Bar Build Part 2: 8-tap Through-the-Wall Keezer

max384 · Jan 8, 2017

This is the second part of my bar build. The actual building of the bar can be found here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=596537

My bar is in the finished portion of my basement. On the other side of the wall is the unfinished part of my basement, which is where the keezer will be, and the faucets will be through the wall.

The faucets:

The other side of the wall

I am using a 20 cubic foot chest freezer that I will be putting a 10" collar on. I will then be using PVC tubing to connect the lines to a box I'm building around the shanks. I will be using both water and air cooling to ensure cool lines and clean first pours.

The first thing to do was to make space for the box I'm building around the back of the shanks.

And then build the box. The box was insulated with 1" foam board insulation. I used both liquid nails and staples to hold it together. I cut out two holes for the 3" PVC pipes that are going to house the beer lines and cooling lines.

I also put a thin piece of plywood over the foam board insulation so that I could adequately tighten the shank nuts.

I then taped over everything with foil tape

I then added a door with more foam board insulation, and then covered that with the foil tape as well.

The PVC pipes and signage were added

max384 · Jan 8, 2017

Next I started on building the collar for the keezer.

This chest freezer has a light and controls on the lid, which means there is a wire leading to the lid that needs to be cut and lengthened.

The lid was removed, and the surface where the collar would be attached was prepped.

The collar was then built with 2x10s and holes for the PVC pipes were drilled.

Pardon the mess. I'm usually much more organized...

The foam board insulation was attached

The collar was then attached to the freezer with liquid nails, and the spaces were filled in with Good Stuff caulking.

After allowing it to set and dry, the lid was reattached.

This is where I'm currently at. I'm working a lot this week, but I'm hoping to squeeze some time in to get this done this week. We'll see.

ITV · Jan 8, 2017

I enjoyed part 1, looking forward to see the progress of part 2.

That must be close to a full time job to keep 8 home brews on tap.

max384 · Jan 8, 2017

ITV said:
I enjoyed part 1, looking forward to see the progress of part 2.

That must be close to a full time job to keep 8 home brews on tap.

The way I see it, is that it is less work to keep more beers on tap. I'll be drinking the same amount whether I have one tap or 8... I just won't be changing out kegs as often!

:mug:

coypoo · Jan 8, 2017

The initial amount of "work" to get 8 on tap may be a lot, but after that it won't be much to keep it filled

John Paul Stoddard · Jan 8, 2017

I agree

Might as well build in more Taps. Several reasons come to mind right of the top of my head

While You may not have 8 Beers on Tap at all times you can add a fresh Keg or two before a Keg Blows.

If you do start brewing more Often or brewing smaller batches of Beer for more Variety on Tap at all times you are already set to go.

And You have Guest Taps Available for Gatherings.

Easier to do it from the start then come back in later to try and redo.

RichBrewer · Jan 8, 2017

I am completely jealous! You are doing what I have dreamed about for years.

John Paul Stoddard · Jan 8, 2017

coypoo said:
The initial amount of "work" to get 8 on tap may be a lot, but after that it won't be much to keep it filled

Not really...especially if you have several BrewBuddies

Might be surprised how fast those 8 Taps will be filled and have extras ready to go

Biscuits · Jan 10, 2017

Sub'd....loved Part 1...looking forward to Part 2

wyowolf · Jan 10, 2017

Wow, just what I was thinking of doing in my basement bar, thank you!!
Nice to see another Dillon fan

inhousebrew · Jan 12, 2017

Love watching this seeing that I have a half unfinished basement and briefly thought of building something similar (albeit much simpler). Can't wait to see the finished product

max384 · Jan 13, 2017

Thanks for following along everyone. I haven't gotten a thing done this week on account of my three month old coming down with a virus and being very cranky. I work all weekend. I'm going to be able to get a little something done this week...

wyowolf said:
Wow, just what I was thinking of doing in my basement bar, thank you!!
Nice to see another Dillon fan

Yes sir! Once you go blue you'll never go back!

irtsy · Jan 15, 2017

Keep up the great work, looks amazing so far, especially with what you've gotten done while balancing it with a full time job. Your workshop looks like a homebrewer's dream, there's plenty of room to make all sorts of mistakes!

Do you already own all 8 kegs, or are you still piecing stuff together? What do you think your budget was for the entire keezer project, if you don't mind me asking?

Weezy · Jan 15, 2017

Love it

max384 · Jan 16, 2017

irtsy said:
Keep up the great work, looks amazing so far, especially with what you've gotten done while balancing it with a full time job. Your workshop looks like a homebrewer's dream, there's plenty of room to make all sorts of mistakes!

