New Kegerator To Be!

[Pantherjon]

{Said in LOUD ominous 'announcer' voice}And so it begins! It may be just a humble, not so pretty refrigerator now. But, soon, yes, SOON, it will become the envy of the house. No, the envy of the street. NO, the envy of the neighborhood! All shall come flocking to bask in its glory and receive bountiful amounts of golden, amber, tan, brown and perhaps on occasion black nectar of the Gods! A substance once reserved for only the privileged. Nay, no longer! All are welcome here to enjoy the wondrous liquid we lovingly call BEER!{End announce voice}

So, here it is. A full size GE fridge..Not pretty, but functional...My order from Keg Connection is on its way and is to be delivered on Saturday! I ordered the 2 keg kit..Can't recall who or where but read on here they were the 'go to ' place and when you buy a kit you get 1/2 off on the kegs..Well, that's what I did! So, a blind THANK YOU for posting that information!

The real 'nitty-gritty' will take place on Tuesday(day off)..Kinda looking forward to it! Beer in kegs, what a wonderful concept!

 

[BrooklynTom]

I will be looking forward to watching your build. Have fun with it and good luck.

 

[Pantherjon]

Well, this is awkward as heck...Going to have to play some tetris with what is out in the laundry room I see...To the right of the fridge is an 'alcove' of the room that is filled with all my model rocket kits(my other obsession that has waned a bit) that will need to be moved out to the shed, then the pet stuff, food containers and cat litter box will go back there..Right now I can't open the fridge door all the way...But it is less awkward now then it was last night when I originally put the fridge in there...Guess half the day Tuesday will be moving stuff out and then organizing the shed before tackling 'The Build'...Cats are going to hate me again for moving their food dish and bathroom yet again!LOL

 

[Pantherjon]

My box from Keg Connection arrived today! A day early at that! So, the green light is lit to start the destruction, ummm, CONstruction of my new kegerator this coming Tuesday! After I clean out some space and move things around...But, I am still stoked!

 

[neild5]

Can you reverse the door and put the hinge on the right side? It would not have the clearance issue with the wall.

 

[Pantherjon]

Can you reverse the door and put the hinge on the right side? It would not have the clearance issue with the wall.

I can...And I just may do that...Clearance issue for not being able to open the door all the way is from the table, not the wall..Once I get things moved around the table will be in the alcove to the right of the fridge so clearance won't be an issue then...

Gonna be an early one Tuesday..Gotta go get the oil changed in my pickup before I do anything else..Its my 'go to work and back home' ride and want to keep on the maintenance since it is a 2015...After that the game of 'tetris' begins..LOL

 

[SHbrewing]

following this build

 

[Pantherjon]

Well kegerator build will have to wait until Saturday to begin...Go home a lot later then anticipated last night, and since this is my day off..I well, slept in a little..lol..Plus I needed to get the oil changed on my Silverado..Got back home about 11:30AM or so, fixed lunch and then took a short nap...Went to Lowes to get a couple things and then tackled clearing out the laundry room..Got that finished about 45 minutes ago..I am tired now..LOL..But here is the new 'roomier' laundry room..Things look kinda funky as it is a panorama picture from my phone...

 

[Pantherjon]

Well, one to never be really prompt about getting things done that can be put off another day, I finally unpacked my box from Keg Connection. Then got busy brewing a new beer and then 'game night'...So build has not started yet...Did do a 'dry fit' of the various bits and pieces..And now I have a couple of questions..

1) Any problems keeping the CO2 bottle in the fridge with the kegs? Most kegerators I have seen the bottles are outside with the gas line running in, advantages doing it that way as opposed to having the CO2 tank IN the fridge?

2) Regulator connected directly to the CO2 tank. Advantages/disadvantages having it that way?

 

[neild5]

1) Any problems keeping the CO2 bottle in the fridge with the kegs? Most kegerators I have seen the bottles are outside with the gas line running in, advantages doing it that way as opposed to having the CO2 tank IN the fridge?

Disadvantage of having the CO2 in the fridge is it takes up space. Advantage is you don't have to find a place for it.

2) Regulator connected directly to the CO2 tank. Advantages/disadvantages having it that way?

Advantage is less chance of leaking connections because of fewer connections. Disadvantage is regulator can be in the way.

