Chest Freezer Kegerator Build

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Hey, nice job and if your happy with it, that is all that matters.
I like the chalk tap handles. I mean that is great, the top I want to keep basic if I ever want to step up to a larger chest freezer and resell it.
Prost.
 
I'm getting close to getting a chest freezer and possibly building a collar for it. One concern I have is how low the taps are. The nice thing about a converted fridge or a tower on the chest freezer is that the taps are more at a comfortable level. It seems like with most collars the taps are below hand level. Also, I can just see my young kids fiddling with the taps and pouring beer all over my garage, precious beer that is!

Any comments on this concern?:mug:
 
I don't get it. What is the collar for? I am doing some research before building a unit just like this, but I wanted to put a tower on top of the freezer. If this collar is something I have to have for sure, I want to kow why so I can add some of my own innovation to it.

:mug:

Josh
 
qrb912 said:
I don't get it. What is the collar for? I am doing some research before building a unit just like this, but I wanted to put a tower on top of the freezer. If this collar is something I have to have for sure, I want to kow why so I can add some of my own innovation to it.
Click to expand...

A collar allows you to install taps without drilling through any part of the freezer (lid or walls). You can also install more taps than a single tower would typically accommodate (I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but generally speaking). A collar increases the head room inside the freezer which may permit using the compressor hump for an additional keg or CO2 tank. If the collar is high enough, there may be enough head room to store some bottled beer or whatever. Bottom line is that a collar is not a necessity at all. A tower will work as well depending on how many taps you desire etc. The collar might be a cheaper way to go, but if you build a DIY tower, maybe not. I like that the collar allows me to use the top of the freezer as additional counter top surface in my kitchen with no tower in the way. Sometimes a tower can hinder opening and closing the freezer lid if space is limited and you are up against a wall or something. There's no best way to approach this, so it all depends on your particular preference and circumstances.
 
bakersbrew said:
well i thought i would post some pictures of the kegerator all filled up with its first three kegs. here are some pictures
Click to expand...

Hi bakersbrew,

I have a chest freezer just like yours and planning to built a kegerator with a collar, but I'm kind of hopeless when it comes to DYO projects. I wonder you have documented the whole process step by step and have a list of materials to buy etc, so I can use your help and information to guide me. Much appreciated!

PS.: I tried to PM you but your mailbox is full!
 
qrb912 said:
I don't get it. What is the collar for? I am doing some research before building a unit just like this, but I wanted to put a tower on top of the freezer. If this collar is something I have to have for sure, I want to kow why so I can add some of my own innovation to it.

:mug:

Josh
Click to expand...

Hey Josh, I am doing a stainless tower too - just bought my set up and waiting for the mail. Considering the collar method strongly. I plan on starting the project this weekend and here is the way I see it (I am using a kenmore 6.9 Cu feet freezer).

Collar advantages:
1. With the proper head space you may be able to store more kegs in it (with my setup it means I can store 3 maybe 4 corny's versus two).
2. Can convert back to a freezer later if I want to upgrade the size.
3. Gets approval from the wife (see #2 - she doesn't want holes in the freezer, even though I know there is no going back).
4. The collar makes add ons and plumbing set up easy (easy place to drill in fixtures and holes for tubing etc.)


I just think the towers look awesome and always wanted one. I may run the beer lines from the back of the collar to my home built bar, to give it that final touch. Or I might run the lines out the back and make a full wood top and encase the freezer to match my bar. Either way, the tower is going to make it awesome.

Let me know if you go forward with the tower and how you do it. I bought a dual faucte stainless tower from kegconnection with 575ss perlick creamer faucets.
 
CidahMastah, how about putting the freezer lid in storage and build a lid out of wood? you then could use a tower and the freezer can be put back to stock.

-=Jason=-
 
Flomaster said:
CidahMastah, how about putting the freezer lid in storage and build a lid out of wood? you then could use a tower and the freezer can be put back to stock.

-=Jason=-
Click to expand...

Jason - that is probably a way better idea. Not only will it look better, it will have a better form fit functionality for the tower. I could definitely make the lid tall enough to accommodate 4 corny's I have plenty of insulation foam kicking around - and would love to bust out a can of "great stuff" too!

Have you done this before?

