Ubermick's 4 tap keezer - YOU decide!

[user 40839]

Lads*, I need help.

I've decided on a keezer. I've picked out my freezer of choice - Frigidaire 9cu ft. at Lowes. I will be going with four taps - an ubermick tap (Racer 5 clone, for instance), a SWMBO tap, a "seasonal", and stout. (Eventually, I plan on a nitro setup for the stout, but that's down the road a ways.)

Sounds like I'm all set, right?

Wrongo!

The keezer will need to look as good as possible - I'll have to clad the thing in wood, make it look all nice, to keep SWMBO approval. I've seen some fantastic examples of keezers on here to give me tons of inspiration. Where I need help making a decision is where my taps are going to be.

Firstly, the collar:

Most folks recommend adding a collar, and just have the shanks through that. Saves on cost, I don't have to punch holes in the freezer, easy peasy! Alas, the issues are bumping them while walking past, hitting them when loading/unloading kegs, and generally having a mess. Also - this is the least favoured option of SWMBO.

Second up, the Lord of the Rings - Two Towers!

I spotted Guntr's build thread, and absolutely love the look of his keezer. Problem is, I wanna go with four taps, so I'd need two 2-tap towers. I don't think that'd look BAD per se, but it'd make the top really crowded.

Third. Four tap tower!

Certainly a good looking option - SWMBO is a big fan of having the taps not pointing straight on the floor, as mentioned, but these things are DAMN expensive!! Mine would have to be the PVC route, but as functional as it is, I can't get away from the feeling that it looks a wee bit... cheap? (No offense to ANYONE who has this setup!)

Option Four: The homemade pass-through!

This was made with PVC pipe, mitred, and glued. Again, not a fan of the PVC option, but this one is the winner as far as SWMBO is concerned. That said, it's the PVC thing, and while I have potential access to a welder to make this out of stainless, there's no WAY I'd be able to weld and grind it to where it'd look this good... (Checked with ACU, quote for a four tap pass-thru is $300+, and that's without taps, shanks, etc.!)

So those are the four options. My heart says option four, just to please the wife and keep things running smoothly. My head says option one, since it's the easiest plan of attack, and the one least likely to cause me issues in the build, or make a mess of the freezer itself.


*Being Irish, "Lads" is a gender neutral term - I absolutely include the ladies!!

 

[triangulum33]

I've been pondering these options too.
One thing to consider is ith the towers, you have potential line cooling issues. A fan?
Personally, I like the first option from a cost and simplicity standpoint. I also happen to think it is the best looking.
Its a fun problem to have!

I see the freezers in your examples are all black. Are you planning on finding a black model, or painting a white one?

 

[olllllo]

3 of 4 of those are more difficult to open the lid.
Can you guess which ones?

 

[jmick]

Keep in mind that if you have a tower, opening the lid can be a pain - and you risk damaging the the tower if you're not careful.

I went with the collar, double hinged so I don't have to lift kegs over the collar if I don't want to.

 

[Azharen]

Anyone know how the collared build would have the Love Controller wired? I REALLY like the way that looks.

 

[user 40839]

I've been pondering these options too.
One thing to consider is ith the towers, you have potential line cooling issues. A fan?
Personally, I like the first option from a cost and simplicity standpoint. I also happen to think it is the best looking.
Its a fun problem to have!

I see the freezers in your examples are all black. Are you planning on finding a black model, or painting a white one?

The "favourite" so far, option four, is neat because it's has a fan installed under one of the holes of the tower, so it circulates air up and through. Check out the build thread here: http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Custom-Draft-Tower-and-Kegerator

I actually plan on cladding it in thin plywood/panelling, and having it pushed up against a matching bar, so (in theory) the whole thing would look seamless.

Anyone know how the collared build would have the Love Controller wired? I REALLY like the way that looks.

Wires for the love run around the inside of the collar to a hole in the rear. Saw it in someone else's build thread, I'll update with the link when I find it.

3 of 4 of those are more difficult to open the lid.
Can you guess which ones?

I know, I know, I know!! But logistics aside, can't be denied that the towers just *look* better! (It's this sort of thing that I need to be talked out of, I think!)

 

[jmick]

I mounted my love controller like in the first picture. I just think it looks so cool.

I basically just wired the love in place of the freezer's thermostat - this way the interior lights still works on my freezer. Some people just splice the love controller into an extension cord so they don't have to mod the freezer at all. There are a couple of threads that go into more detail if you search for them.

 

[user 40839]

I mounted my love controller like in the first picture. I just think it looks so cool.

I basically just wired the love in place of the freezer's thermostat - this way the interior lights still works on my freezer. Some people just splice the love controller into an extension cord so they don't have to mod the freezer at all. There are a couple of threads that go into more detail if you search for them.

Here's the build thread to that collar model I referenced, with the in-built Love controller...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/converting-frigidaire-7-2-cu-ft-chest-freezer-162225/

Key to have it control the fan as well to circulate the cold air. The route I was planning to take was just have the love controller control a two socket outlet, with the freezer plugged into one, and the AC adapter plugged into the other. I haven't seen an overly clear step-by-step method of hard wiring the freezer, as jmick has done - and I'd be afraid of guessing and junking the thing.

More and more tho, I'm leaning towards a simple collar, despite what the wifey says. This is going in the man cave, after all!

 

[Guntr]

Second up, the Lord of the Rings - Two Towers!

I spotted Guntr's build thread, and absolutely love the look of his keezer. Problem is, I wanna go with four taps, so I'd need two 2-tap towers. I don't think that'd look BAD per se, but it'd make the top really crowded.
[/SIZE]

Thanks, I'm honoured you chose my keezer as one of your examples. All great examples in my opinion.

