I am in the planning stage of converting an upright freezer to a kegerator. I am going to use this thread for some questions I have prior to the start. Once the build is underway, I will start a new thread to show the progress. Thanks in advance to anyone that helps me along the way.
The Plan
I will eventually have it set up for 8 taps, but phase one will start at 4 taps. I will keep my CO2 and beer gas cylinder on the outside of the freezer to save real estate inside.
I already have a beer gas cylinder and cylinder regulator. I plan on putting a 4 manifold so I can have up to 4 nitro taps. I'm going to use Intertap faucets so they will be consistent, but quickly have the ability to become nitro taps and back again (I know these are a little longer, but much smaller than a traditional stout faucet).
On the CO2 side, I will have a cylinder regulator outside, and 4 secondary regulators on the inside of the freezer. The first two regulators will each have a two way manifold and be used to carb kegs. One could be used to carb nitro kegs, and the other to force carb CO2 kegs if I want. I plan to use regulator three and four at serving pressure. The reason I want two is so I can have a "high" and "regular" serving pressure. This will allow Hefes, some Belgians, and wheat beers to be set at say 16-17 psi (~3.0 vol C02) and the others to be set to 10-11 psi (~2.4 vol CO2). I will have a four way manifold for the high side, and a 6 way for the low side. All manifolds will have shut offs with check valves and flare fittings to easily move things around.
I'm sure there's more I've thought about, but for now, on to the...
Questions
- Do you see the need for a secondary regulator on the beer gas side? Part of me thinks this just adds more leak points, and added expense. I don't plan on having multiple pressures off of this cylinder like I do off the CO2 side.
- "High" side balancing - If I use flare fittings to the disconnects, can I use a flare union to add about 6' of beer line (assuming the 1' per psi rule)? I can also just have longer lines made up and hanging in the freezer for these cases. Last option would be to try the flow control faucets with say 13' lines and hope I could get good pours out of either pressure. Which do you think is the best option?
I know I will have other questions, but this is enough to get things flowing.
The Plan
I will eventually have it set up for 8 taps, but phase one will start at 4 taps. I will keep my CO2 and beer gas cylinder on the outside of the freezer to save real estate inside.
I already have a beer gas cylinder and cylinder regulator. I plan on putting a 4 manifold so I can have up to 4 nitro taps. I'm going to use Intertap faucets so they will be consistent, but quickly have the ability to become nitro taps and back again (I know these are a little longer, but much smaller than a traditional stout faucet).
On the CO2 side, I will have a cylinder regulator outside, and 4 secondary regulators on the inside of the freezer. The first two regulators will each have a two way manifold and be used to carb kegs. One could be used to carb nitro kegs, and the other to force carb CO2 kegs if I want. I plan to use regulator three and four at serving pressure. The reason I want two is so I can have a "high" and "regular" serving pressure. This will allow Hefes, some Belgians, and wheat beers to be set at say 16-17 psi (~3.0 vol C02) and the others to be set to 10-11 psi (~2.4 vol CO2). I will have a four way manifold for the high side, and a 6 way for the low side. All manifolds will have shut offs with check valves and flare fittings to easily move things around.
I'm sure there's more I've thought about, but for now, on to the...
Questions
- Do you see the need for a secondary regulator on the beer gas side? Part of me thinks this just adds more leak points, and added expense. I don't plan on having multiple pressures off of this cylinder like I do off the CO2 side.
- "High" side balancing - If I use flare fittings to the disconnects, can I use a flare union to add about 6' of beer line (assuming the 1' per psi rule)? I can also just have longer lines made up and hanging in the freezer for these cases. Last option would be to try the flow control faucets with say 13' lines and hope I could get good pours out of either pressure. Which do you think is the best option?
I know I will have other questions, but this is enough to get things flowing.