Knotty Pine and Cedar Log Keezer Build

[ChadS99SVT]

OK...I did manage to place my order with kegconnection.com yesterday afternoon, but the process was not nearly as smooth as most of you guys experienced. They were exceptionally helpful with coming up with a customized system for me the day prior. :rockin: However, actually initiating the order was an all day affair. I left a couple of messages in the morning for the sales guy and then when I finally got ahold of him in the late morning after several attempts, he wasn't in the office by his computer, so he couldn't place the order. He asked that I call back later after his lunch to place the order. I called several times and then left a message.

I really wanted to get the order in process, so late in the day I called kegconnections directly and spoke with the shipping manager. I asked him if anyone else could initiate the order, since I was already emailed an invoice the day prior and I just wanted to pay for the items. He said that he could not run the transaction, but would be happy to start getting the components around for my system right away. He said that if I could finalize the order, there was a chance that he could get it shipped immediately. I was very pleased with his customer service and he said that either he or the owner would contact the sales guy, so that we could finalize the sale. I finally received a the call right at the end of the day and we reviewed the order and I gave him my CC and address. He said that his computer was still booting, but he would send me an updated invoice for review and a receipt to verify the order within 5-10 minutes. It's 6:00 a.m. the next morning and still no email!

Needless to say, I don't think that my order shipped yesterday and at this point I'm not even sure that the order was placed. Hopefully I receive some sort of correspondence today. I still have faith and if everything in the order comes without a hitch, I won't hold it against them.

Addendum: It's now 5:25 p.m. and still no email for order confirmation? I'm hoping that they have processed the order, but still not sure.

Addendum: Never got an email or verification of the order processing. I called today (2 days after placing the order) and spoke with the warehouse manager Josh. He found in their computer that I had an account opened, but could not find an updated invoice and said that my order was never processed and my CC was not charged. He re-did the entire order, but what a PITA!!! Not sure why they dropped the ball so bad with me, but I should be all set now....at least I hope.

that experience Sounds just about right for Kegconnection.

We have placed 4 orders with them for well over 1k$. All but our first order was incredibly painfull. Their communication is horrible. needless to say we will not be doing any future business with them.

just wanted to say you're not alone and I would NOT recommend them.


that aside your build is awesome and I really like what you have done. I am curious what kind of cost is involved with getting the wood?

Great work

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks ChadS99SVT. I just think that kegconnections is a little too busy at this point with their rise in popularity on HBT. It sounds like they have one customer service rep., one shipping manager, the owner, and a couple of guys putting together orders. Like I said in subsequent posts, Todd their shipping manager, really went the extra mile making things right for me. He knew that the sales rep. really dropped the ball on my order, so at least he cared enough to process my order and make sure that everything was accurate. He also threw in free shipping and a few extras for my troubles. I would certainly use them again for future orders, but I would remind them of my first experience and hope that they would follow through a little better the next time around. All in all, my order was 100% correct and I got everything that I ordered in a timely manner once the order finally got processed. I know that kegconnections has a very loyal following on HBT and I'm not going to hold this one ordering snaffu against them. Sorry you have had multiple problems thought.

To answer your question....besides about $80 in 2x4's, t&g knotty pine, and additional pine boards, the red cedar logs were free. My dad has a cedar swamp on his property and all of the logs used for this build and in my basement build were harvested from his property.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

OK....so I got the keezer top grouted and am waiting for the grout to dry for a couple of days. I will then do multipe coats of stone/grout sealer to waterproof it and then I'm gonna hook this b*tch up!

If you have followed my basement build thread you can see that I used a combination of dark slate and tumbled travertine throughout my build. My entire bar floor, bar foot rest face, fireplace hearth, walk out pad, etc. are slate and I used tumbled travertine for my bar back splash, the top of the bar foot rest, and as accent trim bordering. I used the same tumbled travertine for my keezer build to tie everything together. I sort of felt like the travertine was a little too light in color and clean looking for my rustic build, so I decided to go with a taupe grout color for ALL of the tiling applications to tie everything together and darken the appearance of the travertine. The taupe grout is a medium shade grout with almost a clay (between a tan and grey) appearance on paper, so we went with it.