I am thinking a PVC cylinder to lead up to the tower (bottom side of lid, stuffed with loose insulation. The only question is what wood to use for the top so it looks decent.
 
no I haven't tried this yet. I have my kegging kit on the way, and my freezer sitting at home, I need to buy wood. I don't really want to drill holes in the lid for a tower, and putting the faucets in the collar means little ones can grab at it. I was thinking of going with a wooden top and building a wooden coffin wrapped in stainless, but I don't have a brake to do the corners so im not sure what kind of trim pieces I can use.

-=Jason=-
 
Flomaster said:
no I haven't tried this yet. I have my kegging kit on the way, and my freezer sitting at home, I need to buy wood. I don't really want to drill holes in the lid for a tower, and putting the faucets in the collar means little ones can grab at it. I was thinking of going with a wooden top and building a wooden coffin wrapped in stainless, but I don't have a brake to do the corners so im not sure what kind of trim pieces I can use.

-=Jason=-
Click to expand...

I too am awaiting my keg set up (finalized order this past Monday).

I built my bar out of 2x4 framing and then encased it in Knotty Pine tongue and groove, then stained and clear coated to a cherry color - looks like a fancy rustic bar. The top is like ~35 layers of poly over red oak (had spare time when I built it about 10 years ago.) Anyway, to keep costs down I dressed up the corners and made the rail around the top of the bar with molding trim from HD. You would be surprised how good it looks and you can't tell at first glance that it is multiple pieces of molding put together. The successive poly coats seal it all together (the bar top can hold over 3 beers spilled outright on the top).

I guess what I am getting at is, you can use molding trim to dress up your corners. You would be surprised what shapes you can make with two or even three peices of trim put together and some imagination. If you don't follow, let me know and I can get a picture of how the trim looks.
 
Hey All kegging mastahs!

Has anyone ran a long line with their kegging systems with success? I was considering running two lines about 10-12 feet vertical from my basement up through the floor behind my bar upstairs and into my tower set up. I was planning on putting the lines in PVCand stuffing with insulation.

Two concerns:

1. Will the CO2 be able to push it up that vertical efficiently?
2. Will the beer or cider left in the lines between drinking sessions be nasty or flat coming out?

If anyone has any suggestions, or thinks of other shortcomings please let me know. SWMBO isn't having the keezer up in the living room with the bar, no matter how pretty I make her.

THanks!
 
CidahMastah said:
Hey All kegging mastahs!

Has anyone ran a long line with their kegging systems with success? I was considering running two lines about 10-12 feet vertical from my basement up through the floor behind my bar upstairs and into my tower set up. I was planning on putting the lines in PVCand stuffing with insulation.

Two concerns:

1. Will the CO2 be able to push it up that vertical efficiently?
2. Will the beer or cider left in the lines between drinking sessions be nasty or flat coming out?

If anyone has any suggestions, or thinks of other shortcomings please let me know. SWMBO isn't having the keezer up in the living room with the bar, no matter how pretty I make her.

THanks!
Click to expand...

No body has any ideas on the feasibility this?

Just built my collar this weekend out of 2x10's and put the first coat of poly on. Tonight it gets another coat, then I will be drilling the hose diameters as needed. Right now I plan to:
1. Use 1/4inch i.d. tubing (instead of 3/16 i.d.) to each faucet on my tower upstairs.
2. Have one party tap for access while in the basement (the wife will never know what we are up to down there - ha)
3. Encase the tower lines in PVC and insulate if needed (hopefully pvc will insulate the lines and any condensation will be inside the piping).

a. The two 10-15ft vertical lines (1/4'' I.D.x 1/2'' O.D.) will run up from the keezer in the basement up to the second floor. They will be placed inside (threaded up through) 3/4'' schedule 40 PVC that runs up to the towers through the floor in the second floor.

b. I plan on using an exterior pipe insulation if the beer gets warm in the tubing/PVC between sessions.

I figured out that there will be 3.25-5oz of beer in the lines for 10 or 15 feet of hose, respectively. So if I have to toss the first 3-5 oz it isn't the end of the world. Knowing me... I will just mix it in with the rest of the first pint.

Anybody see any shortcomings of a set up like this?
 
Ok well the thread seems to have died. This is how I am going to run my setup, hopefully it works, if not I will be tweaking it until I get it to:

Basement to 1st floor tower run:

Decided to make a collared Keezer (caulked on collar and refastened lid to collar). I used 2x10's to give me enough height to have 3, maybe 4 cornys in there. The poly and caulking has been curing the last couple days and it is looking good.

