Show us your Kegerator

Just wrapped this up for today. Probably needs another coat or two of stain but i'm happy with it for now.



Before:

 

Finally finished mine off with tap handles and drip tray. I painted over the tap handle labels with chalkboard paint:

 

I used a router jig from Lowes that made it relatively easy. You still need to be very precise lining things up of course, but it's nowhere near as labor intensive as it was when my grandfather learned to do them by hand! And the joints just need a little glue instead of screws or nails.

 

I have an Akeda jig that I've used for a number of years now to do the dovetails. It is so much quicker than doing them by hand. What I love about the Akeda jig is that I can space them any way I want giving them more of a "custom" touch.

 

teasers...

i have a few from the beginning of the build and it should be done in a week or two... waiting on some metal pieces and stain, then its wiring up the love controller and filling it full of homebrew.


Kegerator-3 by jmw5107, on Flickr


Kegerator-2 by jmw5107, on Flickr


Kegerator by jmw5107, on Flickr

 

so the perlick 525ss seems to be the icing on the cake for a lot of these guys, whats the deal with perlick? And why should i spend $35 to upgrade from my stock faucet?

They do look nice, but whats the benefits over the stock faucets?

Thanks

 

If you had them, you'd know.

Forward sealing, non stick. More sanitary.

Actually, I prefer the older 425ss with the removable spout.

 

More sanitary???? Really????

Just wipe and clean your taps frequently, solve any "sanitary" issue. Trust me I truly am jealous of the Perlicks, sexy as hell....but "more sanitary"???? Where are you serving your beer? Botswana?

 

From what I understand, the Perlick design doesn't allow much if any air contact compared to standard faucets. They claim there is literary no place for air or bacteria to contact the beer. Plus, they look badass.

 

With the forward seal faucets, other than the spout itself, no internal part of the faucet that comes in contact with the beer is exposed to the air when the faucet is shut.

 

Stainless steel construction vs chrome plated brass. Forward seal means they don't get sticky, gummy inside if you don't pull a beer for a while.

 

Oh.....So thats why I get hungover. It's the bacteria in my cheap faucets on my kegerator, and at 99.9999% of the bars I drink at. Phew, I just thought I was drinking to much.

 

Sorry for the terse response, I was doing it on my iPhone. It's hard to find information, but this is from Perlick's catalog:

Here's a link to the catalog, http://www.perlick.com/pdf-files/Tapping-Catalog.pdf in which they also show some pictures/figures of the design.

 

I know old post but dang that is sweet. I know wish I kept my 46807 instead of junking it for parts. Nice work.

 

I sense your sarcasm in saying that "99.9999%" of bars use the same cheap faucets, so let's explain a bit further:

When you leave a faucet off for a long period of time, the beer clinging to all the internal surfaces (and outer, if you're particularly sloppy) stales, then dries, then attracts bacteria and even mold.
For the home user, this is a particular problem, since many leave their taps alone for days at a time, and even pulling just a few a day will cause the same problem.
Properly cleaning them will alleviate this problem, but with the cheaper taps, that means you should really clean them nearly DAILY.
Many bars do exactly that, but not all. Some do it weekly, some do it monthly, and some only do it when the health inspector MAKES THEM.
Forward sealing taps leave much less clinging to the insides, especially on complicated sealing mechanisms where things can really jam up, so they require much less frequent cleaning, and even if the spout itself gets FILTHY, a beer would still pour without a problem.

Plus, they're built better, with closer tolerances, and the most popular ones are the all steel models, versus the weaker brass, which may contribute off-flavors to beer that sits in it for long periods (again, especially for home-based kegerators), or corrode. Chrome plating helps some on the outside finish, but that will also eventually flake or otherwise wear away.

So yes, you are probably drinking a LOT of unwanted crap using cheap faucets unless you're taking excellent care of them, and you will get sticking issues from time to time.
If you don't mind all that, keep using them. More Perlicks for those of us who want them.

 

Totally agree that sticky taps suck, and that is the only advantage to Perlicks. Most bars do not clean their taps daily, if not weekly, if not monthly and MOST BARS are not "craft beer" bars either. No one is getting sick from this "bacteria". So to use the term "sanitary" and "bacteria" is almost a scare tactic to sell a product. Colorox bleach does this daily. I want Perlicks just like I would want a Porche instead of a Corvette, it is more exotic.

Phew....I haven't vented in awhile...must be the bacteria in the beer I am drinking....:rockin:

 

Actually.....I like the new Corvettes....sexy as hell...you could score mad chesty beefers in a Corvette.

 

Mrrrkva, that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Nice work! When I build up the bankroll to afford all the necessary equipment to build something like that, I'm hitting you up!

 

Dude, the person asked why. I and others pointed out why we do do. No need to be sarcastic or piss on the parade.

