~~~Now That You've Built Your Keezer~~~

What would you have done differently? I just started thinking of doing this as my new freezer will be coming from HD later this week. Wow, they sold so many of them that mine was back ordered for over a week.

Anyhow, looking at the builds here on HBT, it seems to me that the taps are really low.. like lower than your belly button. I've seen a couple that had a spacer that was larger than the commonly used 2x6... but, that doesn't increase it much.

I was wondering if anyone had put their keezer on a riser.. say, build a riser out of 2x10 and match it to said 2x6 spacer for the spigots.

I built a bar prior to building my keezer and the keezer barely fits in it. I wish I would have got a bigger one to hold at least one more keg carbing and built a bigger bar around it

I actually wish I had used 2x4's instead of 2x6's for my collar. The height is a bit much for me to lift full kegs into. I am 5'5'' so your results may vary...

I wished I had all proper tools lined out so the cuts were a little straighter...

like table saw, router... but its a coffin keezer, not collared.

I'm on version 2.0 of my keezer and it's nearly perfect for my needs/wants. The only thing I would change is to get a bigger freezer but I simply don't have room for that.

Nothing really. I have 1x10s on my Holiday 5.0 so that I can fit a third keg on the hump. I insulated the wood on the inside, and mitered the joints. I'm happy with it.

I wish I had a 8+CF freezer, but my space dictates that I can't. So I'm happy. Buy 10ft lines and perlicks from the start. You'll be happier.

In retrospect MAYBE I wish I had attached the collar to the top of the keezer instead of the bottom so it lifted up, but I thought using 2x10's it would be too heavy to stay up while changing kegs and stuff. The other thing is correctable, but I wired my fan up to the cooling side to go on when the chiller came on, but I will probably switch to have it be always on, but the fan I have in there now makes too much of a high pitch buzz, so I think over Christmas break, I'll swap it for a whisper quiet one, and switch it to be always on.

It depinds on where you want your taps are you doing a tower of taps in collar. Ten meassure where you think feels comfortable for a tap and build riser to meet needs. It is all personal preffrance. One of my brew friends has a 2x4 riser on the ground then a 2x8 collar so he can hold 4 kegs in a small square Frezzer. Taps feel good on it

Wish I had more taps.

Only planned for two, but decided to have four, but now I realize I can fit a fifth keg with ease.

If nothing else, I'll at least add another CO2 line so I can carb the fifth keg while serving four.

As mentioned above, I'd put the taps in the collar.. It's just the height that I don't care for. For me, I think I'll wind up building a platform with small wheels to move it around with.. and then put a "collar on top of the platform for the keezer to sit on.. I think I'd just like to see my taps at 'tit' level not belt level. I'm 6'.

I do have a chrome tower I acquired years ago.. single faucet.. but, I've read about trying to keep the tubes cold up in the tower.. otherwise every first pour will be f-o-a-m....

forstmeister said:

I actually wish I had used 2x4's instead of 2x6's for my collar. The height is a bit much for me to lift full kegs into. I am 5'5'' so your results may vary...

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I have the same problem...5'6" here. I started putting my sanitized kegs into the keezer, and siphoning from secondary straight in...much easier. Just need a long hose.

As for regrets...I would have started with those fancy Pearlick faucets. I have faucet envy

Built mine about 4 years ago and the only change I have made is to lower my temperature sensor.

I'm using a Dwyer/Love controller (great no problems) and at first the sensor was at the top, now relocated 2/3rds down.

smooth said:

Built mine about 4 years ago and the only change I have made is to lower my temperature sensor.

I'm using a Dwyer/Love controller (great no problems) and at first the sensor was at the top, now relocated 2/3rds down.

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I have an analog Johnson Controls. I have the probe down toward the bottom. I notched the collar at the top to fit the wire perfectly and taped over it to give a good seal to the lid.

Nothing I want to change, just stuff I'd add, like some sort of labeling system for the taps and a permanent drip tray.

theveganbrewer said:

Nothing I want to change, just stuff I'd add, like some sort of labeling system for the taps and a permanent drip tray.

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I saw recently where a guy painted the lid with chalkboard paint so that he could write on the lid what was on each tap. I liked it.

I only have one tap now but I placed it so I could add 3 more without issue.

theveganbrewer said:

... And a permanent drip tray.

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+1

theveganbrewer said:

Nothing I want to change, just stuff I'd add, like some sort of labeling system for the taps and a permanent drip tray.

Click to expand...

How bout something like what I came up with....you don't even need to mount them on the tap handles, just use them right on the face of the keezer.

