Help me plan my kegerator build

Well as luck would have it I was given a spare fridge that was once used as a kegerator a long time ago. Only parts left are the fridge and a 5lb co2 bottle. Was gonna hack up my other outdoor fridge but now I can use that one to do lagers now.

I want to keep things pretty cheap if possible. What will I need to do a dual tap system? Any place I can find better deals? Guessing I need 2 kegs, lines fittings, co2 distribution block, another co2 tank, and tap handles? Perhaps a kit?

Sounds like you already have a co2 bottle...

Need for CO2-
-Regulator
-Hose
-Splitter (cheaper than a distro block for just 2 lines)
-Hose crimps (worm type)
-Fittings
-Keg Fittings (pin/ball lock)

Need for Beer-
-Keg (buy used, pin or ball lock)
-Hose (about 20 feet)
-Fittings
-Keg fitting (pin/ball lock)
-Shanks
-Taps

Other
-Hole saw for shank

I'm sure i'm missing items (and you can pick it all up in a kit somewhere). Just search around and you'll find it (as you pretty much are starting from having nothing).

First step, make sure it still works! Tape over any holes drilled in the outside, fire it up, and use a fridge thermometer to make sure it can reach temps you're happy with when set on its coldest setting.

Then it's time to buy the bits and pieces. I'm assuming you'll be keeping the CO2 tank inside the fridge (should fit fine if you'll only have two kegs in there). You'll need the following (I'm providing links by way of example, you'll want to research each individual item and consider shipping costs, etc. if you're looking to get the best possible deals):

• corny kegs: be aware that home brewers tend to use one of two types of kegs, "ball lock" and "pin lock", minor differences in size and features but I'd just pick whichever you find cheapest, which is most likely to be pin locks.
• disconnects (aka couplers): these attach to the keg on one end and a tube on the other, and allow gas in and beer out of the keg. For a 2 keg system you'll need two beer and two gas disconnects. Make sure you get ones compatible the keg type you bought, i.e. ball lock or pin lock. Also be aware that you can buy disconnects with a "barbed end" (the beer/gas tube will slip down over it) or "MFL" or "flare" end (a screw-on connector, you'll need to buy swivel nuts that attach a "screw on" end to the tubing.
• beer tubing: Make sure you get something food grade. Start with 10' of line per keg, the longer line will discourage foaming. It's cheap and you can always trim it down 6" at a time if you're beer is flowing too slow.
• CO2 tubing: length doesn't matter, just get whatever length you'll need to reach from your regulator to the disconnects on your kegs.
• Clamps to secure the gas line to the regulator and disconnect, and to secure the beer line to the disconnect and shank (i.e. two clamps per length of tubing).
• CO2 regulator: this controls flow of gas from your CO2 tank (not clear from your post, maybe you've got this already?) I'd go with a quality brand like Taprite or Micromatic, leaky CO2 equipment is no fun. The one I linked to has two outlets so it will work with two kegs at once).
• shanks + tailpieces: this is the metal tube that goes through the kegerator door, the beer line will attach to the "tailpiece" on the inside of the kegerator, the faucet will attach to it on the outside of the kegerator. Some have a built-in tailpiece, others require that you buy a tailpiece, nut and washer. As with the disconnects, you can get "barb end" (tube slides over) or MFL end ("screw on")
• faucets: I highly recommend the Perlick brand I linked to. Double the cost of cheaper "standard" faucets but the design is totally worth it -- standard faucets will readily jam up if they're not used for relatively short periods of time, I've left my Perlicks dormant for weeks and have never had them gunked up. Don't scrimp on this piece, you'll regret it.
• 7/8" hole saw to drill through fridge (if it's not already drilled): some on HBT used a 1" without problems, but 7/8" will give snug fit which seems best
• faucet wrench for installing and removing the faucets

Good luck with your build! One other thing I'd consider it taking a few hours to look at the kegerator threads on HBT (like this one), you might get some other ideas about how you want to set yours up. Not a huge deal but could save you time and expense (and once you drill holes through your fridge, they're permanent!)

[EDIT: started this response and then walked away for a bit, looks like Holgar hit on the same basic points!]

Thanks guys! I really want to make the move to kegging. Just makes sense.

And yes fridge is on and holding 38 degrees! Should work

You'll love kegging.

I never minded bottling... it was kinda relaxing in a way. But I just started officially kegging last Saturday and was able to keg 3 batches in an hour!

I don't think I'm ever going back to bottling except for bottling from the tap for homebrew competitions. It's just too easy with a keg.

In my setup I have 4 taps/kegs. I'm running a dual regulator into the fridge with one pressure going to a 4 way co2 block and the other pressure going to a keg disconnect. This allows me to have a force carb option (or the option to run cider, etc at a different pressure). I also went with flow control perlicks ($$) to avoid the nightmare of line balancing. Highly suggest reading up on line balancing.

Thanks for the tip. Fridge was actually getting down to 32 degrees so I had to back it down some. Just saw a kit from Midwest supplies that came pretty much fully assembled for $299. Not too bad.

casualbrewer said:

Thanks for the tip. Fridge was actually getting down to 32 degrees so I had to back it down some. Just saw a kit from Midwest supplies that came pretty much fully assembled for $299. Not too bad.

Click to expand...

Assuming you're looking at this one:
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/draft-brewer-dual-keg-system-w-two-way-co2-distributor.html

a few comments:

• It has "picnic taps" rather than shanks and faucets. This means you'd open the fridge every time you want a beer and serve them from the taps same way you would getting beer from a keg at a party, rather than drilling holes in the fridge and installing faucets which is what many people think of when they hear "kegerator" (nothing wrong with this if it's what you want of course).
• The regulator is an unknown brand. Could be fine, but people often find that they're prone to leaks or creeping pressure settings. I'd suggest finding a kit with a good quality (Taprite or Micromatic) regulator.
• Given that they charge $150 each for those kegs new it's not a terrible deal, but if you're looking to save money you'd do better to get used corny kegs in the $40-$50 range, plus a better regulator. If you like the no-drill "picnic tap" approach you could then buy Northern Brewer's pre-assembled beer and gas disconnect/tubing kits and still come out ahead.

If you do decide to go with a kit (and there's no shame in that) just be sure it's got the components you want. I'd recommend looking for a kit with a decent-quality regulator and Perlick faucets (unless you go with the much cheaper picnic tap option). They cost more, but sometimes you do get what you pay for and I believe regulators and beer faucets are such cases!

If you decide to assemble your own setup, BeverageFactory is often wiling to price match. So if you're trying to order everything from one or two places, draw up a list, find the best price you can online, and then give them a call to see if they can match it. Even if they cannot they'll often give you a lowest price better than seen on their website.

Good points. I will look into it for sure. A kit would work nicely but i.wouldn't mind buying individually if it would save me some coin

One more thing, if you want brand new rather than used kegs, Adventures in Homebrewing has them for $75. Haven't tried them but that's half the price of new kegs from Midwest and Northern Brewer!

Tooling around that site, I also see that they have beat-to-hell pin lock kegs for $28 that are still guaranteed to hold pressure. So if you don't mind them looking like crap you could save an additional $7 per keg over their $35 used pin locks (which as I understand it is a great price for a used keg these days).