Help me with a Christmas gift?

[eyohkay]

I was tossing around the idea of getting my boyfriend a kegerator for the garage when I stumbled on kegerator conversion kits. Honestly, I'm surprised that he hasn't thought of this on his own, but I'd like to get him a 2 or 3 tap kit for Christmas. We already have a garage fridge... just a plain old single door, freezer on top one.

He's an engineer, so I know that if I buy him a kit, he'll spend hours and hours researching and have it all set up and amazing within a few days. I just need some help picking out what I'm getting him. I tried to do some Googling and it was a little overwhelming, but that was how I stumbled on this forum, so here I am!

What do I need? Any pointers? Anything I should know?

 

[nickw85]

Well congrats for being an awesome GF! There are many options to go with. Does he brew his own beer or is he using kegs from a package store?

 

[eyohkay]

He doesn't brew, so we'd just be buying them. He loves Newcastle and Guinness, and I was hoping to have a tap of my favorite beer, as well, haha.

 

[eyohkay]

Anyone?

 

[LabRatBrewer]

http://stores.kegconnection.com/StoreFront.bok Kegconnection is a vendor here with nice kits. Checkout the vendor showcase thread, you can often get a coupon code.

 

[BadgerBrigade]

In my honest opinion you will be spending a lot of money to buy something that is not nearly as good as what he could make for half the price, And he can build one that he will like better from what I hear from the other guys would have built them.

I am also planning on building one very soon because after looking at real store bought kegerators they're just too expensive for what they are...
If he's able to build one you should just buy him the fridge and the materials and the taps... And maybe bribe one of his buddies with some beer or something to come and help him..
If he's not able to or up for the idea then I guess you're stuck with buying him one

Edit: If you plan on having this as a surprise for Christmas then here you go:

http://www.google.com/shopping/prod...a=X&ei=byvMUMbuHauUigKD7YC4Dg&ved=0CA0Q8wIwAA


Thank you

 

[zachattack]

Badger Brigade, OP was talking about a conversion kit. Not a built system. He'll still get to build it.

eyohkay, definitely get him a conversion kit! And make sure it includes Perlick faucets, that's a necessary upgrade. Kegconnection and Birdman are two great places to check out.

Unfortunately, the kegs you mentioned don't use the standard Sankey "D" couplers that domestic kegs use. So you'll need to make sure you get the right couplers. Things can get a little confusing if you're talking about serving Guinness. It's usually served with a mixture of nitrogen and CO2 called "beer gas" through a special "stout faucet" with a restrictor plate. That's how you get the cascading, creamy head. If you want to go that route, you'll need to buy a standard conversion kit and a stout faucet / beer gas setup. The Newcastle will need regular CO2. So you're talking about a fairly complex system here.