living out in a space next to our kitchen, so it needs to be attractive enough to be freestanding (ie: no keezer unfortunately). I would prefer something with a stainless door finish.

What would you recommend? We had been looking at the Sanyos, but my husband's research suggests that we might need to drill a hole in the top to accommodate our needs, and we're a bit nervous about that. Is this a good brand? Is there another brand you'd recommend?

Thanks so much!

Most compact fridges or kegerators will only accommodate 2 corny kegs, so you're only option if you want 3 taps is a full size fridge or a keezer.

Thanks. The Sanyo, from everything I've read, will hold 3 corny kegs, which is why we were initially looking at that one.

Please list the model. I am not aware of any that hold more than 2.

Beer meister holds 3 as well, I have one and love it.

Slipgate said:

Please list the model. I am not aware of any that hold more than 2.

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Model is BC-1206S-3. According to this spec sheet and what I've read elsewhere, 3 homebrew/commercial 5 gal kegs should fit. Is this wrong? I'd hate to spend the money to find that it won't do the job.

Wreck99 said:

Beer meister holds 3 as well, I have one and love it.

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Thanks - that's good to know. Is yours set up with all corny/homebrew, or do you do a mix?

Ah ok thanks. That is an actual "real" kegerator as opposed to the conversion fridges that a lot of people on here make. The conversion fridges have a hump on the back and only hold 2 cornies plus a 5lb CO2.

That Sanyo looks like for $900 it doesn't come with any connections. They are all listed separately depending on what you need. It looks like that will be well over $1000 once it is actually ready to use.

I built my dual regulator, 2 keg system with everything including kegs for around $500. I'll go out on a limb here, that Sanyo kegerator is an ungodly ripoff!

Bustergordon said:

Thanks - that's good to know. Is yours set up with all corny/homebrew, or do you do a mix?

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All corny kegs filled with homebrew. I bought the dual tap beer meister, so I have 2 corny kegs dispensing and 1 sitting in there chilling on deck for when runs out

As someone who is cheap/poor and converted a mini-fridge to hold 2 corny kegs, definitely get something to hold at least 4 kegs, I'd say. Of course, you'd have to get more corny kegs for this purpose. I find that I'm constantly trying to kick kegs just to get the next on tap. With at least 4 taps, I think that you'll have enough variety to avoid this problem. The only option for 4+ kegs is a keezer.

By the way, if you were kegging before, how were you serving it without a kegerator? Using 2.5/3 gallon corny kegs in the fridge?

drocu said:

As someone who is cheap/poor and converted a mini-fridge to hold 2 corny kegs, definitely get something to hold at least 4 kegs, I'd say. Of course, you'd have to get more corny kegs for this purpose. I find that I'm constantly trying to kick kegs just to get the next on tap. With at least 4 taps, I think that you'll have enough variety to avoid this problem. The only option for 4+ kegs is a keezer.

By the way, if you were kegging before, how were you serving it without a kegerator? Using 2.5/3 gallon corny kegs in the fridge?

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We have a corny keg with a picnic tap sitting in our garage fridge. It works, but it's a pain in the butt, because if you want beer, you have to go out to the garage. We figure it's more usable if you have an actual kegerator in the house!

I'm going to go with a kezzer that is skinned with a wood veneer. they look real nice when completed. You can pick up a small freezer for about 195 that will hold 3 cornys just fine. I have even seen one that looks like a pirate chest. You can add tile on the top if you add car trunk shocks.

My Haier kegerator holds 3 cornies as well. But if your gonna spend nearly $1000 on one, get a commercial model like a True brand. You won't be sorry, its twice the quality as the Sanyo.