Holy sh*t.....the grout is waaaaaay darker than I anticipated. I know that grout typically lightens up dramatically when it dries, but when I started grouting the fireplace mantle and the keezer, the grout was really dark....almost a deep slate color. As it is drying, it is lightening up quite a bit, but the grout was supposed to be tauple and it is drying very grey. I'm definitely second guessing our choice of grout color, but there's no turning back now. I'll snap a couple of pics. once it is completely dry and you guys can tell me what you think.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

OK, so the grout is dry on the keezer top and coffin. One big problem....we hate the color! It turned out darker and a lot more on the grey side than it was supposed to. It looks really good with the dark slate, but since the tumbled travertine is very porous and the grout tends to fill all of the porous voids in the tile, it just makes the tile look dirty. Bascially, my wife and I are both in agreement that we are not keeping it. I have an entire wall backsplash behind my bar that has to match the keezer, since it is sitting right next to it. I don't think that filling an entire wall with this tile/grout combination would do any favors for the bar area. I took a few pictures of the tile grouted, but I am also going to be removing the tile/grout on the keezer tonight and re-tiling and grouting in a more neutral "bone" color. What a pain in the A$$!!!!

 

[puckjer]

i see what you mean. man that is frustrating. honestly it doesnt look that bad but you are the one that has to look at it every day and as much time as you have spent on the project you will probably enjoy it more if you just replace it. thats what i would do

 

[mwmoose152]

I personally think that the grout looks good on the tile. beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and as suggested you have to look at it and not me... so if you don't like it you would be best of replacing it. I know you put a lot of work into this masterpiece but if you don't like 1 thing about it you should change it... otherwise it will always bother you.

 

[zepolmot]

Totally with you on changing it. If it was in a room on its own I think it'd look fine. But a whole wall that looked like that? No thanks. Would look exactly like you say, muddy. Good luck with the next color. Maybe do a quick 4x4 test on a piece of scrap to make sure its the look you want?

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks for the feeback guys. I already removed the tile/grout when I got home from work and stopped by the HD for new tile and "bone" colored grout, which is much more subtle and doesn't contrast with the tile like the other stuff. We used tumbled travertine for the backsplashes in our kitchen above the granite and used the "bone" colored grout, which is much more neutral and we know that we like it, hence my new choice to go with it. I planned on re-tiling tonight, but I forgot about a funcion at my son's school tonight, so it's too late. Working 14 hrs. tomorrow, so it looks like I won't be tiling until Thursday.

On the plus side....I am going to rack a DFH Indian Brown Ale clone into a keg tonight, so I will now have 3 kegs conditioning and ready to go when I finish the tiling/grouting/sealing.

My line up:

Tap 1: Centennial IPA
Tap 2: Blood Orange Hefeweizen
Tap 3: DFH Indian Brown Ale Clone
On Deck: Amarillo Wheat (for my extra keg)

I also finally figured out my TSS2 Love Controller with the help a couple of HBT members.....thanks guys for your help!

 

[Jota21]

Normally if i'm that deep into a project, my mentality turns to "F-it, it's good enough", but i'm glad you took the time to re-do that grout. I'm sure it'll look much better!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Yeah, me too. I am tiling tomorrow and grouting on Friday night. I'll re-post pics. this weekend. I'm really tired of working on this thing and my wife has had enough of it as well. Our plan was to have the rest of our basement done before summer, but this keezer project sort of got in the way. If I don't get moving on the drop ceiling ASAP we won't make out deadline.

Normally if i'm that deep into a project, my mentality turns to "F-it, it's good enough", but i'm glad you took the time to re-do that grout. I'm sure it'll look much better!

 

[Jester369]

Maybe I should hold off on my upgrade, so that you don't add something else to the Keezer to-do list

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Too late now....you already planted the seed for the "cool new upgrade" for all of your loyal thread followers to see. You are now morally obligated to carry through with the upgrade and share with the rest of us! I'm almost done at work for today and am heading straight home to re-set the "new" tile on the keezer. I'll grout it tomorrow night after work and hopefully seal it over the weekend. What did you think of the grout color in my latest pics?

Maybe I should hold off on my upgrade, so that you don't add something else to the Keezer to-do list

 

[Jester369]

I agree with your regrouting decision - for my taste, the dark is just too much contrast.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Well it was a royal pain in the a$$ busting out all of the old tile with the sh*tty looking grout, but I got the keezer re-tiled today! I have to wait for the mortar to dry, so I plan on grouting it tomorrow. I'm glad that I re-did the tile work and by the feeback on my thread, I think that most agreed with the decision. Here are a couple of pics of the re-do. Thanks guys!

 

[Jota21]

it looks great as it is... i'm sure the light grout will complete the look.

