DIY brew closet/kegerator build

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HealeyA87

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So I have a closet that has been used for nothing more than collecting junk and keeping things "out of sight, out of mind". It's the same place I've been letting my brews ferment. After a few times of my wife telling me to find a place for all my brew equipment, I finally decided to just empty the closet and use it as a brew closet. Originally I was just going to keep a microwave cart in it to set fermentors on top and some equipment inside but that quickly changed once I remembered that I had a mini fridge just sitting in the garage not being used. So now the plan is to build a cabinet around the fridge and convert he fridge into a kegerator. So I will use the closet as a brew closet and eventually serve my brews from it. (I don't have the room to keep a kegerator out somewhere in the house, so it's here or no where) i am planning on doing this as free/cheap as possible. All the wood will be reclaimed from pallets and any other course I find. I already had the paint, and most of the stuff I will need. I will still need to find a way to vent the heat from the fridge and to temp control the closet. Thankfully it's small so it shouldn't take much to do.
So here is the start. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1438446486.709084.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1438446519.842501.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1438446533.128066.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1438446544.979717.jpg
 
Thanks. I hope so. I have a great idea in my head, and as long as I can make it happen, it should be good.

It's going be to be a slow process, I work full time with the fire department and im in the national guard. I live in Columbia SC, and have been out working the floods and will be out here for a few weeks before I get back home to finish
 
Table top is on and secured. Once I get the trim pieces I will move on to making a door for underneath.
 
Thanks. I do too. I think in gonna lightly sand it and seal it when I'm done but try to keep the rustic look
 
I think this is a good stopping point for tonight. Next I will attach the door, add some hardware. Clean up some of the details like the fake flooring under the fridge and sanding/sealing the wood
 
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447724227.325415.jpg

I picked up a couple kegs. I traded them for some stuff (stuff I had gotten for free) so I practically got 2 corny kegs for free. The fridge was free. I have a co2 tank for free. I got the pallet wood for free. So far, I have build everything here for under $5 (I had to buy screws lol)
 
Sounds good! I will be getting the kegerator conversion kit for Christmas so I will defiantly post all I do to convert that so it fits this thread better
 
I'm trying to figure out what to seal the wood with. (As far as color is concerned) in definitely going to lightly sand it just to get rid of splinters. But I can't decide if I should go with a clear sealer or just slightly darker. I don't want to go very dark just for the fact of the brew closet being so small, I feel dark will make
It seem even smaller.
 
HealeyA87 said:
I'm trying to figure out what to seal the wood with. (As far as color is concerned) in definitely going to lightly sand it just to get rid of splinters. But I can't decide if I should go with a clear dealer or just slightly darker. I don't want to go very dark just for the fact of the brew closet being so small, I feel dark will make
It seem even smaller.
Click to expand...

clear dealer all the way
 
Haha I'm glad you noticed...
And that's funny cus I had a battle with the smell. But as of now it's pretty much gone

I filled it with water and added a hefty amount of bleach and closed the lid and let it sit for a few days. And then washed out with soap and water and the smell was still there but not as bad. Then I made a 5 gallon batch of star-San for a brew one day, poured it in the fH bucket, and it sat in my brew closet for a good 2 months, then the smell was practically gone once I poured the sanitizer out. The smell is just ever so slightly there. I'm considering making a batch of PBW and letting that sit for a bit and seeing if that gets the last bit out
 

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So by complete surprise, both kegs fit without having to remove any more of the side wall. I've seen a few videos of people doing the same thing and they have to cut out a half circle from the bottom ledge before their kegs will fit. Next I have to take the door panel
Off so it can close. Also note in the picture. The co2 tank is behind the kegs. It fits


View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1452051940.019784.jpg
 
HealeyA87 said:
Haha I'm glad you noticed...
And that's funny cus I had a battle with the smell. But as of now it's pretty much gone

I filled it with water and added a hefty amount of bleach and closed the lid and let it sit for a few days. And then washed out with soap and water and the smell was still there but not as bad. Then I made a 5 gallon batch of star-San for a brew one day, poured it in the fH bucket, and it sat in my brew closet for a good 2 months, then the smell was practically gone once I poured the sanitizer out. The smell is just ever so slightly there. I'm considering making a batch of PBW and letting that sit for a bit and seeing if that gets the last bit out
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, that's good to hear. I bought one a couple weeks ago. I left it open in my basement to air out and it smelled up the whole place in about an hour. I like pickles, but that was nasty!