 

[Pantherjon]

Okay, enough procrastinating! Got a little, and I do mean little, as in tiny, bit done today!..LOL Got one of the taps mounted on the door..First hole I drill was a perfect shot to where the interior of the door shelf for the butter comp is..perfect...IF I had wanted it there..BUT, I didn't as the shank isn't that long! Okay, do some measuring, drill 2nd hole higher up on the door and is where it should be..Yeh!

 

[Pantherjon]

And here it is on the inside...Since cleaned up a bit..

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Try drilling a pilot hole from the inside when working on your next project.

Don't worry. I hit a refrigerant line with my first fridge. Nothing worse than that. Live and learn...

 

[Pantherjon]

And since we have the door open..Looks like I have some drinking to do to make room for the kegs!LOL

 

[Pantherjon]

Another point I just thought of with the door being open..I am going to need to change the hing side so when I DO open the door with the kegs in there I won't be pulling that much hose out...But that is a simple fix with a screwdriver...

 

[Pantherjon]

Try drilling a pilot hole from the inside when working on your next project.

Don't worry. I hit a refrigerant line with my first fridge. Nothing worse than that. Live and learn...

Yeah...makes sense...didn't think this through all the way...oh well, at least I know where to put hole #3 for tap #2 is going!LOL

 

[Pantherjon]

Oh, almost forgot, brown truck dropped these off today! Now, granted, all 6 are NOT going to fit in the fridge at the same time..But I can have spares! LOL

 

[Pantherjon]

Okay, tiny update...Went and got a bottle of CO2! Both places in Savannah only do tank exchanges which is kind of a bummer as I had a nice shiny brand new bottle..Oh well, went to AirGas and the guy said he would find me the nicest one they had in exchange for mine..Which he did, it's perty! A little less then 20 bucks..Then got home from work and mounted the 2nd tap..No picture, will get one when done..Can't believe how badly I botched the hole tho..Its almost a half inch lower then the other one..LOL..Drill bit slipped a little when I was doing my pilot hole, and here I though I had it all lined up perfectly..sheesh..Do NOT hire me to do any precise handy work!LMAO..

 

[Pantherjon]

Okay, since I have a full CO2 bottle now, time to keg, right? Well, intended to but got tied up doing other 'stuff' around the house..Will try to put my Irish Stout in the keg tomorrow..But, did rearrange the contents and put the kegs and CO2 bottle in the fridge and hooked up the beer lines...No real need to change over the door hinge..Just need a few zip ties to 'tidy up' the beer lines..Opening and closing of the door shouldn't be an issue...And I guess the 2nd tap doesn't look THAT bad, it just does to me cause I know its off..oh well...Now to get a drip tray and mount it..

 

[Pantherjon]

Drum roll please! The 1st keg has been filled! My Irish Stout has gone in, and I am stoked on this batch as well! I NAILED the OG at 1.045 and just NAILED the FG at 1.012 as well!! WOOHOO!! Of course I drank most of the FG sample and it tastes wonderful!...Set the CO2 to 30PSI to force carb it a bit...It is now sitting in the fridge at 20PSI...Will throttle it back some in a couple hours to 12PSI..

 

[Pantherjon]

Did my 1st pull on the Irish Stout! Awesome!

Question: What temp do y'all normally have your kegerator set? I am using my Inkbirds310 right now as just a temp monitor and it is showing a chilly 32 degrees F in the box..Too cold, or just about right?

Okay, now enjoy the beer porn while I pull a 2nd one off the keg!

 

[Dixon9717]

That's awesome congrats.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

I keep my keezer between 36°-38°. Then my beer is just about right in a few minutes after the pour. I never chill my glasses either. Just say no to frozen mugs! Lol!


Remember, temp plays a huge role in the carb level of your beer. You have to adjust your co2 pressure to match.


IMO, 32° is a bit too low. Great beer should never be drank "ice cold"...

 

[Pantherjon]

Thanks! I thought that 32 was a bit on the cold side..The temp control on the fridge is real touchy...*Lightbulb moment* MAYBE I should use the Inkbird unit as the temp controller on the fridge instead!?!..Idea

Anyway, got my package of parts I ordered from McMaster/Carr today..Rigging up a gas distribution for my kegs so I can move the CO2 bottle out of the fridge..Did a dry fit of all the parts..I am going to have to go through this article and make sure I didn't forget to order parts to hook up the gas lines to the valves..But anyway another hole to soon be drilled into the side of the fridge!..LOL