tomakana
Well-Known Member
Hello, Fellow Home Brewers!
First off, a hearty thank you to everyone who has posted on their builds in this forum - I spent a really long time lurking and browsing here to get ideas, and once I finally convinced myself to start, it went really smoothly because of all the incredible advice and experience around here.
The basics - I started out building my keezer using a 5cf hand-me-down chest freezer that I'd been using as a fermentation chamber - I'm the only beer drinker in the house, I brew small batches (2.5 gal), and I didn't necessarily see the need to have a huge amount of beer on tap. When I designed it, though, I made the frame large enough that I could fairly easily change in the future to a 7cf model as well as have space to store the CO2 tank outside the freezer. Glad I did that because I decided to switch to the larger freezer mid-build. Turned out it was pretty straightforward to swap out - the smaller one just went back to the fermentation cave (aka the sump pump room).
Here's the frame with the 5cf in it, then after I switched it out for the 7cf:
The collar is 2x6 with 1" insulation boards and foil tape - it's glued and sealed to the top of the freezer. Framing is 2x4s with pocket screws. Top is a 30" x 60" rubberwood (maple) butcherblock countertop from Lowes finished with 4 coats of clear satin water-based poly. The top is attached at the back with a 48" piano hinge, and when it's raised I use two 1/2" square steel tubes to prop it - between the butcher block and the tower, the top is heavy! This is the top while I was laying out the tower holes and propped up (before the insulation for the top of freezer was attached):
I'm running the CO2, the ITC-1000 temp probe, and power for my fans through the collar. CO2 goes to a 3-way secondary regulator - there's going to be a keg of seltzer on tap all the time, so wanted to be able to get a variety of pressures. Here's what the interior looks like with everything set up:
I particularly proud of the tower. I really liked the look of the black iron towers, so went with a u-shaped (should it be n-shaped?) design and used 2" pipe. I was really glad to find the two corner pieces, which are "side outlet elbows" - it let me keep the width of the tower a little more manageable. I filled the elbows and the tee with spray foam insulation and carved out paths for the beer lines. The verticals are insulated with black pipe insulation wrapped around 1.25" copper pipe. So far, I've had no condensation and my pours aren't foaming, so I think it's holding temps pretty well. Here's the insulation in the pipe segments:
The taps are Nukatap Stealth Bombers. I made handles from 1/2" copper pipe and fittings - they're a bit "rough" but I think I like the look. They're not bad for a first try! Unfortunately, two of them have to have the inserts re-glued, so there's only one in the pictures. The cladding is shiplap decorative boards from Lowes in a gray finish. Here's the finished product with Levante Brewing's Tickle Parts on tap:
It's not perfect, but I made it (with a lot of help from HBT members), and I'm pretty freaking happy about it - so it's a lot like my beers in that respect.
Happy to post any other pics if anyone's interested. Tried to document as I went. Also happy to share anything about the build if anyone's interested.
Thanks everyone!
First off, a hearty thank you to everyone who has posted on their builds in this forum - I spent a really long time lurking and browsing here to get ideas, and once I finally convinced myself to start, it went really smoothly because of all the incredible advice and experience around here.
The basics - I started out building my keezer using a 5cf hand-me-down chest freezer that I'd been using as a fermentation chamber - I'm the only beer drinker in the house, I brew small batches (2.5 gal), and I didn't necessarily see the need to have a huge amount of beer on tap. When I designed it, though, I made the frame large enough that I could fairly easily change in the future to a 7cf model as well as have space to store the CO2 tank outside the freezer. Glad I did that because I decided to switch to the larger freezer mid-build. Turned out it was pretty straightforward to swap out - the smaller one just went back to the fermentation cave (aka the sump pump room).
Here's the frame with the 5cf in it, then after I switched it out for the 7cf:
The collar is 2x6 with 1" insulation boards and foil tape - it's glued and sealed to the top of the freezer. Framing is 2x4s with pocket screws. Top is a 30" x 60" rubberwood (maple) butcherblock countertop from Lowes finished with 4 coats of clear satin water-based poly. The top is attached at the back with a 48" piano hinge, and when it's raised I use two 1/2" square steel tubes to prop it - between the butcher block and the tower, the top is heavy! This is the top while I was laying out the tower holes and propped up (before the insulation for the top of freezer was attached):
I'm running the CO2, the ITC-1000 temp probe, and power for my fans through the collar. CO2 goes to a 3-way secondary regulator - there's going to be a keg of seltzer on tap all the time, so wanted to be able to get a variety of pressures. Here's what the interior looks like with everything set up:
I particularly proud of the tower. I really liked the look of the black iron towers, so went with a u-shaped (should it be n-shaped?) design and used 2" pipe. I was really glad to find the two corner pieces, which are "side outlet elbows" - it let me keep the width of the tower a little more manageable. I filled the elbows and the tee with spray foam insulation and carved out paths for the beer lines. The verticals are insulated with black pipe insulation wrapped around 1.25" copper pipe. So far, I've had no condensation and my pours aren't foaming, so I think it's holding temps pretty well. Here's the insulation in the pipe segments:
The taps are Nukatap Stealth Bombers. I made handles from 1/2" copper pipe and fittings - they're a bit "rough" but I think I like the look. They're not bad for a first try! Unfortunately, two of them have to have the inserts re-glued, so there's only one in the pictures. The cladding is shiplap decorative boards from Lowes in a gray finish. Here's the finished product with Levante Brewing's Tickle Parts on tap:
It's not perfect, but I made it (with a lot of help from HBT members), and I'm pretty freaking happy about it - so it's a lot like my beers in that respect.
Happy to post any other pics if anyone's interested. Tried to document as I went. Also happy to share anything about the build if anyone's interested.
Thanks everyone!
