Kegerators are frequently associated with frat houses, where they are supposed to be obsolete refrigerators covered in stickers and serving stale Natty Light. Kegerators should be designed to blend in with the rest of your home’s decor. It should stimulate discussion and bring people’s attention to itself. That is exactly what a keezer, such as the one I will demonstrate how to make, accomplishes.
Afterward, you must pour beer in it until full, and I have the utmost trust in your ability to complete this task. You may start customizing your keezer right away by clicking here. You’ll find a discussion of the techniques I used to put the system together — as well as a list of the components I utilized, in the section below.
Keezer Components
Gas-Related Components
- Flare nut and barb (1/4″ to 5/16″)
- Co2 4-Way Manifold
- Gas-ball locks
- 5 lb CO2 tank
- Primary regulator with two gauges
- 5/16′′ gas tubing
- Clamps for hoses
Beer-Related Components
- 5-gallon keg Cornelius
- 4′′ Faucet shank
- Tap handles
- 1/4-inch barb
- 3/16′′ vinyl clear beer line
- 2 ½ gallon keg Cornelius
- Perlick faucets
Other Resources and Accessory
- Wireless dehumidifier eva-dry
- Graph of carbonation in pdf
- External thermostat
After the death of a close friend or family member, it might be difficult to focus on anything else. I’ve been missing having a kegerator in the living room ever since mine stopped working. Handle pulls were the only thing that separated them from the boiling beverages. There is no going back once you start tapping. Because of this, a brand-new kegerator must be built.
Fridge or Chest Freezer?
This will be referred to as a “keezer” because I’ll be using a chest freezer. To begin with, I prefer the aesthetics of kegerators. Refrigerators, on the other hand, look like refrigerators because they have faucets projecting from their sides. Since these doors open outwards from the peak, they are considered energy-efficient in comparison to other types of doors.
This set-up includes four kegs. Adding more of it is just too much for me to take in at this point. Keeping a kegging system in good working order may appear simple, but it actually demands a significant amount of time and effort. I just need to create four of these in order to be consistent with my current production rate while still being manageable.
I used cardboard cutouts of keg footprints to measure the chest freezers at K-Mart. I couldn’t resist the black Kenmore 8.8 cubic feet. washer and dryer when they came available for sale. Adding a collar makes it large enough to handle four kegs.
Kegs
The procedure for using a keg is straightforward. When brewing at home, you’ll nearly always use Corny kegs as a storage container. When soda kegs such as Cornies and Cornelius kegs were finally phased out in favor of cardboard boxes and bladder-like contraptions, they were dubbed Cornies because of the way they were marketed. They are becoming increasingly known by homebrewers.
At some point, you’ve probably encountered a Half Barrel or Sanke keg. It was common for me to study with my back to one of them throughout my undergraduate years in New York City. The following diagram could be extremely helpful in distinguishing between the various types of kegs available on the market.
Pin and ball mechanisms are used in the construction of locks. A check at the beer and gas lines is necessary to categorize the “corny kegs.” According to Wikipedia, neither Coca-Cola nor Pepsi used ball locks but instead used pin locks to secure their cans. What an incredible piece of information!
I’ll use my pin-lock kegs instead because currently, I have two of them. In order to be on the safe side, the other ones will almost certainly be secured by pin-locks.
Gas Setup
I’ll make use of the CO2 tank that came with my prior system, which has a capacity of 5 pounds of carbon dioxide. A 10-pound or 20-pound tank would be great for this size system, but because they are so expensive, I will not upgrade unless absolutely necessary. In addition to the gas, you can make use of your regulator to control the flow. Single gas pressure can be applied to all kegs, or each keg can have its own individual gas pressure applied. The latter demands the use of an additional regulator.
It is possible to bring in gas at 35 psi and then adjust the flow to each keg by use of another secondary regulator (9-13 psi). Secondary regulators, which can cost up to $200, are not an investment worth making in a home brewery, despite the fact that it would be beneficial to carbonate my English Mild at varying pressure than my Berliner Weisse.
On the other hand, I plan to get a four-way gas manifold for my vehicle. The pressure in each keg of the system cannot be individually controlled, as it can with the secondary regulator. This little gentleman on the inside of the collar is going to be really lovely. one. While it’s possible that I’ll switch to a secondary regulator at some point, I’ll stick with my current one for now.
