Knotty Pine and Cedar Log Keezer Build

[snccoulter]

Ours is about 30 years old and built with the wood off the property. It is a 2 story basic A frame we do have plumbing and hot water. We have to have the propane come in once a year. But we do not have power unless we go outside and hit start on the Honda generator. Hopefully we will have the cash to put in a couple of solar panels in the coming years. We do not need much just enough to power a few lights and a microwave here and there.

 

[brewmaster89]

Can you come build this at my house? This place looks amazing! I would love drinking or brewing beer from there.

 

[chriselgui]

Looks awesome, I'm about to start one myself but with a 5 cubic foot freezer. I have a few questions;
1.) How difficult was it to drill through the top of the freezer for all the tubing and bolting on the top?

2.) As far as the fans to cool the between the freezer and coffin did you try and wire those to the compressor or just have the on their own?

This is going to be the first time I have ever attempted anything like this, I was just going to do a collar on the freezer but after seeing yours I want to try and do this.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Hey man, I've been away for the holiday weekend. The bolt holes for the top fasteners were easy to drill, I think I used 1/4" diameter bolts and drilled 5/32". That was simple with a nice new drill bit. I burrowed a set of bimetal hole saws to drill my fan portals (4 1/8") and my beer line portal (2 1/2"). I fastened my top to the lid of the freezer first, then drilled the larger diameter holes. I started with a pilot hole drilled all the way through the plywood coffin base, through the metal skin of the lid, through the insulation of the lid and all the way through the plastic liner of the lid. The larger holes were a b*tch to drill because the bit kept biting once I got through the plywood base and hit the metal skin of the top. About broke my wrist, so I lightened up on the pressure and let the hole saw do the work. Once I made it through the plywood base, the metal skin, and 1/2 of the insulation, I then started drilling from the under surface through the plastic and the rest of the insulation.

I wired both fans to a 14 guage extension cord that I cut and wired them to. I used a dual input/dual output temp. controller (TSS2), so the fans plug into one outlet that is controlled by the temperature probe connected to channel 2 of the Love controller. The compressor plugs into a seperate outlet that is controlled by a temperature probe connected to channel 1 of my Love controller. I like having independent control of temps for coffin and the freezer compartment seperately. Hope this helps.

 

[jro238]

Looks fantastic!

A big thanks for all of your pics of the frame itself (way back at the beginning of the thread); they really helped me visualize how I was going to construct the frame for my now in-progress keezer.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

No problem man. Good luck and let me know if I can help.

 

[BigJerk]

Subscribed, I gotta make me one of these, this is about the most awesome one I've seen!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks Jerk! Much appreciated. Start building one and I'll help coach you through the process in any way that I can. Check out this thread for my matching fermentation chambers.....just posted some pics. tonight.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ho...bers-ale-lager-301274/index7.html#post4375279

 

[BigJerk]

Cool, I just blew my cash on a new brew rig, so I'll have to budget this project for post holidays, but I'm defiantly looking forward to it.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Good luck man! Do you have a thread for your brew rig? Would love to check it out.

 

[BigJerk]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/potential-brewstand-setup-322870/

This is it, Nothing special, but it's mine, and it allows me to do 10 gallon batches. I've gotten more kegs so I'm up to 8 now, the perfect number for a 4 tap keezer. I also got a hold of a 1/2 full practically free 20# co2 tank. All I need for that is a regulator and I'm in business. I want to get one of the dual gauge ones that I can do two pressures on so I can have a tap of soda water for my wife. I figure with xmas coming I need to focus on building my pipeline so that I can save up for the keezer and still have beer to drink after the new year.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Very nice setup! Sounds like a solid plan. Let me know when you start your keezer build....I'm happy to assist in any way that I can. Good luck!

 

[TuttleCreekBrewing]

Hey Hoppo, once again, great job on this! Quick question if you don't mind -- what is the vertical distance from the tile to the center of the shanks? I'm sketching out my build right now and I'm not sure how high I need to set the taps. Any help you can give would be much appreciated! Keep up the good work!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

I don't recall off of the top of my head, but am heading home to work on my grain mill today, as I worked 14 hrs. yesterday and plan on being out of the office by 1:00 today. As soon as I get home, I'll take some measurements and let you know. I wanted plenty of height, so that I could use the full array of beer glasses from standard pint glasses and snifters to tulip to tall pilsner glasses. I'll let you know in about 6 hrs.

 

[TuttleCreekBrewing]

I don't recall off of the top of my head, but am heading home to work on my grain mill today, as I worked 14 hrs. yesterday and plan on being out of the office by 1:00 today. As soon as I get home, I'll take some measurements and let you know. I wanted plenty of height, so that I could use the full array of beer glasses from standard pint glasses and snifters to tulip to tall pilsner glasses. I'll let you know in about 6 hrs.

COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!!

(j/k )

 

[Hoppopotomus]

14" from the top of the tile surface to the centerpoint of the drilled holes for the shanks. With the drip tray and downward slope of the perlick taps, it still allows for 11" of clearance, so even a tall pilsner glass isn't an issue.

 

[TuttleCreekBrewing]

14" from the top of the tile surface to the centerpoint of the drilled holes for the shanks. With the drip tray and downward slope of the perlick taps, it still allows for 11" of clearance, so even a tall pilsner glass isn't an issue.

Thank you! This is what I had guessed for my design, but it's great to get confirmation. I appreciate the quick response!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

No problem.....let me know if you have any more questions or if I can help in any way. Good luck!

 

[1BigBear]

I wish I had WOOD like that ! One of the top 5, I've Ever Seen!
WoodFreekinTastic !

 

[atli126]

amazing!