Kegerator: Build or Buy?

Who doesn't like pie?

I voted build your own, of course. IMHO, the vast majority of the commercially available kegerators are simply overpriced and one-size-fits-all. Building your own allows you to tailor it to what you want it to do and where you want it to go. It's certainly not difficult.

This thread is great motivation and eye candy if nothing else.

EngineJoe said:

Why not first download the relevant episode of Basic Brewing Radio where they talk with the editor of BYO about the article for about an hour? They cover most of it there... and you'll definitely have a good idea if you want to fork over $$ for the specific issue after listening to the (free) podcast episode dedicated to the article.

Click to expand...

I like the way you think, sir!

I vote build, but as anyone who has seen my Keezer can tell you, I saved NO money by doing it myself. Of course, I doubt you can buy one like it anywhere

When we sold the "big" house and moved into a condo, SWMBO said we couldn't take the home made kegerator. So I gave away my old 4 tap corny refridgerator with plenty of space for my bottles/cans/soda water/ mugs in freezer/etc. The only space available for it was in the living room so she wanted to buy a new, shiny, built kegeraror (sometimes she doesn't understand how DIY works). So, as a compromise, we bought a Haire kegerator from a scratch and dent for $350.00. It had one small dent in the door. It was a single Sanke 1/2 barrel setup with all of the bells and whistles, 1/4 bbl accessories you name it. It was very simple to convert to corny kegs. I sometimes put a regular keg of BMC for the inlaws (both of my boys homebrew with me) so the ability to switch is nice. Having done both, I say build it. You can take your time, salivate over the cool ideas here as well as clown your buddies about doing it yourself. It's win-win. Luck - Dwain

P.S. Now we live in the "country" so I'm sure I'll build another one and have both in my shop!