Basic Keezer Build

Here's my attempt to a 4 tap basic keezer build (btw I'm new to any type of wood working). I was definitely inspired by all of the builds members posted on this site. My wife agreed to having it inside the house if I could make it look halfway decent. I'm hoping to be done with this project by the beginning of the summer.

Here are some pictures of my current progress.

I have the base frame and the outside paneling put together. Though I'm going to have to do a lot of sanding since many of my cuts seem to be off by about 1/16th of an inch.

Beginning looks pretty good!

How does this freezer cool?

I'm asking because some freezers use the outside skin as a heat radiator. If yours does then you will not be able to cover up the outside without leaving holes top & bottom all the way around for air to circulate.

thargrav said:

How does this freezer cool?

I'm asking because some freezers use the outside skin as a heat radiator. If yours does then you will not be able to cover up the outside without leaving holes top & bottom all the way around for air to circulate.

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I believe it radiates the heat through the outside skin. The manual said give it 3 in. around and I was hoping that would be sufficient since I will only be cooling to refrigerator temps (35-45 degs.). I think your right though, I'm planning on adding vents on both sides to allow for air flow and possibly a couple computer fans. Thanks for your input.

Yeah, just pop a couple of vents in the sides or circulate some air with a computer fan through the air gap between the cabinet and freezer. I went overboard with a decorative vent in the front, another vent on the left side, and two on the right side (one high and one where the compressor sits). I thankfully have had no issues with overheating, but probably could have gotten away with much less ventilation. Your keezer build looks great so far! Keep up the good work and let me know if I can help, especially when you get to the coffin.....you are doing a coffin I presume????

BTW....what wood species are you using. The trim boards look like pine. Is the paneling ash? Just wondering.

I assume you're doing a coffin based on the fact that you're doing the "cabinet" along the sides of the freezer. Or are you doing a tower?

Hoppopotomus said:

Yeah, just pop a couple of vents in the sides or circulate some air with a computer fan through the air gap between the cabinet and freezer. I went overboard with a decorative vent in the front, another vent on the left side, and two on the right side (one high and one where the compressor sits). I thankfully have had no issues with overheating, but probably could have gotten away with much less ventilation. Your keezer build looks great so far! Keep up the good work and let me know if I can help, especially when you get to the coffin.....you are doing a coffin I presume????

BTW....what wood species are you using. The trim boards look like pine. Is the paneling ash? Just wondering.

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Thanks for the input.

Yes I'm planning on doing a coffin and will most likely have questions. I want to try and do passive cooling in the coffin using copper tubing. There was a thread for using copper to keep your lines cool in a tower and don't think it would be much different in a coffin.

As far as the type of wood goes, I'm not really sure. Sorry, as I said in the beginning this is my first big project like this. I pretty much just went to Home Depot and Loews picking out what looked decent. I know I probably bring shame to all of the other woodworkers out there, but as with home brewing I figure you have to start somewhere.

It's all good man. Your off to a great start. You don't have to be a master trim carpenter or a custom cabinet maker to build a keezer. Just as you said, its just like brewing, sometimes you just have to take the plunge and shoot from the hip. If you decide to not go with the passive cooling approach, my thread may be of assistance for you. FYI...Home Depot still has a pricing error on their website for the 4" Inductor fans at $14. They are $28 in the store. I used two for my coffin, two in my lager chamber, and one in my ale chamber. Can't beat the price and my local HD price matched at the counter......reluctantly, because its obviously an error, but they have to price match what is on their site. Let me know if I can help. Good luck!

Looks like they fixed the error.

Lowest I see now is $27.97 for a 4"

Hmmm. I just bought 2 more last week at $14 each, but checked this morning and they are back to $28. When I build my keezer last year, I bought 2 at $14 and kept an eye on HD's website. The price did go back up to $28 eventually, but a few weeks ago someone on HBT tipped me off that they back down to $14. Who knows what's going on, but keep an eye on their site and maybe they will go back down again. Like I said before, the pro-desk managers at HD did match the online price for me, but said that it was an obvious mistake on the site and weren't real thrilled to do so. Maybe their web people have finally caught on.

Ok, I know it's been a while, but I have made some progress. I decided to go with the passive cooling method by using copper pipes, we'll see how it works out. As far as work goes, I'm down to just staining the wood and lay the tile. I still need to purchase the corny kegs, CO2 Tank, and Faucets. This project has cost a lot more money than expected and that has been the main reason it's taken so much time to build. Let me know what you think.

No kidding! I helped my buddy do his kitchen counters with the same glass tile. Really nice end result. Looks great, btw, keep updating.

Just picked up for faucets and shanks. All I need now is the CO2 tank and four corny kegs. Planning on brewing three batches of beer tomorrow in preparation for the keezer! I'm curious to see how that's going to go.

Just saw this thread, looks great. That is the mother of all coffins, it's huge! That coffin is going to take a lot of insulation to fill it up. You could always divide up the interior of the coffin so that the insulation is only around the lines.

I did not cap the top of the sides when I built mine so that the hot air could rise and escape just under the lid. You cant see that area unless you open the lid plus the back is open to allow more air it in needed. I also did not use any fans to circulate the air around the outside and mine has been working without a hitch since.

I like the fact that you are going passive with your cooling, I did something similar and my beer is always cold.

Good luck I look forward to the finished product.

Just finished my first coat of stain. The lighting isn't to good in my garage for the picture, looks better in person. I also put the faucets on just to see what they would look like. I'm attaching the before and after pictures. I'm really happy with how it's turning out.







Also just bought four corny kegs online and was able to brew 3 batches of beer this last weekend. Can't wait to keg them in a couple weeks.

Purplhaze, just wanted to mention how I'm planning on cooling my lines. I have 1/2 in. cooper going from the freezer to each shank and I'm just going to use pipe insulation to keep them cool. Other than the pipe insulation I'm not planning on insulating the coffin. There was no real reason why I made the coffin so big. I've been going through this build with out any plans and just putting stuff together.

Thanks for the comments and I hope I was able to answer some questions.

Just got my kegs in and so glad they fit! I measured everything, but knew they would be close.

Just moved the keezer inside. All I need to do now is grout the tile and get a CO2 tank. Pretty excited!

Awesome! Your hard work paid off!

First drink from my Keezer is delicious! This was a great investment! Now I just need to make sure I keep going to the gym.



Couple things I wanted to note. I realize now why people put the vents in. I was just thinking the freezer was going to have to keep 40 deg temps, completely forgot that I was going to be adding 5 gallons of room temp beer that it would need to cool. Not too big of a deal I just pull it out from the wall and put a fan behind it when I added the kegs, seemed to work fine with keeping the outside cool.

I did want to mention that my passive cooling for my beer lines in the coffin with copper pipes seems to be working pretty well. After about twelve from the last poor the beer is still cold. I will have to see how it works when I haven't poured in a week.