I wish I would have not used 2x4s as supports for the panels - I did 1x4s on top of 1/2 ply on top of 2x4s - ludicrously heavy. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/keezer-project-31221/index4.html#post704882 and https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-keezer-build-176752/#post2046778 are lighter (I would imagine) examples.

I wish I would have built a spot for the love controller to be mounted and maybe for secondary regs to be mounted (like behind a door).

Collar builds are much much much easier I would imagine.

I first built a keezer for my friend, and then I built one for myself.

He was against having a double hinge put on his collar, and I bet he wishes he had gone the other way. Lifting those kegs above the collar is a pain, but the real problem arises when there's a spill in the bottom. It's a real pain to get way down there. I put a double hinge on mine, and I'm glad I did. I just went to HD and found some big hinges. I didn't bother ordering some replacement spring hinges from the maker of my freezer. The original spring hinges hold up the collar and the lid, the new non-spring hinges hold on the lid only. I just screwed on some stop blocks onto the back of the collar to stop the lid from flipping open too far. Works good.

Really like your project Revvy.. When you build the handles and insert the Tnutz.. is there a way to do it so the handle is always at the right angle? Sounds dumb and intuitive.. but, not having any Perlicks yet.. are all the threads cut exactly the same so when you tighten the handle to the tap.. they face forward.. or is there an adjustment on the faucet itself.

HbgBill said:

Really like your project Revvy.. When you build the handles and insert the Tnutz.. is there a way to do it so the handle is always at the right angle? Sounds dumb and intuitive.. but, not having any Perlicks yet.. are all the threads cut exactly the same so when you tighten the handle to the tap.. they face forward.. or is there an adjustment on the faucet itself.

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I though I explained what I did in the thread. I screwed it on the tap shank til it was tight, then I marked the front of it with a sharpie. Basically just ran a line on the underside of it and any tooth that was in the front. If you've pre-drilled the holes on the handles already, you can always set it on the tap and mark everything, wood and t-nut with a marker.

I built a platform with wheels for mine, has stained trim around it so you can't see the wheels which I really like. Used 1x10's sandwiched with foam board for my collar so I was able to mount the taps high. With it being on the wheeled platform and using the 1x10's the top of my tap handles are about "tit level" as you said......which I also like. But I wish I would have double hinged the collar as others have said. Trying to load full kegs at that height, fishing them in between the shanks and all the other lines is a huge pain in the ass and a back breaker. I have a 7cf and can get 3 cornies on the bottom, 1 on the hump along with a 10# co2 tank.

I wish I had changed the shelf & drip trip/gutter under my taps so that it was a little easier to fill growlers. It's not a huge deal and I can still fill them 99% of the way just by tipping them but it annoys me.

I also wish I had a better system for organizing the gas/beer lines inside the keezer so I'm not constantly pushing them out of the way whenever I replace a keg. Of course I could do that now...but I'm lazy.

1. Ensure enough room for a carbing/conditioning keg or two in addition to serving, or plan on a whole nother unit just for that purpose.
2. plan out the gas and beer lines as stated above, its a bit of an annoyance.

+1 on making sure you can fit a growler above your drip tray

Wish I had a drip-tray. I'm still looking for one after almost a year. I placed my taps too far apart so I need a long one.

A better way to route hoses would be nice, still can't figure out what to do with these.

I put my CO2 and Secondary regulators all inside the unit (looks clean this way). Kinda wish I had built a cabinet to the side of the keezer for these so they don't condense from opening and closing.

forstmeister said:

I actually wish I had used 2x4's instead of 2x6's for my collar. The height is a bit much for me to lift full kegs into. I am 5'5'' so your results may vary...

Click to expand...

I did 2x8s and thought this would be a problem, but I started filling my kegs in the Keezer. Problem solved.

More taps and more kegs - currently have 4 taps.. other than that I love it. Really going to have to get out of the cider game as I don't go through it fast enough. That or add a fifth dedicated tap for that, would open up my kegs for beer which I go through faster.

Things I like: Used 1x10s for the collar and attached it to the lid so it hinges up and out of the way, makes for easy lifting into the keezer. eBay temp controller/Eva-dry moisture absorber - both work great and keep the keezer running good for the Pac NW.

Things I'm not a fan of: My air circulation isn't great.. I had tried to use some PVC piping to get the air flowing down and back up - used some wire shelving to lift the kegs up off the ground so that I had air beneath them. Everything would have worked in theory but neither of my fans were strong enough to cycle the air. As it stands now, I have the weaker fan attached to the wiring shelving at the bottom blowing up, and a stronger fan at the top blowing down in the opposite corner. Works - but wish my PVC idea had worked better.