First keezer build - does it ultimately need a collar?

[Suicid]

Hi folks,

I just started to plan very first keezer project - namely got a freezer and 4x5g kegs.
Kegs sit in freezer so that it is about 5" space above them up to lid, so I believe it will fit QDs too.
Also my CO2 tank fits inside perfectly without collide the lid.

I searched alot for collar/side taps vs tower for keezer and more or less got impression about pros and cons for both.

Assuming I am going for tower version and will mount CO2 manifold either onto a piece of wood dropped inside or just let it hang freely, what would be your suggestion - do I ultimately need a collar for such setup?

Just not sure - almost all of the keezer builds I ve seen so far by some reasons have a collar even though it is not a space issue for some of them.

Thanks in advance!

 

[day_trippr]

Collars are fairly easy and inexpensive to build and provide easy ingress for running lines/power/etc in and out of the cabinet.
Lid-mounted towers can be pricey and sans a collar require more finesse to run anything into the cabinet.
But "ultimately" it's dealer's choice.

fwiw, I have a six faucet t-tower atop a 12cf keezer lid with a gas manifold screwed through the lid liner to a sleeper epoxied to the lid.
No collar, everything runs through the back edge of the lid itself...

Cheers!

 

[Suicid]

Thanks, @day_trippr !

It make sense.

 

[Johnny Holland]

Finished this build for my son's wedding in November 2018. @day_trippr is right about the reasoning for the collar and it gives you more height for kegs. I can fit 3 kegs in 1/6 bbl size or about 5.2 gallons. i was shooting for 4 kegs but do not make my own beer yet so the Corny keg is not an option. I preferred the top pour and not having the taps hanging fro my collar which can be reached by my dog, but it is more economical to go with the taps in the collar. I went to a plumbing supply store and sat down and started fitting pipe together to get my tower built.

Pics ....

 

[Johnny Holland]

20181203_033535

• Johnny Holland
• Jan 8, 2019

Keezer Build

• Johnny Holland
• Jan 8, 2019

20181203_033435

• Johnny Holland
• Jan 8, 2019

 

[beernutz]

My keezer is an 8cf Kenmore with an 8" collar through which I run a C02 line and a temp probe and in which I have 4 taps installed. An advantage of a collar for me was without it the keezer only holds 4 kegs on the floor but with the collar I can also put a keg on the compressor hump. If I was more confident in my construction skills I might have tried to build a coffin box on top of the keezer because they look cool but I'm really happy with the final product.

I bought an extra set of hinges for the freezer from Sears so that the lid is hinged to the collar and below that I added other hinges from the collar to the body of the freezer. I usually only have to lift the lid but I can also lift both the collar and lid if necessary.

 

[mongoose33]

Here's a recent pic showing my keezer insides; note where the bottom of the collar is in relation to the top of the kegs:

The black foam seal on top of the white of the freezer mouth is where the collar sets. You can see there's just about 2" more or less of headspace above the kegs, but in that headspace you need to account for two things: the lines for beer and CO2, and any part of the lid that sticks down into that space.

Now, some of this can be mitigated by using the pinlock form factor in kegs, i.e., they're shorter and squattier, and would give you more room. The tradeoff is by being wider, you may get one fewer in there than you could using the taller/skinner ball-lock kegs.

As noted, the collar gives you a place to run the faucets. You might be able to figure a way to run the through the side, but you have to be careful you don't puncture any lines doing that. IMO, a collar is better.

If you're going to do a tower on top of the unit, then a collar through which the faucets run is not necessary, obviously.

**********
Now, having said all that--it's not that hard to make a collar. It gives you additional headspace, something to which you can attach CO2 distribution manifolds, and you can make them look VERY nice.

Here's mine, both inside and outside.

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If you want to see the easy/peasy way to build a collar and not change anything permanently on your freezer, check out the link in my sig. That's how the keezer above is built. I've built three that way, and one neat aspect is you can move the collar and lid separately from the bottom half, which makes both easy to move, and much lighter than together.