First Keezer Build Arctic King 5cu ft

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
WFox93

WFox93

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2017
Messages
149
Reaction score
69
Location
Eureka, MO
Hey Guys,

Finished my first keezedr build. I used the Arctic King 5 cubic foot model from Walmart for 148 and bought a door mount conversion kit from amazon along with an inkbird temp controller. Then I talked a buddy into letting me make use of some of his leftover 2x4s and chop saw to build the collar. I attached it using some gorilla mounting tape and aquarium sealant. I think I'm going to add a small fan to circulate air as I get 5-8 degrees difference from top to bottom. I'm also going to insulate the wood once I get my third tap installed. As you can see in the pictures, it hold two kegs comfortably and I plan to put a 3rd 2.5gal corny on the compressor shelf which looks like I'll have to move the CO2 tank outside for that. I'm also going to get some longer gas and beer lines to try and organize the inside a bit better.All-in-all though, I'm very pleased with the kit I purchased and how easily this went together thanks to the help on this forum. When I started unpacking everything, I was starting to feel overwhelmed but then I thought back to when I first started brewing and took things one step at a time. Turned out to be way easier than I anticipated. I carbed up some water in one of the kegs to test everything out and it worked wonderfully. Got a rye pilsner going in next week.

K1.jpg K2.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wow looks great! I just hopped on the same deal from Walmart end of last week. Have my 2x4's all cut and ready to roll. Will try to get it finished in the next week or so as I'm brewing the 24th and plan to use it as fermentation chamber into kegerator.
 
That looks like a shorter keg to me. I'll take measurements tonight if Cevan doesn't get back with us right away.
Personally, I plan to use a 2.5 gal Corny on the compressor shelf that way I'll have one for travelling as well when I have a cooler kegerator setup.
 
^beat me to it
That's my measurement as well. Is that tall enough for a standard keg?
 
Cevan65 said:
It's 23" on the compressor shelf. I'm using a 2x4 spacer.
Click to expand...

So that's 23" to the top of the 2X4? I just measured my corney's and they are right at 25" tall.

If your measurement is WITH the 2X4, then a 2X6 might work, but it would be "right there" and there would probably be issues if the lid drops down past the gasket. If that's the case, a 2X8 should make it happen.

This is GREAT news as I'm the only beer drinker in the house, so 3 "flavors" is kind of a nice goal and a keezer with a small footprint like this is great.
 
Correct, that is 23 inches to the top of the 2x4, the lid drops MAYBE a quarter of an inch below the gasket.
 
Do any of you guys plan to insulate? I'm going to try and figure out an option for that as I need to finish it up this week so it's ready for this weekend to start my fermentation/serve cycle
 
I may insulate. I just installed my 3rd tap and a muffin fan. The wood outside seems to be warm to the touch so I'm not entirely sure how helpful it'll be. I won't be insulating the taps because I like the idea of keeping them cold.
 
Got a decent start last night. Will work on outer facing finished wood tonight to make it look nicer. I got some 3/4 inch PREMA "R" Unfaced Polystyrene Garage Door Foam Board Insulation. Will put that on the inside of the collar. Wondering, do I need to wrap the wood in aluminum foil or that reflective foil insulation tape before placing the foam board over it? Want to prevent as much mold as possible.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4924.jpg
    IMG_4924.jpg
    483.1 KB · Views: 526
WFox93 said:
Hey Guys,

