Kenmore 8.8 Keezer Bar

[jdrich79]

I built a chest freezer island bar from a 8.8 Kenmore freezer. Pictures are posted on Flickr with comments.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justin_rich/sets/72157626471909302/detail/

First Beer...

 

[BrewerofBeer]

Nice work!

 

[Gremlyn]

Nice, I have the same freezer just in black since I didn't build a surround, I like it alot. Nice build!

 

[Caboose]

Very nice! I love the color you picked out.

 

[skibumdc]

Have the same freezer and deciding on my tower right now.
Was originally going for an Irish coffin, but right now looking at a Mushroom tower instead.

 

[jaythebassist]

Looks awesome! Congrats.

 

[jdrich79]

Looks awesome! Congrats.

Thanks!

I have enjoyed it.

 

[GTO_Guy]

looks like crap *astros fan*

 

[jdrich79]

looks like crap *astros fan*

Thanks for the constructive feedback. Would love to see pictures of your superior build.

Very productive feedback. You are really progressing the spirit of this forum I'm sure.

Please post pictures of your superior build and post comments as to why you feel my bar "looks like crap". I'd love to modify to your expectations.

 

[Plankton]

Question: What is the jug of water for inside of the freezer?

 

[whatsleftofyou]

Thanks for the constructive feedback. Would love to see pictures of your superior build.

Very productive feedback. You are really progressing the spirit of this forum I'm sure.

Please post pictures of your superior build and post comments as to why you feel my bar "looks like crap". I'd love to modify to your expectations.

Relax. I'm sure he was just poking fun at your Cubs tap handle, hence the "*astros fan*".

Love the build though, how did you do the top? I'm in the middle of my bar build and I'm concerned about the top being strong enough since it will stick out 1' from the base of the bar.

 

[jdrich79]

Question: What is the jug of water for inside of the freezer?

That is where I have the temperature probe for the Johnson Control unit. I wanted to capture the temperature of a liquid rather then just the air temp inside the freezer. Keeps it more accurate to the temp of the beer and from cycling on and off too frequently.

 

[Plankton]

Thanks. That is a great idea I will certainly include in my build.

 

[jaythebassist]

That is where I have the temperature probe for the Johnson Control unit. I wanted to capture the temperature of a liquid rather then just the air temp inside the freezer. Keeps it more accurate to the temp of the beer and from cycling on and off too frequently.

Another option, especially if you're tight on space, is to use an old yeast vial to submerge the probe in water. A member of my brewclub did that, and it worked well. Obviously, such a smaller mass of water will heat and cool quicker, but it will still help prevent false readings just because cool air is blowing by.

 

[OatStraw]

Love the build though, how did you do the top? I'm in the middle of my bar build and I'm concerned about the top being strong enough since it will stick out 1' from the base of the bar.

I was wondering this too. I am about to start my build and was going to do the taps on a "collar" but I really like the look of the tower. Did you drill through the lid, or just make a new one out of plywood?

 

[jdrich79]

I was wondering this too. I am about to start my build and was going to do the taps on a "collar" but I really like the look of the tower. Did you drill through the lid, or just make a new one out of plywood?

The top is two layers. A piece of thick mdf is lag bolted threw the lid. Then I glued the pine top to the mdf. Home depot had pine counter tops pre made that were joined with the grains in opposite directions. I did have to join two of these to get the width I needed. To do this I used the KregJig. The freezer lid is still used, just has a few extra holes now.

Hope that helps.

 

[OatStraw]

Yes it does, thank you! I've looked through your photos and will probably be using those as my blue prints. Appreciate you sharing this with us.
I'll need to make my counter top a little smaller than you did. Was the 1 piece counter top from HD wide engouh for the lid, but you just wanted to make it larger or was it too small to begin with? Sorry if that question doesn't make sense.

 

[coldchill]

I am leaning towards this model for a keezer build to accomodate a mushroom tap tower I recently lucked into. A couple of questions, 4 on floor appears to work well without a collar, do you think that 3 cornies and a sixtel would fit? How much "head room" is there, would a sixtel with a regular sanke tap work or would it require a low boy. I would like to have the option of picking up some local brewer's stuff on occasion and thought this would be a good option.

Very nice build, you did a fine job.

 

[jdrich79]

I am leaning towards this model for a keezer build to accomodate a mushroom tap tower I recently lucked into. A couple of questions, 4 on floor appears to work well without a collar, do you think that 3 cornies and a sixtel would fit? How much "head room" is there, would a sixtel with a regular sanke tap work or would it require a low boy. I would like to have the option of picking up some local brewer's stuff on occasion and thought this would be a good option.

Very nice build, you did a fine job.

Yeah, I've had 2 sixth barrels and 2 cornies in it at once. Used a friend's sanke that he had added fittings to that hooked to the fittings on my lines (just removed the quick-couples). It was tight but worked. Had to switch out my drain-bucket from a growlers to a 22oz, but still had room for the 5 lbs CO2 tank.

Good luck. Thanks for the comments.

 

[NCGrayson]

great looking build! I too am looking at this freezer for a keezer modification. I just want to do a collar though, i'm not financially stable enough to do a tower build just this moment ......

my question is similar to coldchill's just above.....i'm looking to fit 4 cornies and a 1/6th barrel. shouldn't be any problem with the right sized collar should it? I'm hoping not! birthday is right around the corner

 

[CycloneinCarolina]

Relax. I'm sure he was just poking fun at your Cubs tap handle, hence the "*astros fan*".

Love the build though, how did you do the top? I'm in the middle of my bar build and I'm concerned about the top being strong enough since it will stick out 1' from the base of the bar.

Sarcasm on the internet is fun

Nice looking keezer

 

[jdrich79]

great looking build! I too am looking at this freezer for a keezer modification. I just want to do a collar though, i'm not financially stable enough to do a tower build just this moment ......

my question is similar to coldchill's just above.....i'm looking to fit 4 cornies and a 1/6th barrel. shouldn't be any problem with the right sized collar should it? I'm hoping not! birthday is right around the corner

I think with a tall enough collar it would work. The 1/6th barrel is just 1/8th of an inch wider I believe. Good luck and Thanks.

 

[DuckiesRevenge]

Hey jdrich, I was wondering how the temperature probe has held up being in the water jug. 1+ year later (I'm assuming from original post), have you had any problems with either rust or leaking into the probe or other problems? I'm assuming that you have had it submerged for the whole time and I wasn't sure if it could hold up to water for that long.

 

[jdrich79]

Hey jdrich, I was wondering how the temperature probe has held up being in the water jug. 1+ year later (I'm assuming from original post), have you had any problems with either rust or leaking into the probe or other problems? I'm assuming that you have had it submerged for the whole time and I wasn't sure if it could hold up to water for that long.

The probe is not actually in the water. If you check out the last photo on flickr I used a piece of stainless tube, crimped and soldered the end closed. The tube sits in the water, the probe is in the tube (nice and dry).

Everything I found said the probe is NOT waterproof. I have had no issues.

 

[DuckiesRevenge]

That makes more sense. Thanks.