Specifications:
My vertical lift is approx 10.5 feet to the tower

I plan on using ~11-12PSI on the regulator at 38F (shooting for 2.5 volumes) and starting with 14 feet of 1/4 I.D. tubing down to the keezer in the basement. I think this will be too much resistance, so I will start cutting back line until I get it right. With my calculations, I believe that the ideal length will be 8 feet (12lbs resistance). However I need at least 10-11feet.

I calculated that I will have the following respective resistances:
1. 14 feet - 17.15
2. 13 feet - 16.3
3. 12 feet - 15.45
4. 11 feet - 14.6
5. 10 feet - 13.75
etc.

If this doesn't work I am going to have to do a 5/16 line stepped down to 1/4.

Plan on insulating the lines with copper pipe insulating foam, might use PVC, probably will not. No cooling - plan to pour off the couple ounces if foamyin between sessions.

As a backup, I am installing a party tap line on the ground floor in case I have to trouble shoot the above system and need some brew to contemplate.


Any gurus of C02, kindly speak up. Perhaps I am in the wrong thread for this....
 
Check out:

http://kegman.net/balance.html

and:

http://www.kegkits.com/remote_keg.htm

With that long of a run I would think you would definitely want some form of cooling for the lines. I would leave the lines loose in the PVC and insulate the PVC on the outside really well. Get a fan to blow air through the PVC all the way up to the tower. You can either run a return like you see in the kegkits link or run small PVC inside of larger PVC and let the space between them act as the return.

The problem with not cooling is you are going to be wasting a lot of beer. If the lines sit for prolly more than 5 minutes co2 is going to start coming out of solution and this will equal foam.
 
Thanks for the reply EKennett. I have heard a lot of people say the same, then a few people who have gone and done it without any cooling since the run is short. Have heard of several people who have had no problems, others that have. Unfortunately these were historic posts and I can't get any info from anybody who has a current set up. I think I am going to run the lines up through PVC and insulate and give it a go. If I have to install a fan and all the other hoopla I probably will settle for my tower in the basement. Not as cool, but functional :) If I end up getting foamy beer for the first brew then good to go for the session then perfect (I will chug the warm beer ha).

I just figured there was another monkey out there who tried this out already that I could steal specs from.

If the lines are insulated, I doubt sitting for 5 minutes would produce overly foaming beer, but then again I am out of my element here.

Thanks for the consideration!

Will post back after I give it a go this week!
 
I am etremely curious to know how that turns out. From a physics standpoint I think you may run into an issue with the co2 comming out of solution, but, there are too many variables to say for sure. I hope it works in an acceptable manner
 
Mach9 - I agree with you that there will likely be a foaming issue. The question is, how much, for how long. It would just be too damn sweet to have the dual tower set up on my bar - I have to give it a try.

I think a lot of people are speaking from theory on this too. Like you said, so many variables. It is easy to say "you should install glycol", but it might be totally unnecessary.

I am thinking I will probably have some results to report back on in a week or so. Since there are so many variables, identifying when my co2 is ready, and then adjusting line length will be a challenge. It might take a few days to trouble shoot, because after a while, all the pour offs will produce an absent mind :)

I have even been considering a purge valve in the basement near the kegerator. i.e. have a drain on the beer line so when a session is done, I could go downstairs, shut off gas pressure on the keg, burp it, open the purge on the beer line and open the faucet upstairs. This would drain the line, but it would introduce oxygen within the line. So i am leaning against trying that. I think it would leade to less sanitary conditions than I am comfortable with.
 
Quick update:

Received the material last night and installed.

Ended up skipping the PVC and running 1/4 ID tubing (15ft lengths) through some piping insulation (the closed cell foam kind). I was concerned about the 90 degree bends adding turbulence and causing foaming. Also I figure, the insulation stuff is cheap and at $1.18 for 6 feet, if I need to service the lines or change then, I just cut the foam off and replace it. I do plan on wraping the line with another layer of cheap foam insulation once I get proof of concept in about a week when things are carbed correctly and balanced.

I ran sanitizer through it (at 12PSI) and the flow rate seemed to be right on (maybe 8second pour?). I am going to time it tomorrow (seconds to fill a pint) but I forgot to last night.

I am carbing at 30 PSI for 24-48 hours and then dropping to 11-12 PSI.

(did I mention my Graff is coming of age in a week and the porter I made tasted awesom flat?!) - Can't wait to fire that through the lines! As an added bonus I found out I can squeeze in 4 kegs!!! they fit with less than 1/4 inch of play, so that was a great surprise because I thought I was only going to achieve 3.

more to come!
 
ok as an update - just started running the beer and graff through the tower last night (have a headache from too much "testing" of the lines :mug:). It is pouring great, no foaming issues and I waited over an hour between pours and no problems.