To be honest - i'm getting sick of this thread! I want this thing to be pouring beers within the next 2 pictures!!!!!!!!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Regardless of the grout and sealer....3 kegs are going in this thing this weekend....I promise.

it looks great as it is... i'm sure the light grout will complete the look.

To be honest - i'm getting sick of this thread! I want this thing to be pouring beers within the next 2 pictures!!!!!!!!

 

[Gitana]

The whole thing is awesome, but I love, love, LOVE that cedar piece on the front.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks Gitana....sometimes mistakes work out for the best! It was supposed to be a log like the vertical trim pieces, but the only log that I had left to span across the front was punky and rotting on the interior when I ripped it down. I was pi$$ed at first, but remembered that I had the 2" red cedar "heart wood" slab left over from the log used for my liquor shelf. It was a lot of work knifing it into a log shape, but overall I'm happy with the way it turned out. Thanks again....

The whole thing is awesome, but I love, love, LOVE that cedar piece on the front.

 

[NewBrewB]

I agree, that became one of the most prominent and interesting features of the design--Much more eye-catching (in a good way) than another log would have been. (Also makes it look wider, which 'feels' more heavy/permanent/worthwhile)

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks guys. I grouted it yesterday and it looks 1,000,000x better with the more neutral "bone" grout. My wife and I also grouted the backsplash behind the bar and the wine cellar countertop and floor. Just have the bar and pantry floors to grout this weekend. I'm sealing the tile and grout on the keezer when I get home tonight. I have 3 kegs carbing as we speak. I put them in at 30 psi for 24hrs. and now have them at 12 psi until they are fully carbed (probably a week). Almost there. My next set of pics should be of the final product and with the first pours of my first 3 kegged batches. I have been accused of dragging this thread out too long, so I won't post any more pics until this thing is pouring beers.

 

[Jota21]

can't wait.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Kegs are carbing and should be ready by the weekend. Grout is dry and I am sealing it tomorrow. I corrected a problem tonight due to a clearance issue with tap handles. The piece of ponderosa pine that I used for the top of the coffin had to overhang further than I wanted to in order to canopy the two vertical log trim pieces. Although my taps were able to close fully with the cheap black handles, I would certainly run into issues with with any tap handle more than 1" in diameter closing fully. I needed to bump the face of the upper part of the coffin out where the tap handles mount to give me the extra clearance. I knifed another piece of cedar heart wood into a log type shape and ripped it to 1" thickness to extend the tap handles out. Just put a second coat of polyurethane on it and will install the new piece tomorrow. It should be the last piece of the puzzle. Tomorrow should be the final day of tinkering with this thing. I'll post final pics this weekend along with my first 3 drafts (hopefully fully carbonated!) from my new, fully operational keezer. The Love controller is functioning flawlessly and I am easily able to maintain a 5 degree differential between coffin and keezer temps. I'm excited to finally see light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for following my thread and sorry it has turned into a long drawn out process, but there are only so many hours in a day.

 

[g8tor]

Would you mind posting the settings you went with with the Love controller? That will help me when I get to that part of my build?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Sure....no problem. I had an issue at first with the factory pre-set parameters. I was having an issue with both outputs working off of my Sd1 probe instead of one output working of of Sd1 and the other off of Sd2. With the help of ClaudiusB and one of the IT techs. at Dwyer, I think there was only one or two settings that needed to change to get the channels operating independently. I don't remember which ones they were, but the one was not at all obvious. I'll scroll through the parameters when I get home and let you know. Have you started your build yet?

Would you mind posting the settings you went with with the Love controller? That will help me when I get to that part of my build?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[MaltMonster]

This is the Keezer of all Keezers! I would have loved to follow this build from the start, but I'm excited to have found the thread before the final unveiling.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks MaltMonster! I have 2 coats of stone/grout sealer done....one coat to go. I installed my red cedar log trim to bump out the tap handles and it turned out great. I will definitely have final pics posted this weekend. I am flushing out my beer lines with sanitizer tomorrow when I get home from work and my 3 kegs should be close to being fully carbed by Saturday. Should be pouring beers this weekend! :rockin: Pics to come in a couple of days.

 

[g8tor]

Haven't started mine yet. It will probably be June before I start it. I have all the parts now and in June I'll be going on vacation and visiting my uncle who does cabinetry work for a living and has a huge shop. He has offered to help me with this so now I'm just working on the esthetics. I'll let you know when I start

Scott

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Sounds great....start a thread when you start, so I can follow the build. I'll get you those Love Control settings this weekend. I finished everything on my keezer last night, so I'll post pics. this weekend. Hopefully my first 3 kegs are fully carbed, so I can put this thing to good use tomorrow! Cheers!

