Keezer Build

[Stephen Perry]

Alright, previous keezer I had that was free to me finally kicked the bucket, and luckily grandfather had a spare chest freezer that he gave me. The previous keezer was already built when I got it, so going into actually building this one I have questions.

1. Thoughts on tossing the lid and making a collar and wood lid? obviously I'm going to insulate it, but this freezer seems to have little to no reinforcement in the lid and can be twisted/pushed inwards fairly easy and is slightly rusted.

2. thoughts on mounting the CO2 bottle externally? I thought about mounting it to the side of the collar using something like a fire extinguisher mount, the drilling the hole for the hose to run in. figured this would save space for another keg. Is there an issue with the temperature difference in the CO2 if its external?

Thanks!

 

[day_trippr]

Chest freezer lids are indeed flimsy AF and if the liner isn't screwed down tight in the corners the whole lid can easily twist. But the thing just needs to lay flat and unless someone put a permanent twist in the metal it pretty much just works. Having attached a 6-tap tower to mine I first epoxied a 3/4" chunk of plywood to the underside of the top as otherwise there's no way that metal wouldn't have warped the first time I changed kegs.

1. So, yeah, you can do that. There are ways to preserve the original lid but that might not be worth the effort.

2. No pressure issues with the CO2 cylinder inside or outside (I prefer outside). fwiw, I run multiple gas lines and a water line through the back edge of my freezer lid using 1/4" MFL-MFL bulkheads. They're made in various lengths including a 4" version that's perfect for running through 2X wood collars...

Check out the pics in this thread, there are plenty of keezers therein to give you some ideas...

Cheers!

 

[Stephen Perry]

Yea, I went through almost every page of that thread earlier, perhaps I could encase the lid and essentially build a frame around it. Wouldnt see it, but could still have it for insulation purposes

 

[Ridenour64]

I also prefer my co2 tank on the outside. Joe Palmer in “How to brew” says it’s bad to keep a regulator on the inside of the freezer because of condensation. I’ve also heard that the co2 tank should be upright. I only have experience with a tank being outside, and upright, however.

 

[Stephen Perry]

I will say, I hadn't thought about using a shank to get it to pass through the collar! Thanks lol!