I will try it again tonight and see how it works, since it will have had a full day to warm in the lines. So far, so good. I would say the carbonation is pretty low right now since it is a porter, but the graff has a labatt blue or coors like level of carbonation. I took some temp readings last night, but will be more scientific about them tonight - will post them.

Two conclusions:
1. During a session I don't think cooling the lines will be required for this set up.
2. Since there is a little less than 5oz in the line, even if it CO2 comes out of solution it will still mix with cold beer and probably make an ok 1st beer (if not to the refrig it goes)

Other than that the tower looks freakin awesome on the bar!
 
Take some pics tonight... I was thinking about doing the same thing when we were remodelling our house but was vetoed by the Mrs. I had the walls open and was toying with the idea of running the beer lines through electrical conduit and insualating it on the outside to make pulling the lines out easy.
 
Jota21 - will get some pictures of the set up for you - I did post a couple pics of the bar and the stainless set up on my profile, but they are crappy cell phone pics. I was originally going to go PVC and insulate, but then I decided against it.

For the record I can't believe my wife let me do it. She was giving me a lot of stern looks about it when I was drilling the hole in the floor. Then she saw it attached and she said, "very good, this meets my standards". Ha!
 
my SWMBO was not happy when I told her the Keezer was moving into the Kitchen. I then assured he it would look just as good if not better than our cabinets and granite countertop we already have.

I am 1/2 through the build process and she is now on board to having it in the kitchen.

-=Jason=-
 
Do you have the kegerator under the bar or is it downstairs? How long of a beer line run do you have?

I made a keezer with a tower right on top and had problems with foaming. I made a blower box and things are good now. I'll see if I can snap some pics when I get home later.
 
Since there is a little less than 5oz in the line, even if it CO2 comes out of solution it will still mix with cold beer and probably make an ok 1st beer (if not to the refrig it goes)
Click to expand...

I wanted to just touch on this too... If you start out with foam and keep pouring on top of it you will just get more foam. And 5oz. of liquid which turns in to foam can turn into a pitcher full of foam or more. So no matter how you slice it, it's wasted beer. But if you're pouring without foam problems then kudos to you, looking forward to seeing pics of the setup.

And hot wife btw... way to go :ban:
 
Ekennett - haha too funny (love the banana man)!

Thanks for the info on the foam, you are right, I bet I will have to keep a bucket handy to combat the foam if I start getting it (hopefully not). If it does, I may try a blower set up - might ask for your expertise if that moment comes.

I have a keezer in my basement and am running 15 feet of 1/4 id tubing from keg to tower (straight up through the floor). I probably am only using about 10-12 feet of the line externally (~3feet is coiled up in the keezer).The line outside the keezer was stuffed in closed cell foam pipe insualtion. Vertical rise is about 9-10 feet from center of keg to top of tower. My aim is to have a balanced system and right now I was dispensing the porter at 11psi and the graf at 12.5ish psi.

I may have just had beginners luck so far but it seems to be working well. the true test will be when I pull a pint tonight.


Good work with your persuasive maneuver Flomaster! I wasn't so fortunate. Now that I have it in the basement though, and it is working.... it is pretty sweet.

I also put a party tap line in the basement keezer for secretive drinking.
 
VERY happy to report that the beer came out with no extra foam!! Good flow rate and I filled a pint glass which I temped at 44F. I could not be happier. Well so far I am gonna have to call shenanigans on the nay sayers. It looks like this set up is possible, with no cooling lines. I may eat my words later if the system fails, but for now it is performing swimmingly.

Click on my profile to see some pictures of the installation and my basic keezer. Keep in mind all of my install was temporary because I didn't know if this would work. I plan on hiding the tubing line in due time. I also need to redo some of my plumbing in the keezer but I am waiting on parts. I plan on rigging it up for 4 cornies and my bottler I just bought (Blichmann).

Enjoy
 
mach9 said:
Awesome, makes me wish I had a basement :mug:
Click to expand...

That part of my basement is awesome, it has been deemed the cider cellar and it plays a huge role in stable temps for my cider making. Its too bad about no basements in CA.

Wish I would have taken these pictures today instead - I cleaned up the clutter down there since SWMBO wanted it to be clean for holiday visitors.
 
