buying/building a tap tower onto my chest freezer

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802VermontHomebrew

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I am trying to buy (first and foremost) a tap tower so I can mount it to my chest freezer in my basement bar area. Heres the deal, I have 4 courney kegs so my thought was to get a stainless 4 tap tower. I have been bidding on Ebay for the past 4 weeks with no such luck... I keep getting outbid at the last second... They get bid to over 200.00 for used ones... I can get a brand new (3 tap tower) on ebay for 160.00 shipped, they are all over ebay for that price... I am sure you guys are aware of what they look like (very basic circular top with 3 taps around the front of the circle. I really wanted 4 taps so I can have a each keg full and on tap at the same time. But am I being too greedy? do I really need 4 kegs at the same time? I am the only beer drinker in the house (my wife only drinks wine). My father in law visits every other weekend and we drink a fair amount of beer... When my Dad comes which isn't as often he enjoys my beer as well (he lovvvved my last one and said why did you only bring a six pack what do you think I am a lightweight? lol)... I guess my question is do I sack up and pay over 200.00 for a used stainless tap tower on Ebay when the next one shows up on there, or do I go the cheaper route and get the standard 3 tap polished stainless (nothing fancy) and keep my 4th keg empty and just rotate them out? Also... If anybody knows a website that sells them for around that price, 200.00 was my MAX I wanted to spend... They can get crazy expensive... If so I will just buy the 4 tap if its in my price range. I've already tried craigslist (no luck)... Thanks for the help guys.
 
Well if you get a 3 tap tower, you wouldn't have to keep that 4th keg empty. Depending on how you carbonate your beer (prime like bottles, force at a high pressure, or the "let it sit at serving pressure") you wouldn't necessarily always have all 4 kegs ready for tapping. So you would have the three that are ready on tap, and the other one aging/carbonating Personally I don't think that its worth the extra money for a 4th tap.
 
if it was me and i really wanted 4 taps, i would likely go with a 2 x 2 tap setup. just seems easier to manage two taps per tower than dealing with all 4 in one. also since its a chest freezer i dont suspect 2 holes will be any more difficult than 1.

as for where to buy i saw some good prices on kegcowboy.com, or trying calling kegconnection.com and see if you can get any deals, or a 4 tap made up.
 
I would go for the extra tap, but I don't know your finalcial situation. That extra 40 bucks could end up getting you a tap, but no money for the ingredients to fill it. I am still debating with SWMBO over having a draft system in the house, so I made not have a right to say anything here, but all my friends who have build kegerators/keezers and opted for fewer taps have ended up wanting more after their brewery grew.
 
whats the shelf life of a tapped keg? haha I dont know if I can drink 4 kegs in time.... its just for my home I am not a business.
 
+1 for the two separate towers idea, if you can drill one hole you can easily drill two and one slightly longer drip tray will cover all 4 taps if you mount the two towers close together... You might not always want 4 beers on tap at the same time but nice to have that option when you have the beer available. My keezer holds 4 kegs as well and I usually only have 2 or 3 beers on tap but have had 4 occasionally.
 
I just discovered a 4 way gas manifold for 40.00 on ebay... This will solve my debate as far as running 4 taps at once... i can put it into my chest freezer (it has on/ off valves) so i can have the option of running just one tap, or all 4 at any given time.... The option of getting 2 (2 tap) towers is a great idea... I will have to crunch some numbers tonight and see what makes more sense getting those, a 3 tap, or a 4 tap.... If I do the manifold idea that will eliminate the 3 tap (just because it allows for 4 kegs, and chances are I will want to upgrade to 4 later on...(I only have one co2 tank #5 hence the manifold idea.) Thanks for all the input guys!
 
I started with 2 single towers, and later added a double tower to my chest freezer. This was a planned process (money is tight, so couldn't do it in one shot), with the double tower centered on the top, and the two singles a little behind and on each side of the dual. It looks really nice, and now I have to find/build a nice drip tray.

I'll see if I can post a pic tonight.
 
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