Finished my first keezedr build. I used the Arctic King 5 cubic foot model from Walmart for 148 and bought a door mount conversion kit from amazon along with an inkbird temp controller. Then I talked a buddy into letting me make use of some of his leftover 2x4s and chop saw to build the collar. I attached it using some gorilla mounting tape and aquarium sealant. I think I'm going to add a small fan to circulate air as I get 5-8 degrees difference from top to bottom. I'm also going to insulate the wood once I get my third tap installed. As you can see in the pictures, it hold two kegs comfortably and I plan to put a 3rd 2.5gal corny on the compressor shelf which looks like I'll have to move the CO2 tank outside for that. I'm also going to get some longer gas and beer lines to try and organize the inside a bit better.All-in-all though, I'm very pleased with the kit I purchased and how easily this went together thanks to the help on this forum. When I started unpacking everything, I was starting to feel overwhelmed but then I thought back to when I first started brewing and took things one step at a time. Turned out to be way easier than I anticipated. I carbed up some water in one of the kegs to test everything out and it worked wonderfully. Got a rye pilsner going in next week.

View attachment 557647 View attachment 557648
Click to expand...

Looks so good! I am hoping to build one with the same freezer. It looks like you are using 8 or 8.5" diameter ball lock corny kegs. My thought is to have a ball lock and a commercial sixth on the bottom (8.5" and 9.25" diameters respectively) and a pin lock (9" diameter) converted to ball lock on the hump, which would make the height plus connectors 24" or so. That in theory, given your measurements earlier, would work with a 2x6 collar. Would this setup be feasible with this freezer? I am primarily worried those diameters will get to be too much. (I would use cardboard cutouts if the freezer wasn't covered in packaging in the store...)

Thanks in advance!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm saying this without taking any official measurements as my keezer is full of kegs and hoses, but I think the extra 9.25" diameter of the commercial sixth may be a bit much. Right now this freezer is a "full house" with the two kegs that are in the bottom touching. I'm not sure you could squeeze much more in there besides the 3 corneys that are in mine right now.

Hope this thought helps!
 
Vintage Iron said:
I'm saying this without taking any official measurements as my keezer is full of kegs and hoses, but I think the extra 9.25" diameter of the commercial sixth may be a bit much. Right now this freezer is a "full house" with the two kegs that are in the bottom touching. I'm not sure you could squeeze much more in there besides the 3 corneys that are in mine right now.

Hope this thought helps!
Click to expand...

Ok thanks! I was guessing it would be tight. If it's appropriate, I will try to add some pictures/info here as I have them to help other people out too. (or should I start yet another keezer build thread? Not sure what the rules dictate.)
 
Things are pretty tight with my 8.5 inch cornies on the bottom but depending on how you run lines, you should be able to fit one 8.5 and one sixth barrel on the bottom. Mine too is currently filled and kegs are touching but it may be due to where I positioned my lines. I'll report back tomorrow. I actually have a converted pinlock sitting on the shelf with and it does clear with my 2x4 collar. Its a keg that Adventures in Hombrewing calls a low profile ball lock. (just a converted coke keg, even has coke stampings)

I'll snap a couple more pictures too as this thing has evolved a bit
 
justintime516 said:
Looks so good! I am hoping to build one with the same freezer. It looks like you are using 8 or 8.5" diameter ball lock corny kegs. My thought is to have a ball lock and a commercial sixth on the bottom (8.5" and 9.25" diameters respectively) and a pin lock (9" diameter) converted to ball lock on the hump, which would make the height plus connectors 24" or so. That in theory, given your measurements earlier, would work with a 2x6 collar. Would this setup be feasible with this freezer? I am primarily worried those diameters will get to be too much. (I would use cardboard cutouts if the freezer wasn't covered in packaging in the store...)

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...


Alright, I didn't take any measurements but I'd say there is definitely enough space to squeeze a 9 inch keg, you'd be pushing it to get a 9.25 inch one on the bottom with an 8.5. If you want to dispense commersial beer though, I would recommend getting a second corney and when you buy commercial sixth barrels simply transfer the beer from the sixth barrel to the corney.

As a side note, I thought commercial kegs were 9 inch in diameter not 9.25.
 