Do you already own all 8 kegs, or are you still piecing stuff together? What do you think your budget was for the entire keezer project, if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks! I've gotten nothing else done on the keezer project yet, as I worked about 90 hours last week unfortunately. I'm hoping to get something done this weekend, since I have off. My workshop is really cluttered at the moment, and is driving me nuts. I can't wait to finish this project so that I can have my workshop back!

I have 10 ball locks and 2 converted pin locks. I'm upgrading from a 4 tap kegerator, and I knew that I was going to upgrade for the last couple of years, so I've been buying a keg here and there whenever a deal comes up on my local Craigslist.

(my old kegerator, at my old house)

So far, my budget has been about $4000 for the bar.

For the keezer... Let me see.
Chest freezer - $110 (score off CL)
Taps and shanks - $300 (including already having some of the shanks and hardware
Tubing - $80
8-way gas manifold - $100
Boards, liquid nails, insulation, pipes, etc. - $100
USB fans, water pump, copper tubing - $100

So, about $800, give or take. If you include the CO2 and kegs, which I already had, it would be $1400 in total. I'm probably not thinking about a few things, so I could probably safely add another hundred or two.

wyowolf · Jan 18, 2017

Very nice set up... I think I will use something like this for my basement as well..

How do you like your casefeeder for you 550?

max384 said:
Thanks! I've gotten nothing else done on the keezer project yet, as I worked about 90 hours last week unfortunately. I'm hoping to get something done this weekend, since I have off. My workshop is really cluttered at the moment, and is driving me nuts. I can't wait to finish this project so that I can have my workshop back!

I have 10 ball locks and 2 converted pin locks. I'm upgrading from a 4 tap kegerator, and I knew that I was going to upgrade for the last couple of years, so I've been buying a keg here and there whenever a deal comes up on my local Craigslist.

(my old kegerator, at my old house)

So far, my budget has been about $4000 for the bar.

For the keezer... Let me see.
Chest freezer - $110 (score off CL)
Taps and shanks - $300 (including already having some of the shanks and hardware
Tubing - $80
8-way gas manifold - $100
Boards, liquid nails, insulation, pipes, etc. - $100
USB fans, water pump, copper tubing - $100

So, about $800, give or take. If you include the CO2 and kegs, which I already had, it would be $1400 in total. I'm probably not thinking about a few things, so I could probably safely add another hundred or two.

max384 · Jan 18, 2017

wyowolf said:
Very nice set up... I think I will use something like this for my basement as well..

How do you like your casefeeder for you 550?

I love the case feeder. It speeds up production by a substantial amount, and very rarely jams. It's actually a 650 though, and I'm not sure if the feeders ate different between the 550 and 650.

wyowolf · Jan 19, 2017

max384 said:
I love the case feeder. It speeds up production by a substantial amount, and very rarely jams. It's actually a 650 though, and I'm not sure if the feeders ate different between the 550 and 650.

Oh ok, I didnt realize it was the 650. Nice... I dont have a casefeeder but am thinking of getting one...

max384 · Jan 19, 2017

wyowolf said:
Oh ok, I didnt realize it was the 650. Nice... I dont have a casefeeder but am thinking of getting one...

You won't regret it, I promise!

irtsy · Jan 20, 2017

max384 said:
So, about $800, give or take. If you include the CO2 and kegs, which I already had, it would be $1400 in total. I'm probably not thinking about a few things, so I could probably safely add another hundred or two.

That's what I had ballparked in my mind while going through the thread too, give or take a couple hundred. I know how these projects can snowball and get semi-out of hand. It looks like you're keeping it well under control so far.

Did you have/are you worried about any issues with gas or pressure? I know it's not a super long distance your beer will be traveling, but is the pressure going to change drastically for you at all from originally the keezer handles to the bar length taps? What about temperature of the beers? Are you going to take extra steps to cool the lines?

Pardon me if some of these questions are no-brainers, I'm not new to making beer, just making it travel through tubes over distance.

max384 · Jan 22, 2017

irtsy said:
That's what I had ballparked in my mind while going through the thread too, give or take a couple hundred. I know how these projects can snowball and get semi-out of hand. It looks like you're keeping it well under control so far.

Did you have/are you worried about any issues with gas or pressure? I know it's not a super long distance your beer will be traveling, but is the pressure going to change drastically for you at all from originally the keezer handles to the bar length taps? What about temperature of the beers? Are you going to take extra steps to cool the lines?

Pardon me if some of these questions are no-brainers, I'm not new to making beer, just making it travel through tubes over distance.

