Upright Keezer, 8 taps, 11 kegs

[one-L]

Jon:

Very nice build. Are you running all ball locks for this? I've been looking at this setup for a while and I think it will work much better than a chest freezer in the space I have. Just wondering about capacity if I have half pinlocks and half balllocks with this since the pinlocks have a bigger footprint. Thanks.

 

[ryanhope]

Jon:

Very nice build. Are you running all ball locks for this? I've been looking at this setup for a while and I think it will work much better than a chest freezer in the space I have. Just wondering about capacity if I have half pinlocks and half balllocks with this since the pinlocks have a bigger footprint. Thanks.

I have a similar setup to JonW and I think there is enough space in mine for 6 1/6 barrel kegs. I think it really depends on how you build your shelf and the size of the door shelves. I had to take all my door shelves off.

 

[JonW]

Hi all. I am sourcing a freezer now for this build (genius). Are these freezers all 20 cubic feet? Are people getting away with the 17 cf model?

Thanks!

It must be the 20. The 17 won't work as you can't stack them 2 high.

 

[JonW]

Jon:

Very nice build. Are you running all ball locks for this? I've been looking at this setup for a while and I think it will work much better than a chest freezer in the space I have. Just wondering about capacity if I have half pinlocks and half balllocks with this since the pinlocks have a bigger footprint. Thanks.

Height wise you're fine, but I don't know about width. Worst case would be 8 total pin locks, but maybe more.

 

[ryanhope]

Height wise you're fine, but I don't know about width. Worst case would be 8 total pin locks, but maybe more.

I think 1/6 barrels are wider than pin locks so 2 of 6 pinlocks (bottom) is totally doable but I am fairly sure you could do 4 or 6. I currently have 1 1/6 keg in mine with 5 ball locks. I will try and purchase a 2nd 1/6 soon and see if I can swap for a ball lock. I am pretty sure it will fit

 

[ryanhope]

JonW, have you ever added 6 or 12 warm kegs and timed how long it takes for all the kegs to reach the desired temps. I have 6 kegs now in the bottom section (a first for me) and the 3 kegs in front are much warmer than the ones in back. Wondering how long its going to take for things to balance out.

 

[JonW]

No, I've never put that many warm kegs in at once and when I do put kegs in, I don't pay attention to how long it takes to get cold. I usually only add one or two new kegs at a time. I can't imagine it's more than a day or so.

 

[Nefariouss]

Nm

 

[ryanhope]

No, I've never put that many warm kegs in at once and when I do put kegs in, I don't pay attention to how long it takes to get cold. I usually only add one or two new kegs at a time. I can't imagine it's more than a day or so.

What temp do you keep your keezer set to?

 

[JonW]

What temp do you keep your keezer set to?

36 Degrees

 

[Frazeart]

Bought 2 upright freezers yesterday! Ordering all my parts for a 5 co2 and 3 nitro/beer gas build!

Thanks for the inspiration!

TOO MANY EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[stewart194]

This thread is AWESOME! I'm definitely building one of these. Thanks JonW for posting this!

 

[Dirty_Dog_Brewing]

Great setup! Hopefully i will be able to emulate this one of these days. For now, its a small keezer for me.

 

[Frazeart]

CO2 installed last weekend, faucets and beer line this coming weekend. Yay Beer!

Update: I can fit 12 of the kegoutlet.com (where I bought all the hardware) stainless ball lock kegs in the freezer. Only installing 6 faucets at present though

 

[Frazeart]

Build complete. (For now). Got to get brewing!

 

[gpitrone]

What type of faucets and shafts are you all using? I'm getting ready to place an order and can't decide wether to spend the cash on stainless or go chrome. ...or a mix of the two stainless faucets and chrome shafts.

 

[zzzzzzzzz]

Waaaazooo! Aloha from Hawaii and great build!

 

[Frazeart]

What type of faucets and shafts are you all using? I'm getting ready to place an order and can't decide wether to spend the cash on stainless or go chrome. ...or a mix of the two stainless faucets and chrome shafts.

Hi. I went with the Perlick "Creamer" faucets and 4 inch stainless shanks. The Perlicks were crazy expensive but very nice build quality. I just figured that I want this to last a long long time and stainless should hold up till I'm dead.

 

[Frazeart]

Pulled my first pint from the faucet last night. It was awesome. The creamer function of the perlick faucet is very interesting. Weird bubbles that seem to me quite different than just standard foam.

Yay beer.

