EDIT: I started planning out this build back in the beginning of April and really only started the woodwork back in mid October. I just finished early in the day on this past New Year's Eve. Here is the most recent picture of the keezer -
ORIGINAL POST:
So I figured I would start my own Kegerator / Keezer Build thread. I remember grumbling after bottling my first few batches but always thinking "It's never gonna be worth the money to get all of the kegging equipment and another fridge to store them". I have been homebrewing since March 2010, so a little over a year and have bottled 12 batches and now my opinion has changed completely - I won't mind bottling the occasional batch, but kegging seems to be much less work.
As it stands I don't have the $1000 - from my estimations what it costs to build a nice keezer with a new chest freezer, nice taps, good workworking and nice finishing (tiles on the top and backsplash and the like) - just sitting around. I also don't have the patience to wait until I save up the $1000 to buy the materials and build the thing to start kegging. I do however have an extra fridge - two months after we bought our house, we bought a brand new fridge and kept the old one as a beverage fridge - which is more or less what it is now, though we do store some food in it. So I decided to split this into three phases.
Phase 1 - 2 kegs and a CO2 tank with picnic taps in the beverage fridge. Nothing too fancy, just enough to have two batches on tap. gonna get the dual body regulator so that I can have one conditioning and one tapped at the same time.
Phase 2 - 4 Kegs (2 for conditioning, 2 with picnic taps) in the temp-controller modified chest freezer with wooden frame / lid Complete (not yet trimmed / stained), no holes for taps in freezer or lid, and obviously no real taps yet.
Phase 3 - See Phase 2 but add the coffin and three taps (perlick 575s), whatever fan setup i need for the coffin, lights, finishing for the lid / bar area. Ideally there would be 3 kegs tapped and one conditioning
I am able to save a little bit of money because my father-in-law gave me two old corny kegs. Other than that I need to buy everything on the list below, broken up by phases.
Phase 1 (~ $300)
Brew Logic Dual Tap Draft System (no CO2 Tank) - $159.95 - Brew Logic Dual Tap Draft System
^ This would take care of the two extra kegs that I need, the dual body regulator, the picnic taps for serving at Phases 1 and 2, gas hookups for the first two kegs. I can't find a cheaper alternative to this with the individual pieces broken out or any better bundle deals, and have heard good things from people about these. I opted to exclude the CO2 Tank from this because I wanted to go with a 20 lb tank, which leads me to.
Reconditioned 20 lb. CO2 tank - $84.95 - Reconditioned 20 lb. CO2 tank- Empty
Again the best price that I could find right now. In fact I can get both of the above for $245 and around $294 shipped
Phase 2 (~ $475 plus whatever shipping, also dependant on chest freezer cost)
3 Way CO2 Distributor $30 - 40 (I have seen prices in this range on a few different sites)
Chest Freezer - I am willing to spend up to $250, but preferably as low as I get one, at least 8.8 cu feet - 4 kegs and a 20 lb tank without modifications are the minimum - I don't want to bother with putting a collar on this.
2 Kegs - already have them, but for other's purposes, you can get them for around $40 a pop
wood and Hardware for Frame and Lid - Again nothing fancy yet, just probably pine 2x4s and maybe plywood for the frame and lid; this is before any of the trim on the lid or corners and any staining, any suggestions on types of wood or is using pine / softwood for the base is ok are welcome - $50 estimated
Casters - Still need to do pricing research on these, any suggestions are welcome. - $10 each estimated
Temperature Controller - I need to do a bit more comparative research into this - I have read almost every Keezer build thread that I could find over the last two months so everything kind of mixes together. But I *think* I am gonna go with a Love Controller that then powers the freezer. Or maybe I'll go with something like this - ETC Supply since I don't know a whole lot about wiring myself. Again suggestions welcome. - $80 estimated
Gas Hookups for 2 Kegs - $8 each
Phase 3 ($250 for faucets + stain / trim / finishing stuff)
Shanks, Faucets and all beer line for 3 taps - My best guesstimate for now is faucet-shank-tailpiece-beerline-liquid QD for each would be $80
Fan solution - TBD
Wood for Coffin - TBD
Insulation Solution for Coffin - TBD
"Cool Looking Lights" Solution - TBD
Stain for Frame / Trim / Lid - TBD
Tile / Mosaic / other type of Finishing for Lid and Backsplash - TBD
ORIGINAL POST:
So I figured I would start my own Kegerator / Keezer Build thread. I remember grumbling after bottling my first few batches but always thinking "It's never gonna be worth the money to get all of the kegging equipment and another fridge to store them". I have been homebrewing since March 2010, so a little over a year and have bottled 12 batches and now my opinion has changed completely - I won't mind bottling the occasional batch, but kegging seems to be much less work.