Pressure shouldn't change, regardless of the line length. It's all one big closed system, so there is theoretically the same gas pressure being exerted at the end of the lines as there is in the keg. Regardless, I use 10 foot 3/16" lines, so the line length will be the same as in my old kegerator.

I am taking extra steps to cool the lines, as you'll see in my update shortly. I am going to liquid and air cool the lines. I am doing this by keeping a five gallon bucket of water in the keezer and circulating the liquid around the shanks with copper tubing with a small pond pump. In addition, I put in small computer fans at the entrance to the tubes that lead to my shank box. One blows air into the one tube, and the other pulls air from the other, to keep good circulation. I also have two larger computer fans in the main keezer to keep air flowing. One thing I learned from my last kegerator project is that good air flow is the key to keeping even temps throughout the keezer.

max384 · Jan 22, 2017

Okay, finally an update!

I had the weekend off, so I got a little bit of work done. Unfortunately my "off" weekend was not actually off. I had a pretty sizable honey-do list from the wife, and I have my two teenager boys running around, and my four month old daughter to contend with. And my wife works as well, so free time is not something we have a plethora of, unfortunately.

Anywho, the first thing I did was bend my liquid cooled copper tubing into place. Even with a pipe bender, I way underestimated how much of a giant pain in the @ass this was going to be. It looks like crap, but hopefully it functions well. It unfortunately doesn't really make contact with the shanks like I had wanted it to. I'm hoping this won't be too much of an issue, but if it doesn't cool well, I think this is one part of the project I may pay someone to do, as I don't want to continually screw up bending the expensive copper pipe, when I can pay someone to do a better job for less than the cost of screwing up multiple times. But, if it works well, than I don't care about how it looks at all!

Up next was seeing how the kegs fit. I have ten kegs, which comfortably fit inside. I can fit a maximum of 14 kegs inside if I want to, but the plan is to keep the 8 kegs on tap, plus 2-3 carbing, and still have room for canned/bottled soda and beer that don't fit in the mini fridge in the basement.

I also mounted the main gas manifold, temp controller, four fans, the CO2 tank, and bucket for liquid cooling.

max384 · Jan 24, 2017

I got a little bit more done yesterday.

I extended the wiring to the keezer lid.

I installed all of the gas lines off of the main gas manifold.

I installed the water cooling assembly and hooked it up to the pond pump. It works well with no leaks.

I test fitted the keezer in place to get a general idea of how well it will work. There are some gaps between the pipes and the keezer and the insulation is not in yet, so I don't expect it to work perfectly yet. But, when I woke up this morning, the main keezer was at 37.5 F (set at 38 F), and the shank enclosure felt cold. There was also surprisingly good airflow, so I'm feeling fairly confident that this setup will maintain temps pretty well. I will check the temp tonight to see if it's holding.

What I have left to do:
Do the final fitting of the pipes to the keezer
Insulate pipes
Install beverage lines
Install secondary gas manifold for higher pressure soda kegs
Finish my tap handles

And I think that's about it. I have four beers that are ready to keg, and one more in the pipeline. Looks like I need to do some brewing! :mug:

zpack · Jan 27, 2017

Thanks for costing me money!!

I just finished my keezer build but didn't really like the "fit" in my bar I was in the process of building, so the day after I filled my keezer with kegs I told me wife "hey I am redoing my kegerator" she wasn't happy but my bar is all I asked for when we built this house so she is going along with it.

My thread I posted just days before this thread lol

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=598875

max384 · Jan 29, 2017

I got a bit more done today. I got the beverage lines in and the pipes leading to the "beer cave" insulated. I installed the second gas manifold for the soda as well.

The beer cave is running about 5-6 degrees warmer than the main keezer. I'm hoping this will be good enough to avoid first pour foaming issues. We'll see...

user 62649 · Jan 30, 2017

@max384 This is an awesome build and I am jealous. I live down in Allentown, PA and I would like to help you break in the new system when it's all done

dukduk · Jan 30, 2017

Having both fans set perpendicular might be recirculating just the warmer air from the top of the keezer. Have you considered pointing the cave's exhaust fan down and at an angle away from the intake (or use a deflector) to stir up the colder air from the bottom?

dmoser09 · Jan 30, 2017

Off topic but your ammo/reloading shelf(ves) brought a single tear of joy to my eye

Bob750 · Jan 30, 2017

Impressive! Now I need to buy a house, so I build something like this!

schmittychris · Jan 30, 2017

There isn't a single part of this thread including the reloading bench that I'm not jealous of! Nice build

Bar Build Part 2: 8-tap Through-the-Wall Keezer

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