 

[Babybatch]

Some day... Some day...

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Amazing build, i think im going to stick with building a Coffin keezer because i need more of a bar style build in my house(no way i'd get away with having an upright freezer in the living room).

But damn that is impressive.

 

[SavoryChef]

What size shanks did you use?

 

[JonW]

What size shanks did you use?

4" w/ right angle tail pieces.

 

[Iafarmre]

Did you have to use a temp controller or could you set the freezers temperature adjustment to be above freezing?

I just bought a Frigidaire 14.0 cu ft. and am working on gathering the rest of the parts.

 

[JonW]

Did you have to use a temp controller or could you set the freezers temperature adjustment to be above freezing?

My kegerator is controlled by my BCS. You have to bypass the internal thermostat to get temps above freezing. I'm sure that on some, you might be able to open up the thermostat and adjust it to get to a point above freezing, but you're not going to get precise temp control with it.

 

[Iafarmre]

Sorry for the ignorance, what is BCS?

 

[RacingRam]

Sorry for the ignorance, what is BCS?

Obviously it stands for Butt Clamping Stance. Like when you have to go #2 so bad you have to cock a leg to hold it in?

Just kidding, I think it might stand for Brewery Control System. Maybe...?

 

[HornetSparky]

^filed under accident-inducing humor.

 

[BeastlyBrew]

wow bravo to you. I am more then impressed by how many kegs and taps you have for such a small freezer. simply amazing.

 

[JonW]

Sorry for the ignorance, what is BCS?

BCS is the "Brewery Control System" from Embedded Control Concepts / Brewers Hardware.

More info on them here: http://www.brewershardware.com/BCS-Brewery-Controllers/ and here: http://www.embeddedcontrolconcepts.com/

 

[RazorUK]

Great build, I'm convinced this is the way for me to go now! I have limited space in my garage and I like the narrow footprint over the chest freezer

 

[SavoryChef]

I just received all my taps and shanks for this build. I can't wait

 

[m3n00b]

Curious what line lengths you used on the liquid side.

 

[SavoryChef]

10 feet minimum

 

[JonW]

Curious what line lengths you used on the liquid side.

8 feet.

 

[benco]

JonW, you've inspired me as well as others!!! Thanks! Not trying to copy you, but I have a 20 cu.ft frigiidaire. I got it home,cleaned it, took shelves out, it looks almost new, hardly used! I think it's a 07 or 08 model. It doesn't have a handle on front, it has a small grip handle on edge of door, other than that the interior looks identical to yours! Looking at yours you have plenty of room for stacking kegs! I measured mine from top to bottom it's only 57 1/4".my kegs are used ball lock, 25" tall. Not leaving me much room! What's your thoughts on this? Thanks!!

 

[slarkin712]

I built a setup nearly identical to this. I just went and measured the interior height of my freezer and it was 57 1/4" (Mine is a frigidaire as well). I easily fit two levels of ball lock kegs. The top shelf is 29" above the floor (I had to build a shelf from 2x2 and 2x4 as the stock shelf location was not well placed). I can put sanke kegs on the bottom, although it is a tight squeeze height-wise. If I could do it again I would make the top shelf 1" higher so I could more easily get sanke kegs on the bottom. Hope that helps.

 

[ryanhope]

8 feet.

With flow control faucets I am getting away with only 6ft lines going to each tap and thats is even using Accuflex bev seal line.

 

[JonW]

I measured mine from top to bottom it's only 57 1/4".my kegs are used ball lock, 25" tall. Not leaving me much room! What's your thoughts on this? Thanks!!

You'll be fine with that. Just get your shelf positioned at the mid point so you end up with an equal amount of head space above each level of kegs. I used the wire shelf (with supports) to minimize the amount of shelf space lost. Additionally, I was able to mount the CO2 valves in the 2x2 recess of the shelf.

If I could do it again I would make the top shelf 1" higher so I could more easily get sanke kegs on the bottom. Hope that helps.

I should be pretty easy to shim up the legs another inch.

With flow control faucets I am getting away with only 6ft lines going to each tap and thats is even using Accuflex bev seal line.

I found that 8' gave me good room for the door to open and gave me plenty of slack for attaching and moving kegs on the shelves. I could have gone shorter, but the extra distance just helped all around.

 

[benco]

Thanks to everyone for your help! It's pretty much done, except for filling it up with beer!!! I'm only doing 6 for now and keep my co2 in fridge! Thanks!!!