Keezer Collar
If you have an old freezer, you can make a kegerator without having to cut a hole in it. The following are some of the benefits:
- You can make a hole in the collar to route your gas lines if you keep your CO2 tank just outside of the freezer.
- There is no doubt that it is an incredibly dangerous weapon.
- Screwing on your taps saves you the trouble of digging through the freezer.
- You’ll have extra space to work with as a result. As a result of installing the collar, I am now able to store an extra corny keg on the inside shelf.
- Drip trays, C02 manifolds, and bottle openers can all be added to the machine. You may also write your tap list on the surface using chalk paint.
There are two types of collars: inner and outer.
- Using the freezer’s ledge as support, I placed the inner collar on top of it. Remove the freezer’s lid and reinsert it into the collar.
- A bolt connects the outer and inner collars. Due to its height, the outer collar drapes lower over the freezer’s exterior compared to the inner collar.
Because the chest freezer is not fastened to the wall, the weight of the exterior collar is sufficient to keep it in place. The attempt to remove the outer collar would have resulted in you being thrown in the freezer.
Taps
The location of the faucets on chest freezers can be adjusted to suit the user’s preferences. Drilling a hole in the lid and building a tower atop it is an alternative method of opening the lid. Here’s what was found inside my keezer when it was discovered to be dead. Because a tower is visually appealing, there are a plethora of breathtaking examples to choose from.
All that is required for assembly is the drilling of a hole in the top of the piece. The disadvantage is that you run the danger of causing damage to your freezer in the process. The warranty has come to an end. The knobs on the freezer door would pop open when I opened it, spilling beer all over the floor. Traditional methods are preferred by many homebrewers in favor of the collars.
To put it simply, it’s a box made out of wood that’s placed inside the freezer to make more room for food. It is possible to use your components as a pinboard with the collar, which is a benefit over utilizing a tower.
You can set up:
- Bottle opener
- Faucets
- Temperature regulator
- Secondary regulator or gas manifold
- Gun rack
- Drip tray
- Beer/gas line organization hooks
- a gas line access port
Kegerator owners can further customize the appearance of their kegerators by putting a collar on the outside of the unit. Alternatively, if your current freezer breaks down, you can move the collar and tap to a working freezer. Another significant advantage is the addition of more kegs.
With a collar, you’ll be able to fit a Corny Keg in most chest freezers, but not without it. The collar adds height to the shelf, allowing you to put a corny keg there. This is a must-have for my four-keg brewing setup.
Dispensing
It is possible for your beer faucet to become stuck if it is used infrequently. Additionally, they can alter the flavor of your beer, in addition to making cleanup more difficult to accomplish. With my prior faucets, I was able to resolve both of these issues without difficulty.
Perlick faucets are distinguished by their forward sealing design, which keeps the beer flowing and prevents them from becoming clogged. Yes, they are expensive, costing $30-$40 per person, but the results will be well worth it. They also have a more beautiful appearance. For the purpose of connecting the beer lines, a 4-inch metal shank will be threaded through the collar and into the faucets.
Collar Material: What Kind of Wood Is It?
There are so many options in the lumbar area at Home Depot that it might be difficult to know where to begin. A product’s appearance, cost, and longevity are all essential considerations. The inner collar of the structure was constructed from raw pine that had not been pressure treated. This is a good option for those who don’t want to spend a lot of money and who don’t care about how it looks. We went with oak for the external collar because of its natural beauty and resistance to rot. Regardless of how pricey oak is, it is a fantastic material.
After all of our hard work, I didn’t want it to look cheap. Oak is substantially more durable and stronger than pine. Because it can be seen from the outside, this data is crucial.
Collar Insulation
I’m hoping to accomplish this project within the next couple of months. If funds allow, I’ll begin with two taps and work my way up to four overtime. I’m confident you’d welcome a full analysis of the costs associated with the entire system, particularly in terms of money. The rates will be released in a subsequent article once the project is completed and I have all of the necessary information.
All went perfectly throughout the collar construction and the beer is currently flowing freely from my newly installed kegerator. The majority of people refer to a kegerator that is based on a chest freezer as a “keezer.” The collar of the keezer proved to be the most difficult component of the project. I spent a significant amount of time searching the internet for examples of this.