I also wondered what to do down the road if I decide to increase my tap count. I've seen double tap towers like mine that have a third added in the middle and kegconnection.com sells the tap and pieces to do this. What I will probably do when the time comes is get another double tower, plug and insulate the current hole, cover with a nice piece of wood stained to match the trim and drill two new holes for the towers. Something like this:

---------------
|..O....x....O..|
---------------

There the Os are the new holes, the x is the old covered hole, and the . are just place holders because the html is removing the spaces.

olllllo is right though, opening is a bit tricky. The lid is light enough to open, but I have to wheel it away from the wall and prop it open with a stick because the hinge springs aren't quite strong enough to keep it up.

Definitely not a big deal though, and once all my friends and family have seen the inside it shouldn't need opening except when a keg needs to be swapped.

Added bonus of lid being tricky(ish) to open: SWMBO isn't tempted to use my keezer for extra food storage.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I agree with olllllo- every option you show except for the collar would make it a PITA to open the door, and you'd risk damaging your towers every time you did so. I vote for the collar.

 

[user 40839]

Hmm, well it's looking like the collar is making the most sense, looks be damned. Ordered up my basic kit from kegconnection.com, along with extra lines, and four Perlicks. The only thing I have to buy (aside from the freezer) are shanks, and have been waiting on the format to go for goosenecks or standards.

(Speaking of shanks, is it worth the extra money to pay for stainless?)

 

[ajwillys]

Another option you didn't mention is an Irish coffin box. If I redo mine, that's what I'm doing.

Here's an example of the best looking coffin box keezer I've ever seen(made by Jester369):

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/keezer-project-31221/index13.html#post710605

 

[Jaysus]

Added bonus of lid being tricky(ish) to open: SWMBO isn't tempted to use my keezer for extra food storage.

lol


4567890

 

[DKershner]

I voted for collar because I got to call you a ******* while doing it.

Oh, and because it's a hell of a lot easier to do everything, even my ******* can do it.

 

[user 40839]

Ethnic irony aside, the Irish coffin doesn't do it for me - and honestly, Jester's build is WAY beyond my skill level - although I love the way he added the wood to the sides of the freezer. That, with a stainless pass through would be ideal in my mind (but still outside of my skill level.)

And if folks are thinking that the lid would be too heavy based on having standard towers on there, how #$%$ heavy must that monster be!!!?

 

[jrfuda]

Jester369's design is awesome. One thing I've thought about - if I ever build a keezer - is following something close to Jester's design, but ditching the lid and making a cut-out/insert system in from of the coffin box. This way you can access the inside of the keezer without having to lift off the entire lid (which would include the taps/coffin box) essentially, you'd have a lid with a sub-lid. The sub lid could be the full width and maybe 1/2 the depth of the full lid.

 

[jrfuda]

...the Irish coffin doesn't do it for me ...
And if folks are thinking that the lid would be too heavy based on having standard towers on there, how #$%$ heavy must that monster be!!!?

Posted same time as you, so now I need to update my post...

You could do something like I suggested (with the lid/sub) but use a 4-tap tower in place of the coffin box. Your sublid could be even bigger using a tower versus the box.

 

[jrfuda]

A little searching revealed 2 other threads that discuss split lids:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/beer-tap-120619/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/yuris-keezer-design-127726/

Each design has its advantages, especially if you prefer the tower to be off center so you have a big "countertop" for other stuff. Both designed should let you access all the kegs without disturbing the taps. My though was to spilt the lid lengthwise instad of depthwise as these folks did. I don't know how practical it would be to fabricate that way, and if there would be issues of stray liquid getting into a big seam that goes the length of the keezer.

 

[Zen_Brew]

The collar is a nice, functional, and simple option. Yes you can hit the taps while loading kegs. There are a couple things you can do to minimize the impact of that.

1. Design a drain with a hose from the bottom of the drip tray that runs to an out of sight bucket or something such as that so that if a tap gets knocked on and runs for a bit the tray does not overflow.

2. Place some sort of matt/carpet under the taps on the rug.

3. Mount the collar to the lid instead of to the freezer lip so that the entire tap array rises up with the lid. You have to devise a hose routing system that allows you to move the hoses out of your way when the lid is open.
Here is an example in this thread.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/keezer-collar-coastarine-way-99753/

 

[user 40839]

You could do something like I suggested (with the lid/sub) but use a 4-tap tower in place of the coffin box. Your sublid could be even bigger using a tower versus the box.

John, that's a great idea on the split lid, and I'd absolutely do that if my keezer was a bigger model - but I'm looking at either the 7.2cf or the 9.0cf Frigidaire from Lowes, neither of which would have enough counter space to warrant having a fixed are of the lid, I'm thinking.

In terms of tap bumpage when loading and unloading kegs, I'm not overly worried about that, more about them getting knocked or bumped by pets and kids (or drunken me when stumbling past), which could spell a horribly messy floor if not immediately caught. (As much as I love her to bits, my 2 year old niece who visits often is a filthy little miscreant, and I can see her happily flipping all four taps on and laughing hysterically as the man cave floods!)

 

[Jersh]

My vote is for the double twin-tap towers. I'm actually in the planning phase as well for a new 4 tap keezer and am about 75% certain that I'm going to go the double tower route. The only reason I might go with something different is because it's likely that my keezer will live on our patio (and we're moving to FL) and my concern is that I'll have problems with condensation on my towers/taps due to the humidity. So if I can't come up with a good way to prevent this, I might go the irish coffin route instead.

I know the collar-mounted taps are much easier and cheaper, but I just like the look of the towers much better. I feel like the towers have much more 'wow' factor.