Haven't started mine yet. It will probably be June before I start it. I have all the parts now and in June I'll be going on vacation and visiting my uncle who does cabinetry work for a living and has a huge shop. He has offered to help me with this so now I'm just working on the esthetics. I'll let you know when I start

Scott

 

[Hoppopotomus]

OK....I couldn't wait 'til tomorrow to unviel my final Keezer pics. It took me a little longer than I expected to build this thing, but here she is. I got home from work tonight, sanitized the beer lines and prayed to god that the kegs would be fully carbed and ready to drink. Here is the first set of pics. I'm excited as hell.....and maybe a weeeeee bit intoxicated.

As I mentioned yesterday, I had to knife another piece of cedar to bump out the taps, so that I would have plenty of clearance for the tap handles. Here she is with the new tile (after my last disaster) and the new grout color that we decided to go with. Hope you like it!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

OK....Now onto round two of the pics. As you can see, I went with a high gloss stone and grout sealer. Here is a couple of keezer side shots, a shot of the kegs inside, and a shot with the lid open...with safety straps. The pic is of 3 kegs inside, but 4 kegs fit quite easily. In fact, I filled my 4th keg with sanitizer, dropped it into the keezer, hooked it up to the CO2, closed the lid, and flushed out my beer lines to sanitize the entire system. I now realize that I really should have went with a 4 tap system, but at least I can have an "on deck' keg carbing and waiting for it's turn in the line up. I have read countless threads and I STRONGLY suggest that those with coffin keezers add the safety straps.....makes life at lot easier. You can thank me later!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

And finally........Jota21, this is for you. Sorry it took me so long, but here is one more shot of the keezer and shots of each of my first 3 draws from my "Rustic Keezer". Tap1 = Centennial IPA; Tap2 = Blood Orange Hefewiezer; and Tap 3 = DFH Indian Brown Ale.

This build has been a spectacular experience for me and I am ecstatic that it is finally done. At the same time, I am also bummed that that the project is coming to an end. I guess, I now have to move onto an AG brewing system. I am one of those guys that needs a project going on at all times to occupy my attention and time. I am forever grateful to have found the "hobby" of home brewing and to have found HBT and the wonderful members that belong to this community. Thank you!!!!!

A few notes......my coffin is able to maintain a 5 to 7 degree temperature differential between the keezer and the coffin with my TSS2 Love Controller. Granted that tonight is my first night pulling drafts off of this thing, but I have had absolutely no foaming issues whatsoever!!!!!!!!:rockin:

I just want to thank everyone that was gracious enough to help me with my build........you guys know who I'm referring to. THANK YOU, Thank You, thank you.....

 

[mullenite]

That is awesome. My local breweries tasting room is done all in cypress and I wanted to do something like that with cedar and cypress but don't have the time or money.

 

[pstrohs]

Looks great. The new grout lines looks so much better.

 

[puckjer]

good job on the red cedar spacer for the taps. it looks great and you will be much happier when you eventually want to put custom tap handles on there. they are very easy to make yourself especially for someone like you that is good with woodworking. great job on this project and i have enjoyed following it.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks guys! It has been a blast. Now I just need to polish off the rest of the basement. At least I will have plent of beer to get me through the project!

 

[Yambor44]

What a spectacular build!

 

[g8tor]

Looks fantastic. Thanks for letting us follow along with you.

Scott

 

[MaltMonster]

Looks great! Love the final pics with your brews poured.

Are you still planning on deer antler tap handles?

 

[Jota21]

THAT... is a thing of beauty! Glad you're finally able to enjoy it and the beer looks awesome.

However, that thing is too pretty to spill beer on!!!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks MaltMonster. I do have several old racks laying around and I purchased a 10 pack of the inserts from McMaster/Carr, so I'll probably give it a try. The inserts are 1/2" OD (3/3" ID), so it's going to be a pain in the a$$ to get the antlers drilled out to that size. I'll give it a go, but after I get the rest of the bar finished and the drop ceiling in. I will most likely purchase 3 tap handles from my favorite craft breweries for now. In the meantime, I really need to get the other projects complete, because if I spend anymore time on this keezer project, my wife is not going to be happy.

Looks great! Love the final pics with your brews poured.

Are you still planning on deer antler tap handles?