I'm building a draft box out of a new GE 7 cu ft chest freezer. The much-modified FCM7SUWW (and FCM7DUWW, to a lesser degree) model is no longer being manufactured, and I thought I'd offer some newer information for the current model. It is still possible to get the SU model, but existing stock will not last indefinitely.
I purchased mine on sale (now over) from Home Depot, delivered, for $178 plus tax. I'll be adding:
Product links (to the GE website for reference)
Measurements (stated by GE, and actual)
Comparisons (to the older SU and DU models, mostly in the measurement category where I can draw conclusive and factual contrasts)
Pictures (where possible)
Build notes (with pictures!)
That said, I'm building a...
Keezer? As much as it's the standard term, I never liked it. It's awkward from the start, as a K(eg chest fr)EEZER. We're not freezing any kegs here.
Why not:
Draft Box. We're dispensing DRAFT beer (or soda) from a BOX. It used to be a chest freezer, sure, but we've emasculated the thermoregulator to take the freeze out of it, and it's a box that keeps things cold now. Simple name, based on the function of the final build.
Don't like that? Want something more catchy?
Beezer. BEE(r chest free)ZER. I know, it's not a big step up from keezer, but it does have BEEs.
Brewzer. We're BREW(ing, we're using a chest free)ZER. We may or may not throw a carboy into the temperature-regulated box for fermentation. Also sounds more boss.
Kegzer. You have to have the 'ZER' from freezer in it? Fine. We're putting KEG(s into a free)ZER. We don't call a 'kegerator' a 'kefrigerator', so why do we say 'keezer'? If you're going to portmanteau, then show some consistency.
Drabeezer. Yes, now we're getting more ridiculous with a DRA(ft) BEE(r free)ZER. Or, as I neglected to offer alternatives above, a DRA(ft) B(eer fr)EEZER. Yes, we're doing word jumbles.
I completely understand that it is easier to communicate the history of a build by making sure that the original, pre-modified, item is named in the conversion. I just think that, outside a statistically small community of builders and users, we're not helping anything by throwing around the word KEEZER. We're building (and using) draft boxes, and whether we make them out of a home-built insulated box with a modified window AC unit (which I'm not recommending, but now that I've imagined it I can't wait to see if the internet delivers one), or a modified refrigerator, or a modified chest freezer, or something else entirely... We can safely say that our aim is to provide a space with an actively controlled temperature for vessels that hold liquids in either fermenting, carbonating, or dispensing vessels with plumbing to pressurize and dispense such liquids. That sounds like a draft (draught, if you prefer) box.
Or brewzer. If you won't accept Draft Box, generic and serviceable as it is, then get ready for BREWZER, because that's what I'm going with.
I'm sourcing my hardware piecemeal, so I'll throw in updates as they come. Expect a few mistakes as I build this. Don't expect daily updates.
Ask questions. Provide advice. I'll answer the one, and try to heed the other.
I purchased mine on sale (now over) from Home Depot, delivered, for $178 plus tax. I'll be adding:
Product links (to the GE website for reference)
Measurements (stated by GE, and actual)
Comparisons (to the older SU and DU models, mostly in the measurement category where I can draw conclusive and factual contrasts)
Pictures (where possible)
Build notes (with pictures!)
That said, I'm building a...
Keezer? As much as it's the standard term, I never liked it. It's awkward from the start, as a K(eg chest fr)EEZER. We're not freezing any kegs here.
Why not:
Draft Box. We're dispensing DRAFT beer (or soda) from a BOX. It used to be a chest freezer, sure, but we've emasculated the thermoregulator to take the freeze out of it, and it's a box that keeps things cold now. Simple name, based on the function of the final build.
Don't like that? Want something more catchy?
Beezer. BEE(r chest free)ZER. I know, it's not a big step up from keezer, but it does have BEEs.
Brewzer. We're BREW(ing, we're using a chest free)ZER. We may or may not throw a carboy into the temperature-regulated box for fermentation. Also sounds more boss.
Kegzer. You have to have the 'ZER' from freezer in it? Fine. We're putting KEG(s into a free)ZER. We don't call a 'kegerator' a 'kefrigerator', so why do we say 'keezer'? If you're going to portmanteau, then show some consistency.
Drabeezer. Yes, now we're getting more ridiculous with a DRA(ft) BEE(r free)ZER. Or, as I neglected to offer alternatives above, a DRA(ft) B(eer fr)EEZER. Yes, we're doing word jumbles.
I completely understand that it is easier to communicate the history of a build by making sure that the original, pre-modified, item is named in the conversion. I just think that, outside a statistically small community of builders and users, we're not helping anything by throwing around the word KEEZER. We're building (and using) draft boxes, and whether we make them out of a home-built insulated box with a modified window AC unit (which I'm not recommending, but now that I've imagined it I can't wait to see if the internet delivers one), or a modified refrigerator, or a modified chest freezer, or something else entirely... We can safely say that our aim is to provide a space with an actively controlled temperature for vessels that hold liquids in either fermenting, carbonating, or dispensing vessels with plumbing to pressurize and dispense such liquids. That sounds like a draft (draught, if you prefer) box.
Or brewzer. If you won't accept Draft Box, generic and serviceable as it is, then get ready for BREWZER, because that's what I'm going with.
I'm sourcing my hardware piecemeal, so I'll throw in updates as they come. Expect a few mistakes as I build this. Don't expect daily updates.
Ask questions. Provide advice. I'll answer the one, and try to heed the other.
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