My Keezer is done!

[GrainToGlass]

Beautiful job, I'm building my own in the next few weeks and using this as inspiration.

absolutely beautiful work, definitely what I'm going to model my own after. My only question is do you, or will you be using a fan inside?

That's awesome guys! I'm truly humbled and will gladly provide guidance if you have any trouble. I currently do not run a fan as I have not experienced any foaming or significant temperature stratification problems. I do get some minor moisture from time to time on the walls and floor due to me opening the lid quite often, but that's resolved with an Eva-Dry dehumidifier and towel drying when exchanging kegs. No worries.

 

[GrainToGlass]

Some pointers that I forgot to mention in my earlier posts:

-I use 10 ft. beer lines. I coil the slack with velcro and lay it on the bottom floor tucked in between the kegs where it's the coldest. I believe this has helped me greatly with avoiding foaming issues.

-As you can see with my first gas line, it's much longer than the rest. The 5 foot gas line allows me to easily reach out and purge any carboys or kegs outside of the keezer.

-It's much easier to rack into an empty keg already placed inside the keezer than it is trying to lift a full keg over the collar and into position. Might be common sense I guess, although that "Aha!" moment hit me pretty hard.

 

[Electrake]

Some pointers that I forgot to mention in my earlier posts:

-I use 10 ft. beer lines. I coil the slack with velcro and lay it on the bottom floor tucked in between the kegs where it's the coldest. I believe this has helped me greatly with avoiding foaming issues.

-As you can see with my first gas line, it's much longer than the rest. The 5 foot gas line allows me to easily reach out and purge any carboys or kegs outside of the keezer.

-It's much easier to rack into an empty keg already placed inside the keezer than it is trying to lift a full keg over the collar and into position. Might be common sense I guess, although that "Aha!" moment hit me pretty hard.

I'm sure I'm not alone when saying "thank you for your thoroughness." I wish a regulator for each brew were in the budget here, but a 3 way manifold will have to do for now

 

[GrainToGlass]

I'm sure I'm not alone when saying "thank you for your thoroughness." I wish a regulator for each brew were in the budget here, but a 3 way manifold will have to do for now

That's not a bad place to start at all, as long as it's moving forward to your goal!

 

[rekoob]

Awesome job with that keezer! Well done.

 

[johnmac22]

Love the build! Going to build something similar...love the stain you used against the black keezer and stainless faucets!

 

[truebrew2009]

nice job

 

[Manny_E]

Thanks everyone!



I appreciate it, it's called Reflectix insulation that I found at Lowes. Really easy to work with, plus it's shiny...

did you glued it to the collar?

 

[GrainToGlass]

did you glued it to the collar?

Essentially yes, I used Loctite silicone to attach it.

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Can you please link the drip tray you bought? How high does it go behind the collar?

 

[GrainToGlass]

Can you please link the drip tray you bought? How high does it go behind the collar?

Here's the tray:
http://www.kegconnection.com/drip-tray-for-5-faucets-18-wide-with-drain/

The description claims it's 14" tall from the tray's surface to the very top of the backsplash. I just measured mine and it's more like 12.5". Behind the collar the backsplash goes up 6.25" high. Hope that helps!

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Here's the tray:
http://www.kegconnection.com/drip-tray-for-5-faucets-18-wide-with-drain/

The description claims it's 14" tall from the tray's surface to the very top of the backsplash. I just measured mine and it's more like 12.5". Behind the collar the backsplash goes up 6.25" high. Hope that helps!

Thanks, your keezer looks great. I'll be building something very similar in March, thanks for the inspiration.

 

[DSPFisher]

What did you use to attach the insulation?

Thanks...

 

[GrainToGlass]

What did you use to attach the insulation?

Thanks...

Loctite Silicone

Cheers!

 

[ol-hazza]

This is a tidy build, Reminds me I really need to get mine done.

I appreciate it!

Drip tray
http://www.kegconnection.com/wall-mounts/

Beer Cap Map
http://www.beercapmaps.com/

As for the rollercoaster the beer map provided for me.

Oh I bet they dont have NZ, oh look they have NZ, SOLD!! oh wait no shipping to NZ. Dafaq.

 

[tchever1]

Great work. Where did you get the drain pan? Am building a similar one and that's a nice touch. Also, what is lining your 2X6 ? is there foam under the reflective wrap? Thanx Tchever1 ( Forum Tag ) Bill in real life

 

[GrainToGlass]

Great work. Where did you get the drain pan? Am building a similar one and that's a nice touch. Also, what is lining your 2X6 ? is there foam under the reflective wrap? Thanx Tchever1 ( Forum Tag ) Bill in real life

I appreciate it. Are you referring to the drip tray? Here's the link again.
http://www.kegconnection.com/drip-tray-for-5-faucets-18-wide-with-drain/

The inside of the collar is lined with Reflectix insulation, no foam underneath.

 

[tchever1]

Thanx again for the reply. Do have a question though-- because cold compresses gasses, would mounting the gas bottle outside the box make any sense? Or maybe I'm just overthinking everything

 

[GrainToGlass]

Thanx again for the reply. Do have a question though-- because cold compresses gasses, would mounting the gas bottle outside the box make any sense? Or maybe I'm just overthinking everything

Having the CO2 tank outside would work just as well. You should be able to monitor the remaining CO2 more accurately if it's around room temperature, but you'll need a way to feed the gas line through the collar. I chose to place the tank inside because I wasn't planning on having more than five taps with this keezer.