I put some Dollar Tree Oxiclean in it for a couple days and it didn't seem to do too much. It still stinks. Given this, I don't think PBW will do much. I think I'll try some bleach then StarSan. Any more than that is not worth it.

I did do some googleing and found a recipe at: "http://www.solarsurvivors.com/free-5-gallon-buckets-with-lids/" apparently supplied by Firehouse Subs to get rid of the smell. They say it works well: 1/3 cup bleach, 1/3 cup murphy oil soap, 1 gallon hot water. Rub the inside of the bucket well and let it set for a few hours.

I wasn't sure what I would use the bucket for when I bought it, but the price and cause was right. At this point I think I am probably going use it to mount a soon to be purchased corona grain mill. So a little residual smell shouldn't matter, since the grain will only be in it for a few minutes.
 
Yea I understand. I won't ever use the bucket to ferment anything because of the smell. But I will definitely use it to sanitize or hold dry goods.
 
BitterSweetBrews said:
I did do some googleing and found a recipe at: "http://www.solarsurvivors.com/free-5-gallon-buckets-with-lids/" apparently supplied by Firehouse Subs to get rid of the smell. They say it works well: 1/3 cup bleach, 1/3 cup murphy oil soap, 1 gallon hot water. Rub the inside of the bucket well and let it set for a few hours. QUOTE]

It has been soaking with this mix for 4 or 5 days. I shake it when I see it and think about it. I opened it up yesterday and it still smells like pickles, maybe not quite as potent but still there. I think I'll rinse it out tonight and see.

How did you flavor the grapefruit IPA? I had a Sam Adams one a few weeks back and it was OK. I was thinking of experimenting too.
Click to expand...
 
Oh cool. Well one thing I did notice from when i let the sanitizer sit in the bucket, it still had the heavy smell, but when I dumped it. It was the actual sanitizer that smelled, then the bucket wasn't nearly as bad, so that made me feel that it was actually pulling it from the plastic. Maybe that's what it's doing, once
You dump it and clean it, let it dry and see how It is. And save a sample of the used solution and see if it absorbed any smell
 
It's been a while
Since I've posted on here. Mainly Cus I've been busy with life. I did end up making a ferment chamber out of a heat freezer I have in the garage. So the closet will be used a lot less for fermenting. I currently have an IPA in there now but only because it's in a plastic big mouth bubbler and I don't have a harness to lift it in and out of the chamber. I still need to stain and seal the bar top. I've already had one spill happen that ended up being soaked up
In the wood so I need to fix that before it happens again.
 
I found a wall mounted light at Goodwill for about $5, and I've hated the look Of the light that was in the closet so I figured why not. The goodwill light has never been used, still wrapped in the plastic so that's nice.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469481378.144311.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469481405.084474.jpg

It had a pull chain on it but I didn't need it and didn't like how it looked so I took it apart and flipped the light housing around to hide the hole from where the pull chain was

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469481542.635001.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469481551.783763.jpg
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And just for fun I added a wall mounted bottle
Opener that I recently got for free. (I love being thrifty)


View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469481645.930343.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469481626.344797.jpg
 
Dang, almost a year since Ive posted on here.

Anyways. Took a shot at staining the cabinet today.

The color it came out to be is not what I had in mind, not what the sample color looked like. But I'm gonna let it dry a couple days and see what it looks like. And if I want it lighter, I'll just sand it down some.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1496715489.532825.jpg
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View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1496715525.147429.jpg
 

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