WFox93 said:
Hey Guys,

Finished my first keezedr build. I used the Arctic King 5 cubic foot model from Walmart for 148 and bought a door mount conversion kit from amazon along with an inkbird temp controller. Then I talked a buddy into letting me make use of some of his leftover 2x4s and chop saw to build the collar. I attached it using some gorilla mounting tape and aquarium sealant. I think I'm going to add a small fan to circulate air as I get 5-8 degrees difference from top to bottom. I'm also going to insulate the wood once I get my third tap installed. As you can see in the pictures, it hold two kegs comfortably and I plan to put a 3rd 2.5gal corny on the compressor shelf which looks like I'll have to move the CO2 tank outside for that. I'm also going to get some longer gas and beer lines to try and organize the inside a bit better.All-in-all though, I'm very pleased with the kit I purchased and how easily this went together thanks to the help on this forum. When I started unpacking everything, I was starting to feel overwhelmed but then I thought back to when I first started brewing and took things one step at a time. Turned out to be way easier than I anticipated. I carbed up some water in one of the kegs to test everything out and it worked wonderfully. Got a rye pilsner going in next week.

View attachment 557647 View attachment 557648
Click to expand...

What is the measurement for distance from the compressor hump to the top of the freezer, excluding the collar? I am trying to figure out if I could fit a 1.75 gallon keg next to the C02 tank on the hump without having to add a collar.
 
RedFlagBrewing said:
Sweet! So I should be able to fit a 1.75 gallon corny on the compressor (since they are only 11 inches tall)
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I fit a 5 gal pin lock style corny converted to ball lock on the compressor hump with a 6" collar if you're considering your options :)

Btw, I will include pictures and such shortly once I tidy some things up on my build. I was able to fit all three kegs as I described earlier...zero wiggle room on the bottom bit though.
 
justintime516 said:
Absolutely. I fit a 5 gal pin lock style corny converted to ball lock on the compressor hump with a 6" collar if you're considering your options :)

Btw, I will include pictures and such shortly once I tidy some things up on my build. I was able to fit all three kegs as I described earlier...zero wiggle room on the bottom bit though.
Click to expand...

Awesome thanks! I'm not going to be building a collar for it at this time (I live in a small apartment with no space to do the work it would take), so I need to be able to fit everything inside the freezer with no alterations. Thanks for the future knowledge though!
 
I fit a 2 gallon corny on my hump and its actually a little difficult to reach in and grab the handle. You'll have plenty of space.

Justin, Glad you were able to get that fit. I had a feeling it would work but definitely tight.
 
justintime516 said:
My thought is to have a ball lock and a commercial sixth on the bottom (8.5" and 9.25" diameters respectively) and a pin lock (9" diameter) converted to ball lock on the hump, which would make the height plus connectors 24" or so. That in theory, given your measurements earlier, would work with a 2x6 collar.
Click to expand...

Time to provide pictures of this since I’m proud of this actually working. I did the setup as described above. I think I mentioned this before, but to keep it in one place, I did measure the kegs and they are the same as I had anticipated (see above quote). There is absolutely zero wiggle room between the commercial keg and the 8.5” corny keg- but it works somehow.

Here’s a picture of the whole thing:
0EFADB6B-3071-47CE-B1BA-3A9CF1A7C1BA.jpeg


And with the tap handles on:
F081623E-84BE-4673-92A5-322F666CA6D2.jpeg

(If anyone has drip tray solutions better than a rug, I’d be happy to hear them - most options I’ve seen so far are expensive and look silly...)

Anyway...here’s a look at the kegs and spacing:
9724D1D4-51F3-4628-A11B-833D5AA97A8A.jpeg

The 2x6 collar worked perfectly with the pin lock style keg converted to ball lock on the hump. (To the right).

Here’s the zero spacing between the commercial and 8.5” corny:
56FA0948-E083-47BC-8A4C-4C7D2E5C5A7B.jpeg


And here’s the spacing between the two corny kegs (8.5” on the bottom, plenty of room on the hump for the 9”):
7A4B288C-BBAE-4F53-98FB-A70F9EEB01EA.jpeg


Thanks to everyone in this forum that’s been supportive and answered questions I had along the way. It’s been a fun project and now I don’t have to bottle homebrews anymore!! We have already kicked a keg and have just loaded up another homebrew for carbonation.

