Commercial or Keezer

[duder1982]

I know commercial brands such as True can be costly, so i see the need in building a keezer. If i was to get a True beer cooler, one with double doors, could it be turned into a kegerator? This one is 57"wX37"hX27"d, my concern would be the height only being 37" vs some kegerators at 51". if my calculations are correct, most kegs aren't more than 24", then add about 6 for the tap or coupler which puts me at 30"s. If that is the case than i should be ok. This cooler has a great price with delivery, only other concern might be the glass door.

thoughts?

thanks for your time.

 

[Jbrown57]

D
I will stick my 2 cents in.
I have a standard kegerator with a 3 tap tower, a 2 door (glass) bar back a true gdm-72 and a 1970 over under fridge converted to a kegerator.
The kegerator is a pain for loading and routing the home brew lines. But it is relatively compact, about the right ht and most importantly quite.
The bar back is roomy easy to access and the perfect ht. It is also loud, the condenser fan runs continuously, not so efficient and heavy as hell. You could easily add a tower to the bar back and have room. It too would be awkward to work in because of the ht and depth.
The gdm-72 is a 600# beast that is a work in progress. It too is loud with a 1/2 hp compressor. Hopefully it will make a great fermentation chamber.
Hope this helps, YMMV
Best regards
Jbrown57

 

[verboten]

I have a Perlick 2 door cooler, and the only thing that gets me is the circulation fans running all the time, it’s a little loud, but not horrible. With a full load of kegs, the compressor barely ever runs.

 

[501irishred]

my concern would be the height only being 37" vs some kegerators at 51". if my calculations are correct, most kegs aren't more than 24", then add about 6 for the tap or coupler which puts me at 30"s
.

37" (assuming that's the interior dimension) is more than plenty. What model is it that you're looking at? Glass doors aren't a problem assuming you plan to go through the top for your taps.

D
The gdm-72 is a 600# beast that is a work in progress. It too is loud with a 1/2 hp compressor. Hopefully it will make a great fermentation chamber.

A GDM72 ??!! Holy Sh@#! I have a GDM52 (52 cubic feet) that I have split into 2 chambers. The upper half for refrigeration that holds 6 kegs and a 20lbs co2 bottle on one side and racks for bottle beer and brewing supplies on the other. The bottom is temp controlled separately for fermentation, and is big enough to easily ferment (6) 5 gallon batches at once. To get that beast into my standard 2 car garage took a serious undertaking to say the least. My wife assumes I have lost my mind.
I couldn't imagine what could be done with a 72 cubic feet cooler, that's beyond awesome!

 

[Jbrown57]

My poor wife gave up on me years ago, she is definitely a keeper....
it is a beast, took my son and I about 3 hours to get it in the basement with about .3" clearance on the door frame.
i would be very interested in details on how your partitioned and controlled the sections for fermentation.
any build links or pictures would be appreciated.
jbrown57

 

[501irishred]

i would be very interested in details on how your partitioned and controlled the sections for fermentation.
any build links or pictures would be appreciated.

I didn’t really chronical the build or anything, but I’d be happy to take some pics and right something up. In fact I’m in the process of moving the controls from an external box to be intigral to the original cooler now. I’ll try to take a few notes as I go since I’ll essentially be re wireing everything in the process.

 

[Jbrown57]

Great!
Thanks.
Jb

 

[duder1982]

great info folks, unfortunately i missed out i the deal. But at least i know for sure next time. I am always looking for a different way to siin this cat. The Keezers dont bother me too much, i just get to thinking how nice it would be to have some what of the legit thing.

If anyone has any ideas what can be used or modified for a beer cooler, ideas are always appreciated.