Update:
My Graff seems to be overly foaming when dispensing now, but the porter does not (set at the same PSI). I almost think the torrified wheat in the Graff might be causing the problem. Or, when the graff was carbonating on the second line I over carbed it. My subsequent brews will probably tell me more about this issue.

At first pour after a 24 hour delay in use or so I get:
a. Graff nearly a 80 percent foam
b. Porter about 1.5inches- 2 inches of foam

The graff continues to be foamy until I pour out 3+ pints while the porter's second pour has about 1/2 inch foam. In order to avoid beer waste, I now use a frozen mug for the first pour. This works perfectly because the second half of the pour is cold from the keezer and the first half of the pour is chilled by the glass (the 4-5 oz of beer in the lines doesn't stay ice cold over 24 hours).

So, if I have friends over, and pour one beer every 2-3 hours or so (maybe more), I get a perfect pour for the porter.

I did go back and add more insulation to the lines, so now there is about 1 1/4-2 inches of foam around the beer lines (say diameter of 4-5inches). I taped them up with duct tape at the seams and did a reflective wrap from the living room floor to the tower to help reflect sunlight heat. I also added more insulation to the keezer and made the connections more permanent.
 
Sounds like you need to cool your lines or enjoy watching your beer turn into useless foam.
 
I only have useless foam for the one type of cider (which was likely overcarbed). Will let you know when I put a couple other kegs in if this issue occurs - I have ubu ale carbing up right now.

From my perspective, unless the ubu ale or other beers act like the cider, I am good to go. This would tell me the cider is overcarbed.

Remember, the porter was producing perfect pours after the first pour. And the first pour for the porter was perfectly acceptable, albeit slightly over foamed.

Guess what I am saying is - the setup works very well as is. With a tap, you just top off your beer as the foam works down (60seconds?), I don't dump the foam, so no wasted brew.

Since I just reinsulated - I will try to update any changes in a week, which is when the graff should be stabilized and less carbonated.



EDIT 1/11/2011:

Seems I overcarbed the Graff and the porter. I am getting routine pours from the tap with < .5 inches of foam. I did the rush method of carbing and it caught up with me. Just put in my UBU ale and it is performing well through the tap.

Conclusion being - the set up is working phenomonally well. I have been toying with temps, and working out the kinks in the system so if you are interested in the specs feel free to PM me.
 
very happy i found this thread. I had not heard of a collar and I am in the process of acquiring the parts/materials to make a kegerator. I have a frigidaire chest freezer (14..something cu.ft.) and all of the parts for a guinness/stout conversion kit from Micromatic. My beer tap spouts/handles are actually in the adjacent room and the kegerator will sit behind the wall... any recommendations on keeping the beer lines cold...I will probably have only about 3-4 feet of beer line outside the kegerator to the wall, but I know it must be maintained cold. Weighing options of a blower fan using the freezer cold air in a closed tube (pvc pipe?) or using a glycol/refrigerant liquid in a coiled tube around the beer line...like the coolant systems in a gamer's PC.
 
are the rooms hot in the summer? Side by side rooms?

You are going to want at least 5 feet of beer line for resistance on your pours. You can certainly go the fan or glycol route with that length. It will cost you some $$ for the glycol.

If I were you I would try the cheap way out first like I did. Go to HD and grab foam piping insulation. I layered in the thickness of three foam tubes and then went over the foam with furnace aluminum foil tape (to reflect light and heat from sunlight). I have been very happy with my set up, but I have not been through a summer with it yet. Worst case, you will have to install a fan set up later. I spent about $10-15 on foam and tape to rig my setup. To run glycol lines, or even a fan, would have been hundreds of dollars.
 
5643204631

5643204307


I just finished my first keezer... Found a good deal ($60) for a 5cf chest freezer on craigslist and picked up the rest of the parts from my lhbs for another $60 (not counting the kegging setup and co2 i already had)...
 

Similar threads

Nagorg
Nagorg's First Keezer Build
Replies
14
Views
672
YeastFeast
YeastFeast
Nagorg
Thoughts on Whirlpool "Convertible" for Keezer Build
Replies
13
Views
1K
Nagorg
Nagorg
Classywolf
Inwall tap system
Replies
2
Views
279
day_trippr
day_trippr
lumpher
Best recommendations for a mini-fridge for a kegerator build?
Replies
9
Views
1K
Broken Crow
Broken Crow
R
Ohio For Sale Columbus Area
Replies
4
Views
433
reeftankin
R

Latest posts

Back
Top