Now it’s time to figure out how to tidy up the 30ish feet of beer line and all the gas line. (I went long enough to reach outside the keezer to force carbonate without taking anything apart.)

Hope this is helpful to any lurkers thinking about taking on this project.

Thanks again everyone, cheers!
 
God, I really do need to get an updated picture in here. Justintime, that looks excellent. I need to upgrade to some nice faucets, mine have been sticking like mad lately.

I far as the drip trays go, I had the same thought. I bought some normal wall/door mount ones but set them on the ground in front and simply velcroed them to the front of the keezer to keep them from wiggling about, getting kicked or pushed around by the robovacuum. Its a simple enough solution and pretty out of sight. Only thing is, I sometimes have to wipe the front of the keezer.
 
justintime516 said:
Time to provide pictures of this since I’m proud of this actually working. I did the setup as described above. I think I mentioned this before, but to keep it in one place, I did measure the kegs and they are the same as I had anticipated (see above quote). There is absolutely zero wiggle room between the commercial keg and the 8.5” corny keg- but it works somehow.

Here’s a picture of the whole thing:
View attachment 600936

And with the tap handles on:
View attachment 600937
(If anyone has drip tray solutions better than a rug, I’d be happy to hear them - most options I’ve seen so far are expensive and look silly...)

Anyway...here’s a look at the kegs and spacing:
View attachment 600938
The 2x6 collar worked perfectly with the pin lock style keg converted to ball lock on the hump. (To the right).

Here’s the zero spacing between the commercial and 8.5” corny:
View attachment 600939

And here’s the spacing between the two corny kegs (8.5” on the bottom, plenty of room on the hump for the 9”):
View attachment 600940

Thanks to everyone in this forum that’s been supportive and answered questions I had along the way. It’s been a fun project and now I don’t have to bottle homebrews anymore!! We have already kicked a keg and have just loaded up another homebrew for carbonation.

Now it’s time to figure out how to tidy up the 30ish feet of beer line and all the gas line. (I went long enough to reach outside the keezer to force carbonate without taking anything apart.)

Hope this is helpful to any lurkers thinking about taking on this project.

Thanks again everyone, cheers!
Click to expand...

Most drip trays are expensive. Found this 16" last year for $38. I secure it using rare earth magnets from Amazon. No issues.
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338413729&icep_item=223151704238
 
If you are looking for a VERY inexpensive drip tray and you aren't using it to rest your glass on, I might recommend the following:

Get a rare earth magnet and epoxy it into a tube (about 2 inches long)
ArcticKing.jpg
. Epoxy a cup to the other end of the tube. Put a little piece of electrical tape over the magnet (so it doesn't scratch the freezer). and put it below the faucet wherever it's needed. I had a piece of carbon fiber left over from another project so I used that as the tube. I also used the same carbon fiber for the tap handle. Matchy-matchy.
 
Cevan65 said:
I like the black. I recently made one using the same chest freezer, in black of course. Fits three corny kegs easily.

IMG_2221

IMG_2221


IMG_2023

IMG_2023

Click to expand...

Any chance you could share the measurements of the collar boards? I ordered the freezer but it won't come in until next week. I'd like to get a head start, if possible!

Product Dimensions are 20.60" x 28.70" x 33.50". Is this accurate?
 
Last edited:
justintime516 said:
Time to provide pictures of this since I’m proud of this actually working. I did the setup as described above. I think I mentioned this before, but to keep it in one place, I did measure the kegs and they are the same as I had anticipated (see above quote). There is absolutely zero wiggle room between the commercial keg and the 8.5” corny keg- but it works somehow.