Cheers!

 

[tchever1]

Thanx Bro

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Here's the tray:
http://www.kegconnection.com/drip-tray-for-5-faucets-18-wide-with-drain/

The description claims it's 14" tall from the tray's surface to the very top of the backsplash. I just measured mine and it's more like 12.5". Behind the collar the backsplash goes up 6.25" high. Hope that helps!

How is the drip tray holding up? Is it sturdy? Do you regret not getting the Micromatic that is ridiculously expensive at $200+?

I'm going to be building mine soon and am not sure if I want to upgrade to the Micromatic or not.

http://www.micromatic.com/24-inch-w...el-wall-mount-drain-tray-5-faucet-dp-322eld-5

http://www.micromatic.com/16-inch-w...eel-wall-mount-drain-tray-5-faucet-dp-322ld-5

 

[GrainToGlass]

How is the drip tray holding up? Is it sturdy? Do you regret not getting the Micromatic that is ridiculously expensive at $200+?

I'm going to be building mine soon and am not sure if I want to upgrade to the Micromatic or not.

http://www.micromatic.com/24-inch-w...el-wall-mount-drain-tray-5-faucet-dp-322eld-5

http://www.micromatic.com/16-inch-w...eel-wall-mount-drain-tray-5-faucet-dp-322ld-5

Ah yes those drip trays. Back when I was buying parts for my project I believed it was ludicrous to pay that much for a drip tray when that money could go into something more vital such as quality faucets and good temp control... and I still do. Though, if you do have the extra cash after buying everything else then I'm sure the Micromatics would be a great addition.

I don't regret my tray one bit. I can leave five full pint glasses on mine and it doesn't even budge, though I did reinforce the bottom with two angled brackets for extra support to the keezer wall. It's been really easy to clean and hasn't shown any age. Sure, I see some imperfections at this lower price point, but I'm perfectly happy with how it performs and looks for a fraction of the cost of the Micromatics.

Hope that helps!

 

[aaronmq]

When I built my keezer, I had the option to add another keg and faucet as a 2.5 gallon would fit on the hump, but I elected not to. I only brew 5 gallon batches and didn't see the point in splitting a batch and having two of the same beers on tap; however I am now regretting that decision.

I could have bought a few 2.5 gallon kegs and split a brown ale that I always have on tap because SWMBO likes it and could have simply swapped out the 2.5s of brown ale when one kicks.

 

[Manny_E]

is there a rule for faucet spacing?

 

[GrainToGlass]

When I built my keezer, I had the option to add another keg and faucet as a 2.5 gallon would fit on the hump, but I elected not to. I only brew 5 gallon batches and didn't see the point in splitting a batch and having two of the same beers on tap; however I am now regretting that decision.

I could have bought a few 2.5 gallon kegs and split a brown ale that I always have on tap because SWMBO likes it and could have simply swapped out the 2.5s of brown ale when one kicks.

2.5 gallon kegs are great! So are split batches! I can take a 5 gallon batch and experiment with two different yeast strains, dry hops, fruit additions, etc. It'll be a great addition to your keezer if you ever do go back and modify your setup.

is there a rule for faucet spacing?

Fit as many as you can! I believe you can have them as close or as far as you'd like as long as everything fits properly. My drip tray backsplash already had holes cut out for my faucets/shanks so my spacing was already determined.

 

[crane]

is there a rule for faucet spacing?

The only rule I have is that they all have to behave and get along with each other.

 

[jwalkermed]

Is it difficult to clean the drip tray if it's permanently attached?

 

[GrainToGlass]

Is it difficult to clean the drip tray if it's permanently attached?

Not at all! The grill comes off so I wipe it all down with some soap and water. The backsplash rarely gets messy, but a quick wipe takes care of it.

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Ah yes those drip trays. Back when I was buying parts for my project I believed it was ludicrous to pay that much for a drip tray when that money could go into something more vital such as quality faucets and good temp control... and I still do. Though, if you do have the extra cash after buying everything else then I'm sure the Micromatics would be a great addition.

I don't regret my tray one bit. I can leave five full pint glasses on mine and it doesn't even budge, though I did reinforce the bottom with two angled brackets for extra support to the keezer wall. It's been really easy to clean and hasn't shown any age. Sure, I see some imperfections at this lower price point, but I'm perfectly happy with how it performs and looks for a fraction of the cost of the Micromatics.

Hope that helps!

Thanks it did help a lot.

I think my biggest worry was that I'm also building a 5 tap keezer, but the chest freezer size is 16 cubic feet. I was worried that having a thinly spaced set of taps on a large keezer would look odd, so I was thinking the Micromatic at 24" wide would spread things out a bit so it looks more uniform across the collar. Still deciding!

 

[rmarshall100]

You don't have a parts list for the entire build do you? I have tight schedule for my build and I don't want to leave anything off the parts order by accident. Did you get everything from kegconnection.com? What pressure are you running your CO2? I really like the simplicity and just plain good looks of your build. I had already decided to paint the keg black and I am a huge fan of American Chestnut stain. Too bad those gorgeous trees are all gone.