Yeah, Yeah, another boring Keezer build

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scsi

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2010
Messages
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Location
Austin
So I'm pretty new here, but the Forums have been a huge, huge help to me already. Anyways, I built my first Keezer this week. Well, today. I've now got my first kegged brew carbing inside of it.

Here's what I did:

I got a scratch/dent Frigidaire 14.8 Freezer (Energy Star Compliant!)

From Home Depot:
- 2x8 pressure treated pine boards
- liquid nails
- angle brackets
- R5 foam insulation board
- Silicone caulk
- 1" foam weatherstripping

From Austin Homebrew:
- 2x Perlick taps (Refrig. conversion kit)
- 4-way gas manifold
- A bunch of gas line
- A bunch of beer line
- A bunch of Oetiker clamps
- a few Ball-lock gas and liquid disconnects


Took me one evening to do. I started after work today, and finished around 2AM. :rockin:

And here are some photos (Also on flickr)


Checking space with some real-life kegs
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Checking out the taps
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All done!
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Thanks to everyone on this board, especially those who have their own "My Keezer build" type thread.. I'm pretty sure I read it ;-)

Cheers!
:mug:
 
Are you using beer line for gas tubing? I only ask because I've never seen clear gas line.

Also, how many taps do you plan to have on that bad boy? Hopefully more than two! :D
 
Are you using beer line for gas tubing? I only ask because I've never seen clear gas line.

Also, how many taps do you plan to have on that bad boy? Hopefully more than two! :D

Nope, I'm using 3/16 beer line and 1/4 gas line. They only have clear hose at Austin Home Brew.

I'll definitely have more than two taps on there, eventually. I'm just going to have to expand slowly. Id like to have five, plus one soda.

Right now, I've got my Honey Wheat carbing in there. Tonight I'm going to hook up my pony of commercial vienna lager to the first tap.
 
A co-worker also owns a pair of Quiznos, so I got a Bag-in-Box of Dr Pepper syrup from him... 5gal concentrate makes 30 gals of Dr Pepper :-D

It was a bit of a trick getting it home, though...
drpv.jpg
 
I have the same freezer...if you remove the two plastic strips in the front and back inside the freezer the little lips that held the plastic trays that came with it it gives you a tad bit more room inside for kegs co2 etc...the just pop up push from below easy to remove. I also removed the plastic lid and attached a sheet of Masonite to the lid and then attached my collar to it, so it all lifts up n out of the way. looks good. :mug:

? How does the Dr. Pepper syrup work, do you have to mix it with water...we would love to do this with Diet Pepsi!!! LOL
 
I LOVE the picture of the soda box on the motorcycle. Awesome.

I'm also curious how this goes from thick sweet syrup to delicious beverage.
 
I LOVE the picture of the soda box on the motorcycle. Awesome.

I'm also curious how this goes from thick sweet syrup to delicious beverage.

I believe you just hit the syrup with carbonated water. Or dilute the syrup then force carb it. :mug:
 
Mix the syrup with water (5:1 water to syrup ratio), force carb. Bam.

I use the term 'on tap' loosely though. I only have a bunch of 2 liter bottles with Carbonator caps of home-mixed Dr Pepper. I will add a Dr Pepper (and probably a diet something) tap to the keezer as soon as I figure out how to dispense higher PSI liquid... not foam. So far, disaster. I've been meaning to start a new thread about that, actually...


So my plan is to just mix it in a corny. Those things were made for soda, right? I'm already storing the syrup in a corny w/ a picnic tap. Its my only pin lock corny, so I keep it separate.

WAORGANY – Your Keezer thread was fantastic. I read it over and over again, and probably the most helpful to me for my build. Thank you!!

Cheers,
~s
 
Oh, something I've noticed... The top of the keezer doesnt seem to be getting cold. The collar area. It's all sealed, Im confident nothing is leaking... I just have a feeling, since heat rises, and the elements are in the walls of the freezer, the cold isn't making its way up there.


I've seen some people put little fans in their keezers. What do you all think - is it necessary? does it matter? Nothing but the taps are up there, so I'm not sure it matters, so long as the area below the collar is cool... The beer is cold! :D

What are your thoughts?
 
Longer lines. 25' - 30' at soda pressures.

That's what I figured, but wouldn't the walls of the beer line cause friction that'd also foam? Is there a formula to calculate pressure / temp / line length?

I'll give it a shot this weekend. Austin Homebrew closes at 3 tomorrow, Ill swing by before and pick up a ton of beer line and report back.
 
Oh, something I've noticed... The top of the keezer doesnt seem to be getting cold. The collar area. It's all sealed, Im confident nothing is leaking... I just have a feeling, since heat rises, and the elements are in the walls of the freezer, the cold isn't making its way up there.

I've seen some people put little fans in their keezers. What do you all think - is it necessary? does it matter? Nothing but the taps are up there, so I'm not sure it matters, so long as the area below the collar is cool... The beer is cold! :D

What are your thoughts?

I've never found the need for a fan in my keezer. I keep the temp probe to my ranco taped to one of my kegs in the freezer and the compressor only cycles on once ever 60-90 min for 1-2 min. I'm sure there is a temp differential in the keezer but if the beer is cold who cares?

I also use 10 feet of 3/16" beer line for all my taps and have never had any problems with foaming.
 
OK, I've run a bunch of soda and homebrew through the new keezer now, and it's working very very well so far! I don't see the need for a fan, the beer is kept nice and cold. The pours seem perfect.
And now I do have a keg of Dr Pepper on tap, and it's awesome.

I have noticed that water/condensation is pooling up on the floor of the unit, and I've noticed a little rust forming already. Any suggestions to handle the condensation?

Cheers,
 
OK, I've run a bunch of soda and homebrew through the new keezer now, and it's working very very well so far! I don't see the need for a fan, the beer is kept nice and cold. The pours seem perfect.
And now I do have a keg of Dr Pepper on tap, and it's awesome.

I have noticed that water/condensation is pooling up on the floor of the unit, and I've noticed a little rust forming already. Any suggestions to handle the condensation?

Cheers,

Excessive condensation is usually caused by an air leak somewhere. It only takes a tiny pinhole leak to cause problems. You can use Damp Rid to help mitigate the problem, but it's better to seal up the leaks. Usually the leaks will be in the gasket or the collar. You can sometimes find a leak by putting a bright light inside the freezer with the room darkened. Examine the collar and gasket closely in the dark and sometimes you can see light coming through. This trick does not always locate every leak, but sometimes it helps. I use a shop vac to suck up spills and condensation from the bottom of my feezer when necessary. Often you will get some condensation when initially cooling down the freezer. Once cooled, there should be very little condensation forming if it is well sealed and not opened too frequently. Much depends on the relative humidity of the room air.

FWIW, I have a fan installed. I like that it helps keep the beer lines, shanks and taps cool. This is more important to me during the warm months. The fan runs 24/7 at a cost of about 5 cents per day.
 
Ah, that makes sense. I'm not convinced there's a leak, since it lives in my garage, and I have been opening and closing it very often...

But I like the light idea -- I'll give that a shot!

Thanks!
 
Oh, and if anyone is interested, I have 15' of 3/16 line hooked up to my Dr Pepper keg, which I'm keeping at around 27PSI. It foams a little bit, but the end result is perfectly bubbly. I know it's not beer, but it's still delicious!
 
Ah, that makes sense. I'm not convinced there's a leak, since it lives in my garage, and I have been opening and closing it very often...

But I like the light idea -- I'll give that a shot!

Thanks!

Post back and let us know if you discovered any leaks with the light method.
 
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