5.0 cu. ft. Chest Freezer Conversion

Hey all,

I tried looking around, but couldnt find any information. Some linked to a 5.0 cu. ft. chest freezer awhile back and I was thinking about buying to convert to a kegerator. Problem is, I don't know how many corny's i could fit into it/how much extra room I would have. I think that I could do 2 no problem with extra space for some bottles or even some lagering action. Am I wrong? Also, do you know if this is tall enough to be able to just mount a tower tap on the door?

Thanks so much,

--Scott

Im not sure on this exact model, but my brew buddy just bought the Holiday 5 cuft chest freezer from Lowes, hold three ball lock cornies and a 5 lb CO2 tank on the compressor hump. You should really go and measure the freezer first.
About the tower, I dont know if its tall enough, but in general, tower taps on chest freezers arent a good idea. Reason: the lid is not too strong and wont hold the tower very well. Also, with a tower on the top, and the freezer against a wall, its gonna get real hard to open the sucker up. Sure, people have done it, but I would say most build a collar and use some faucets.

I'm not the most, shall we say, technically inclined? How hard is it/how much time & money would it be to build a collar?

For about $30 more you could get a 7.0 cu ft. freezer. They have them at Sam's or HD (same price). I bought one a few weeks ago and can fit 4 cornies on the floor and a carboys and CO2 tank on the hump or 2 more cornies on the hump if need (larger collar needed). I put a collar on it to make room for the carboys on the hump, I think it would not quite be deep enough for the gas connection on the kegs without. Putting a collar on is easy, all you need is a saw, a drill, and a tape measure. I did mine one night after getting home from work, cost ~$15:
http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=39343

Yeast Infection said:

Im not sure on this exact model, but my brew buddy just bought the Holiday 5 cuft chest freezer from Lowes, hold three ball lock cornies and a 5 lb CO2 tank on the compressor hump. You should really go and measure the freezer first.
About the tower, I dont know if its tall enough, but in general, tower taps on chest freezers arent a good idea. Reason: the lid is not too strong and wont hold the tower very well. Also, with a tower on the top, and the freezer against a wall, its gonna get real hard to open the sucker up. Sure, people have done it, but I would say most build a collar and use some faucets.

Click to expand...

Thats me, I bought the 5cf Holiday at Lowes, it was $170 out the door. I don't see myself ever lagering (don't really like lagers) nor do I see myself needing more than 3 beers on tap. 3 cornies and a 5# tank fit fine, you should be able to do a tower if you reinforce the lid, for the same reasons yeastie said. I am waiting on a CO2 manifold and assorted parts and will be pushing 3 kegs with picnic taps for the time being, will be building a collar and putting taps on the outside in the near future, so as to avoid the hitting the wall with a tower problem.

if its a 5.0cu with just the back corner 'hump' for the compressor, you can fit 3 cornies as stated already.

if its a more 'normal' setup where the whole left side is a hump, you'll get 2 cornies.

you'll have to remove the kegs to fit a bucket in there for lagering.

i'd get the 7cu.

Thanks for the help. Despite what I originally said, I ended up going with a 7.0 cu. ft. chest freezer. I was wondering if I could get some feedback on the parts I was going to use to convert it before I laid out all the money. Because of what you guys told me, I decided to go with a collar set-up. Heres the list:

1) Two Product Co2 Beer Regulator
2) 2 Gas in Ball Lock Fitting
3) 2 Liquid out Ball Lock Fitting
4) 5lb Co2 Cylinder
5) 2 SS Lever Faucets
6) 2 3' Nipple Shank Assemblies
7) 10 ft. 3/16" Clear Vinyl Beer Hose
8) 8 ft. 5/16" Red Vinyl Gas Hose
9) 2 Tap Handles
10) Temperature Controller
11) Ball-lock Cornies

Is there anything I am over-looking?

All of that totaled to 307.80 from Beveragefactory.com, which was cheaper, per-part, than Micromatic or any brew supply store I saw.

I appreciate all the help.

-Scott