A wide variety of previous designs served as inspiration for my own. I was eager to get started because I had a strategy in mind and a prospective venue in mind. He had to come all the way from Virginia into Denver to help with this project because it necessitated his services. He was not going to let this opportunity pass him by. Because of his help, I would not have been able to produce something as beautiful as this without his help.
Do You Want to Attach the Collar to the Freezer or the Lid?
To save space, we didn’t attach it to the lid but instead let it rest on top of the freezer. For the following reasons, some people attach it to the lid:
- They raise a full keg above the collar in order to prevent slamming (and perhaps damaging) a faucet. Securing the collar to the cover of the freezer prevents anything from getting in the way of the contents while the door is open.
- Because of the added distance, they are reluctant to elevate kegs above the collar.
Because it’s a matter of personal preference, I didn’t think the extra effort was worth it. When loading from the side, the only way to avoid number 1 is to proceed with extreme caution. Because you’re unable to lift the keg an additional six inches, you should avoid doing this at all costs. As a result of the collar’s weight, I don’t want to put more stress on the hinges, which were not designed to manage it.
Constructing a Kegerator Collar
- The freezer lid can easily be removed by simply loosening the freezer’s lid hinges. You can prevent the spring from slamming into your face by inserting a long nail or drill bit into the hole.
- Measure the height of the freezer’s top by taking measurements from the front, back, and sides. The pine inner collar’s dimensions are provided in the table below.
- To cut the pine, use step #2’s measurements.
- Angle brackets and wood screws can be used as fasteners to join the pine boards. All of a sudden, your collar will be the center of attention.
- Precision is essential when it comes to chopping wood. Like we did with the ash and pine in this example with butt joints and 45-degree miter joints, you may also use a variety of other types of joints. Miters are more difficult to make, but the results are more satisfying. ‘ These will need to be cut with a miter saw. The pine should fit snugly around the oak if the wood is chopped.
- Takedown and dispose of the tree.
- In order to guarantee that the boards are level, clamp the tops of each of the oak and pine planks together. This is due to the oak’s height being approximately 2 inches higher than the pine’s. The front and sides of the building were built with locally harvested oak. We didn’t bother with the back of the vehicle because no one will see it.
- Decide where the bolts will go through the oak and pine. Two bolts, five inches apart and a few inches apart, were used to secure the oak’s upper piece. A total of twelve bolts were used to secure the wood boards together.
- Tighten the bolts into place after they have been drilled. Washers and nuts should be used to ensure that the components are properly attached.
- I used wood screws to repair the freezer lid’s hinges after repositioning it on top of the collar. This time, the hinges will be attached to the collar rather than the freezer.
- The tap holes must be marked at all times. You may need more or less ice than the typical individual if you have a large freezer, numerous faucets, and your own tastes. For the length of the outer taps on the faucet, we used the length of my drip tray, which is 19 inches long. The two were separated by a distance of 4 1/2 inches, and they were positioned almost halfway along with the front wood board.
- A drill should be used to make the tap holes. It was a difficult job since we had to drill through two inches of oak hardwood and one inch of pine. Our task required the use of a Forstner bit. In this case, a spade bit could also be utilized. Keep an eye out for any sizing discrepancies in your drill shank. This job required the use of 3/4-inch-diameter bits.
- Make sure the shanks are a great fit by inserting them. Because they didn’t exactly fit, we had to unscrew them up with the drill at first.
- When it comes to making the collar, there are a few different steps. Preparing the collar for staining is as simple as removing the lid.
- Adding a stain to the wood can give it a more finished aspect. Everything had to be covered and absorbed uniformly by the Minwax conditioner, thus it was vital to use it. The crimson mahogany stain was added to the surface once it had dried. After 24 hours of curing, the item is coated in semi-gloss spar varnish. This provides the product with a gleaming finish.
- Finally, seal the bottom of the wood with weatherstripping after a few hours (a few hours). The collar and freezer will be properly sealed if this technique is followed.
- Clear silicone caulk can be used to fill in the gaps between the collar’s internal and external collars while it is in the freezer. In addition to making the item seem better, this will also help to insulate it. Before continuing, let the silicone completely dry.
- The lid must be reassembled.
- Re-attach the spouts and shanks to their original locations and tighten them down tightly again.
- At this point, any extra components can be added if necessary. A 4-way CO2 manifold was attached to the back of the collar on the inside of the collar. There will be an installation of my drip tray in the not too distant future.
