My collared keezer build

[Photopilot]

I think my collared keezer is now far enough along to show it off, so here it is. I will start from the beginning of the build so anyone interested can see how I did it.

This project was a long time coming. When I built my house in 97 I put a minifridge in the peninsula to hold kegs so beers on tap in the house is a long term deferred dream come true. So in total this project took 13 years.

My design philosophy was like Coastarines just use the tools you have, since I have most all of them I decided to make it as complicated as possible. For wood, there is a wood wholesaler in SLC and he sells retail as well with some good prices. I bought 2 sticks of rustic red birch for around $15 and used this to make the collar. I had bought a Kreg pocket screw jig last year and had yet to use it, felt it was time. I also planned on possibly moving or adding or changing parts of the setup so the pocket screws allows me to disassemble the sides.

I used Watco Danish Oil Cherry to stain the collar as well as the rest of the wood to follow then finished with 2 coats of spar varnish for better handling of moisture. It was more glossy than I would have preferred but wanted the best moisture resistance.

On the freezer lid I removed the weather strip and plastic liner under the lid. Then mounted L-shaped brackets under the foam and drilled through and screwed the brackets home.

I had put a dado in the wood collar to catch the foam lip around the edge of the lid

I then clamped this collar down tight into the foam added a custom thickness shims between the brackets and collar and screwed through the bracket, the shim and into the collar. See the second photo in this thread for photos of the shim. This was just trying them on for thickness I later cut them to size to just fit under the area covered by the L-bracket.

Here is the finished collar with the beer flowing.

So that is how to make a simple keezer build more complex than it needs to be. I have done a bunch more to it since then i will post tomorrow. It seems like a long time in building but analyzing the pictures it was one month from picking up the fridge to the final picture here. That includes a few days of the fridge bouncing around in the back of my car till I had time to take it out. So i guess the total time to get it done from dreaming it to fruition is just under 13 years.

 

[Photopilot]

Once the beer was flowing it was time to turn my attention to the details of the keezer. I had spent quite a bit of time milling a piece of plywood to accommodate a 3/8 nut to work for mounting onto the tap then attaching a yeast test tube to act as a tap handle. My goal was to be able to fill the tube tap handles with the beer it was serving. The glue I found only lasted a few pulls so they had all broken off in a weekend.

I had bought some rare earth magnets based on a thread on how to attach a drip tray. I had bought the drip tray from Williams Brewing. The RE magnets are strong but the freezer side is not very magnetic friendly at least not enough to hold the tray up for 5 taps.

So I bought more of the rustic red birch. I designed a glass/drip tray holder to match the collar. I used 2x8 from HD to make the legs so they were wide enough to place an inserted RE magnet into the back, which keeps the stand firmly against the keezer.

I built some tap handles out of wooden legs from Lowes. I removed the lag bolts in them drilled them out and inserted 3/8 inserts using soap to lube them up and a drill press at work. It took a bit of work but I like the results. As you can see I did not give up on the idea of test tube samples of the beer in each tap.

The freezer had a bunch of dents from the bumper of the previous owner in the right side so as much as I did not need more glassware I needed something to cover this up, thus a second rack and more glassware. You can see the inset cup on the left of the photo and inset magnet in the cup on the right. These keep the racks very stable.

Once my through bulkhead finally arrived I put the CO2 outside added foam the the collar and plumbed it all to the manifold. I have a 4-way on one of the gauges for 3 outputs and 2-3 ways for 2 outputs of CO2 to all the kegs the keezer can hold which is 9. The remaining is for pressure carbing.

Final details include and attached bottle cap remover and a catcher hidden on the side. Also quick release hoses and a T-fitting on the CO2 bottle so it can be removed as needed or used in place for outside the keezer use. There is another bottle opener held with a magnet on the outside of the fridge also.

Here is the final product so far as seen in our living room about 10 feet from prime TV viewing. A little too convenient. Besides the 5 taps on the outside I do have 3 more tapped inside with picnic hoses with room for one more.

 

[wildwest450]

Very nice!



.

 

[DevilsCreekBrewing]

Great idea to tidy up some glassware. Looks really good.

 

[MikeG]

Really nice! The test tubes, you just fill those up when racking your beer to your keg?

I guess a rag on the floor in place of a drip tray was out of the question.

 

[Photopilot]

I guess a rag on the floor in place of a drip tray was out of the question.

No it wasn't at least not for the first two weeks the keezer was working

Really nice! The test tubes, you just fill those up when racking your beer to your keg?

Good idea but no I poured the beer from tap into taster glasses (on the top of right rack), let carbonation fizz out then pour into test tube. Most of the beer had been kegged already. I will try to put the beer into a test tube before it gets carbonated from now on though thanks for the suggestion.

 

[brewingkitty]

this is first rate craftsmanship! the white labs samples are an idear i'm gonna steal.

 

[ScottyBones]

awesome. i love the glass holders

 

[thrstyunderwater]

Do you know how many cubic feet your freezer is?