For me, I had a non perlick as my first tap, and I've had it stick and be gunked up or numerous occasions. I managed to grab some Perlicks, and have never had a issue with them. I try to spend my money wisely and think they are the right decision. Quite frankly, I think it is more important to focus on ongoing costs, not the one time cost of the faucet.

 

Let me know which bars you're going to so that I can make sure to stay away.
Filthy faucets make beer taste terrible, and the disgusting flavor is that of bacterial growth.
There is a good reason why some things taste bad to us- it's an evolutionary adaptation to tell us that it's dangerous. Just because you don't need to be hospitalized immediately afterwards doesn't mean that ingesting large amounts of bacteria is doing your system any favors.

I have a habit of closing out many of the bars I've frequented, both as a customer, and as a performer. Some craft, some not, but I've seen most of them go through the cleaning process as they start closing taps down for the evening- this includes several restaurant chains where they had nothing more interesting than Bud Light on draft.
Sometimes they disassemble the tap, sometimes they just flush it out with a cleanser, but a bar that cares about cleanliness in the slightest WILL clean their faucets and lines.
If you leave faucets operational for months at a time without basic sanitation, it's akin to having a hobo come in and lick the glasses clean instead of washing them.

Next time you're in a bar, ask them how often they clean their lines and faucets. If they give you a dumbfounded expression, you should leave.

 

I am not trying to piss on anyone parade...just saying that your beer will taste no different with cheap-O taps or Perlicks. Sh*t how many great reviews on here and BA of beers on tap came on of cheap-o taps?

 

Just because it's being drawn on a cheap tap, doesn't mean it's been left dirty.
The point was that Perlicks are more sanitary between cleanings, not that either can be left uncleaned.

 

Just finished this today! I couldn't be happier. :fro:

Oh yes...




Cram them in there!

 

didnt mean to cause a stir, but thanks for the responses regarding the perlicks! haha.

 

Speaking of which, what type of detergent do you guys use to clean your faucets?

edit: can i just use oxiclean free?

 

I was planning on going the keezer route and was concerned about having room for it and my wife and I had been discussing space issues. Well, up comes my birthday and my wife, pushed by my mother in law (love that woman....seriously) bought me one. It's not the one I would have gotten but I'm very grateful.
Of course, 1 tap was not going to do since this can fit 3 corny kegs so I just updated to a tri tower tap and a dual guage regulator.
Simple and plain but it does fit in our tight space and I get what I want, she gets what she wants and we're all happy.
By the way, I am very pleased with Birdman Brewing. Extremely helpful, fast service and excellent pricing.
(time for get rid of the wallpaper......I know!)

 

Can't believe I spent a good 2-weeks skimming through this post a few dozen pages at a time.

My fridge kegerator is almost complete but I want to install a handle connected to both the freezer and fridge so they both open at the same time but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the current handles off of my old fridge. Its so ole there is no make or model so i cannot even Google the manual. I would rather not take the inner lining off the door but I don't really know how I am supposed to take off the current handles.

Anyone here had this issue or know what to do?

 

There are no exposed screws?

If not, I bet a sawzall would work pretty well!

 

I would post a pic of the handle so that we may see the unit in question one zoomed in and another further back, or get model number and mfg and I'll check with my appliance guy to see how the handle may be serviced.

 

Rogue - I use BLC - BeerLineCleaner - 2/5 ounce (yes, tiny amount) makes up a quart of cleaner... then flush with ice water per instructions.

 

Seems to be the go to stuff...thanks. I was just shocked at how pricey the kits were, but im sure worth it in the end

 

you don't need the kit - just a quart of the stuff - it will last a long time.
then build one of these

 

Thanks for the props Beer-lord! Glad to see you got it set up so quickly. Lookin' good! :rockin:

 

2 days, 368 pages, 3674 posts, and i've read this whole thing.


(is it obvious that i just acquired a kegerator?)
work in progress... while dispensing my porter...

i have already removed the bud paraphernalia. painting will come soon enough.

 

*Update* Got my tap handle figured out! Hope you like it. Thinking about welding another nut in the open end of the wrench and having a piece of steel that you can screw in there for the labels.

 

That is super awesome Kick mania!! That would go well on my kegerator since it is in my garage...

 

Easy enough to do if you have a welder on hand. Picked up the wrench from Home Depot in a set for 8 bucks in the clearance bin since I wasn't going to use any of my snap-on stuff or my great grandpa's tools lol. Put the wrench in a vice, heated it up with a blow torch and hit it with a hammer until it looked good. Then tack welded the nut on the back side, ground it smooth, ran a tap through it, cleaned it up and bolted it on. Probably gonna do that for the other six taps I'm planning on putting in there.

 

That's an awesome idea!!! Would still look good without the "label" too!

 

Thanks guys. I'll definitely post some pictures when it's all said and done. I cant wait to tap another keg though...My pipeline got screwed up so I'm dying to try the new handle...if ya know what I mean.