As it stands I don't have the $1000 - from my estimations what it costs to build a nice keezer with a new chest freezer, nice taps, good workworking and nice finishing (tiles on the top and backsplash and the like) - just sitting around. I also don't have the patience to wait until I save up the $1000 to buy the materials and build the thing to start kegging. I do however have an extra fridge - two months after we bought our house, we bought a brand new fridge and kept the old one as a beverage fridge - which is more or less what it is now, though we do store some food in it. So I decided to split this into three phases.
Phase 1 - 2 kegs and a CO2 tank with picnic taps in the beverage fridge. Nothing too fancy, just enough to have two batches on tap. gonna get the dual body regulator so that I can have one conditioning and one tapped at the same time.
Phase 2 - 4 Kegs (2 for conditioning, 2 with picnic taps) in the temp-controller modified chest freezer with wooden frame / lid Complete (not yet trimmed / stained), no holes for taps in freezer or lid, and obviously no real taps yet.
Phase 3 - See Phase 2 but add the coffin and three taps (perlick 575s), whatever fan setup i need for the coffin, lights, finishing for the lid / bar area. Ideally there would be 3 kegs tapped and one conditioning
I am able to save a little bit of money because my father-in-law gave me two old corny kegs. Other than that I need to buy everything on the list below, broken up by phases.
Phase 1 (~ $300)
Brew Logic Dual Tap Draft System (no CO2 Tank) - $159.95 - Brew Logic Dual Tap Draft System
^ This would take care of the two extra kegs that I need, the dual body regulator, the picnic taps for serving at Phases 1 and 2, gas hookups for the first two kegs. I can't find a cheaper alternative to this with the individual pieces broken out or any better bundle deals, and have heard good things from people about these. I opted to exclude the CO2 Tank from this because I wanted to go with a 20 lb tank, which leads me to.
Reconditioned 20 lb. CO2 tank - $84.95 - Reconditioned 20 lb. CO2 tank- Empty
Again the best price that I could find right now. In fact I can get both of the above for $245 and around $294 shipped
Phase 2 (~ $475 plus whatever shipping, also dependant on chest freezer cost)
3 Way CO2 Distributor $30 - 40 (I have seen prices in this range on a few different sites)
Chest Freezer - I am willing to spend up to $250, but preferably as low as I get one, at least 8.8 cu feet - 4 kegs and a 20 lb tank without modifications are the minimum - I don't want to bother with putting a collar on this.
2 Kegs - already have them, but for other's purposes, you can get them for around $40 a pop
wood and Hardware for Frame and Lid - Again nothing fancy yet, just probably pine 2x4s and maybe plywood for the frame and lid; this is before any of the trim on the lid or corners and any staining, any suggestions on types of wood or is using pine / softwood for the base is ok are welcome - $50 estimated
Casters - Still need to do pricing research on these, any suggestions are welcome. - $10 each estimated
Temperature Controller - I need to do a bit more comparative research into this - I have read almost every Keezer build thread that I could find over the last two months so everything kind of mixes together. But I *think* I am gonna go with a Love Controller that then powers the freezer. Or maybe I'll go with something like this - ETC Supply since I don't know a whole lot about wiring myself. Again suggestions welcome. - $80 estimated
Gas Hookups for 2 Kegs - $8 each
Phase 3 ($250 for faucets + stain / trim / finishing stuff)
Shanks, Faucets and all beer line for 3 taps - My best guesstimate for now is faucet-shank-tailpiece-beerline-liquid QD for each would be $80
Fan solution - TBD
Wood for Coffin - TBD
Insulation Solution for Coffin - TBD
"Cool Looking Lights" Solution - TBD
Stain for Frame / Trim / Lid - TBD
Tile / Mosaic / other type of Finishing for Lid and Backsplash - TBD