 

[Photopilot]

this is first rate craftsmanship!

Not if you look closely.

I aspire to first rate craftsmanship someday. Which would be hard as my "workshop" is my small driveway next to a busy road. Some of the wood was cut to size on snowy days.

Here are more details on size and prices

Keezer =10.3 cu ft $50
Red Birch (wood) $30
2x8 wood (legs) $16
Tap Handles $30
Glassware $60
Foam for collar $7
Drip Tray (williams) $25 (plus $100 I had to order at same time just because)
Bottle opener
and catch tray $15 from previously listed $100 from Williams Brewing
Magnets $10 I bought a lot more but only used this many worth
Bulkhead adapter $12
4-way manifold $75 (from a HBT-er)
Misc tubing
connectors, etc. $100 (guesstimate)

So far I am at $330 but that does not include the taps, which is where it all started, I got 4 perlick 425s and one 575 for $155 from the group buy here. I spent $125 for SS shanks at the LHBS.

Total spent on the keezer: $610
I also picked up 10 more kegs in the process for a total of $135. Seeing how much money I have spent on beer is making me thirsty.

 

[BigJerk]

Nice! I'm about to undertake my own bar build and upgrade from my minifridge kegerator to a keezer. This thread gives me some great ideas.

 

[Photopilot]

Nice! I'm about to undertake my own bar build and upgrade from my minifridge kegerator to a keezer. This thread gives me some great ideas.

Thanks you big jerk,

Gives me an opportunity to update. I have not added anything to the basic structure except more beer, which is always better than less beer. I got 7 on tap and one of sparkling water. I do plan some cosmetic upgrades to it, but here is how it looks now.

 

[1BigBear]

thanks you big jerk,

gives me an opportunity to update. I have not added anything to the basic structure except more beer, which is always better than less beer. I got 7 on tap and one of sparkling water. I do plan some cosmetic upgrades to it, but here is how it looks now.

can you explain the test tubes- do they show a sample of the beer?
And what are they of and how are they made..Awesome !! :fro:

 

[1BigBear]

thanks you big jerk,

gives me an opportunity to update. I have not added anything to the basic structure except more beer, which is always better than less beer. I got 7 on tap and one of sparkling water. I do plan some cosmetic upgrades to it, but here is how it looks now.

can you explain the test tubes- do they show a sample of the beer?
And what are they of and how are they made..Awesome !! :fro:

 

[Photopilot]

can you explain the test tubes- do they show a sample of the beer?
And what are they of and how are they made..Awesome !! :fro:

If you look in post #1 you can see my original intention was to make the tap handles out of the test tubes or incorporate the test tube into a taller handle. I had used the same wooden leg handles I ended up using and chopped it off to make a flat surface then glued the test tube onto it. I tried multiple types of glues but eventually the test tubes fell off, so I created these racks to hold them.

The test tubes are the ones I get my liquid yeast in from White Labs. I have to soak the tubes to remove the stickers and then scrub to remove the glue. The initial test tube rack was red birch the larger 8 tube one is made from alder. I drilled the holes using a drill press and a forstner bit. I used a table saw to put a bevel on the board. Sanded to 220 and finished with General finishes varnish.

The test tubes are filled with samples from the kegs to represent the taps. I usually keep the same color of beer in the same place so not always correct beers in there but a good representation. When I do refill I usually pour a beer into a glass and let the carbonation settle out then keep topping off the test tube till I can cap it and flip it upside down into the rack without a big bubble.

I have since seen someone successfully attache a tube to a handle that can be glued and filled with liquids. I would do this as I really like the idea but my eventual plan is to learn to lathe and turn some belay pins to make a set of tap handles to finish off my nautical themed porch.

 

[njs170]

Looks great! Love the glass storage.

 

[Maidenhead]

You forgot:
"Satisfaction from the Build, coupled with kicking back and sipping on fresh Home brew= Priceless."
That looks great. I am about to embark on a similar project.

Not if you look closely.

I aspire to first rate craftsmanship someday. Which would be hard as my "workshop" is my small driveway next to a busy road. Some of the wood was cut to size on snowy days.

Here are more details on size and prices

Keezer =10.3 cu ft $50
Red Birch (wood) $30
2x8 wood (legs) $16
Tap Handles $30
Glassware $60
Foam for collar $7
Drip Tray (williams) $25 (plus $100 I had to order at same time just because)
Bottle opener
and catch tray $15 from previously listed $100 from Williams Brewing
Magnets $10 I bought a lot more but only used this many worth
Bulkhead adapter $12
4-way manifold $75 (from a HBT-er)
Misc tubing
connectors, etc. $100 (guesstimate)

So far I am at $330 but that does not include the taps, which is where it all started, I got 4 perlick 425s and one 575 for $155 from the group buy here. I spent $125 for SS shanks at the LHBS.

Total spent on the keezer: $610
I also picked up 10 more kegs in the process for a total of $135. Seeing how much money I have spent on beer is making me thirsty.