Here’s a picture of the whole thing:
View attachment 600936

And with the tap handles on:
View attachment 600937
(If anyone has drip tray solutions better than a rug, I’d be happy to hear them - most options I’ve seen so far are expensive and look silly...)

Anyway...here’s a look at the kegs and spacing:
View attachment 600938
The 2x6 collar worked perfectly with the pin lock style keg converted to ball lock on the hump. (To the right).

Here’s the zero spacing between the commercial and 8.5” corny:
View attachment 600939

And here’s the spacing between the two corny kegs (8.5” on the bottom, plenty of room on the hump for the 9”):
View attachment 600940

Thanks to everyone in this forum that’s been supportive and answered questions I had along the way. It’s been a fun project and now I don’t have to bottle homebrews anymore!! We have already kicked a keg and have just loaded up another homebrew for carbonation.

Now it’s time to figure out how to tidy up the 30ish feet of beer line and all the gas line. (I went long enough to reach outside the keezer to force carbonate without taking anything apart.)

Hope this is helpful to any lurkers thinking about taking on this project.

Thanks again everyone, cheers!
Click to expand...


Here is what I did for a decently cheap drip tray option. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but it does the trick :)


pic.jpg


I got three wall brackets (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-Steel-13-in-D-x-15-5-in-L-x-2-in-W-White-Shelf-Bracket/4086664) and attached 3-4 magnets on the back of each. Then cut some scrap wood to size, painted it, and attached velcro to the bottom and attached velcro to the top of the brackets and it does not move. Got some cheap bar mats of amazon to help catch drips/run off. I can hold two pints on it. I may add a fourth bracket just to make it a little safe since sometimes friends become drunk friends that do not do wise things lol.
 
I’m looking to buy one of the 7.5 gallon anvil bucket fermenters and settled on either the Artic King 5 cu ft or 7 cu ft chest freezer for the fermentation chamber. The issue I’m running into is trying to figure out the measurements for the inside of the freezers without a collar and whether or not it could fit. It looks like some of you all own this freezer so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind measuring the inside dimensions for me? It would help out a ton as there isn’t really any good info online. Thanks!!
 
I’m looking to buy one of the 7.5 gallon anvil bucket fermenters and settled on either the Artic King 5 cu ft or 7 cu ft chest freezer for the fermentation chamber. The issue I’m running into is trying to figure out the measurements for the inside of the freezers without a collar and whether or not it could fit. It looks like some of you all own this freezer so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind measuring the inside dimensions for me? It would help out a ton as there isn’t really any good info online. Thanks!!
 
appstatefan said:
I’m looking to buy one of the 7.5 gallon anvil bucket fermenters and settled on either the Artic King 5 cu ft or 7 cu ft chest freezer for the fermentation chamber. The issue I’m running into is trying to figure out the measurements for the inside of the freezers without a collar and whether or not it could fit. It looks like some of you all own this freezer so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind measuring the inside dimensions for me? It would help out a ton as there isn’t really any good info online. Thanks!!
Click to expand...


For the Artcic King 5 cu ft, here's what I have:

Width: 24"
Depth: 15"
Width to shelf: 15.75"
Width of shelf: 8.25"
Height to rim (when lid is closed; i.e., usable height): 27.25"
Height of shelf (from bottom): 8.5"

Any question, just ask!


Swan
 

Similar threads

P
First Keezer Build
Replies
5
Views
281
fluketamer
F
Burrows_M
First Keezer Build
Replies
7
Views
656
Burrows_M
Burrows_M
Nagorg
Nagorg's First Keezer Build
Replies
14
Views
731
YeastFeast
YeastFeast
B
Hello from Sunny Morecambe 🌞
Replies
2
Views
156
Cheshire Cat
Cheshire Cat
B
Walnut coffin Keezer
Replies
15
Views
1K
Clint Yeastwood
Clint Yeastwood
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top