kegerator

[beachtech]

i have decided that it would me much cheaper for me to purchase my beverage of choice a keg at a time and was wondering if any of you guys have made your own kegerator's? i have a good idea of what and how i want to make this machine, but would like some experienced input as well. so that hopefully i only have to make one instead of a few bad designs before reaching the one that i will keep. appreciate the help and info guys

[brewer1]

there are a few home brew sites you could probably do a search on, I ve seen it discussed before ,I just drilled a hole in a frige and ran a line out the side and use a picnic tap, not to nice but functional

[baub]

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-...ent-cid-2.html

[DuJane]

My boyfriend spent a lot of time researching how to build one. The sum of the parts for what he wanted to do cost more than our kegerator, so he just bought it. I believe he got it at Costco or some other type of cost club, so it was a decent price.

Couldn't live without it. Leinie's Red currently on tap.

[beachtech]

i've seen some pretty inexpensive ones out there. just, i have an old refrigerator that the freezer doesn't work. so was thinking about hacking it up into a short small keg size area with a plat top to mount the tap too. maybe i'll get it going soon and post some picks

[weber]

Its pretty easy to do. You can get a good setup off ebay from the beverage factory for a real good price.

Why does the freezer not work?

That might not be the best one to use, I like my beer cooooooooooold!

[beachtech]

someone vandalized this thing and the top looks like someone droped a piano on it the freezer door doesn't close properly, and the sides are bowed out. so i was thinking cut the top off, and drop it down to keg hieght. and then install tap right in top. probably hinge the top and secure the fridge door permanatley. and maybe run refrigerant lines as close to keg as possible. maybe fill in the corners and tighten up interior with some great stuff. i dunno, still throwing around some ideas in my head

[t527ed]

if the freezer don't work where you gonna chill the mugs????????



rather than some hacked up box you could get the whole setup for under $500 from sams club.

[beachtech]

if the freezer don't work where you gonna chill the mugs????????



rather than some hacked up box you could get the whole setup for under $500 from sams club.

yeah i know. i have priced out a lot in the past few weeks. found some that are actually cheaper than that too. just thought that it would be a fun project and when me and my buddies are all sitting around drinking from my keg i can tell them the story of how i built my own kegerator besides the hacked up box is just begging me to do something with it besides carry it to the scrap yard.

last year i weld a bunch of cooking oven together for powder coating that was a fun project and really didn't cost much. now i can powder coat big stuff. powder coated a toll box for my friends truck a couple weeks ago

[t527ed]

if you're looking for a project than go for it, just hack a cabinet on the side for the mugs..


dad used to buy kits years ago to convert old refrigerators into keg boxes, he always had a 1/4 on tap till the dog and him got to fat from all the beer they were drinking...........

last one he had he sold to the skinny guy down the street.

[weber]

I have made a few keg coolers in my day.

I like my beer cold, so the last one I put in a chest freezer. Set up with a tstat that shuts the unit down at the proper temp. That was in ca where it was very hot in the summer months.

Im currently building a bar room at my house now, and this one will be setup with the tap on the wall, and the keg in the frigerator on the other side of the wall. You cant see the frig from the bar, and there is plenty of room for other items in the frig and freezer. I also have another bar frig under the counter for mugs and other drinks presently not on tap.

I bought the CO2 tank, regulator, tap, faucet, hoses, and connections, all of ebay for less the a 100 bucks.

[Green Mountain]

Back in the day. I decided that I would build a keg cooler also. Got an old refrigerator. "How old was it????" Well it still had the old latch type handle on it.

The thing worked great. I had it out on my patio. Friends would come over and we'd have a beer or two.

My wife was busy one day. My 3 year old son wanted her to do something. She and he had a little arguement. He went off all mad and crying. After awhile things got quick and she went to check on him. She could not find him any were. Now she is in a panic. "Richard, Richard were are you?" she is calling all through the house. Finally she heard a little voice,"I'm in here"
"where is in here?" "In the beer."

She quickly swung open the door and there he was wedged in the little space between the keg and the evaporator. Less then a foot of room. Fortunately, the gasket were kind of worn and with him pushing against the door gave him enough air to survive.
But I hate the thoughts of what could have happened.

The door came off and the thing went in the dump. It was can beer after that.

Just keep this story in mind if you are designing your own rig and it will be in a garage or basement etc.

[karsthuntr]

Go to Circuit City and get one for 449.00. Money well spent and you won't got through what Benncool did.

[illdoit]

i used to live in a house that had and old crab cooler in the back yard. at one time it had a drip system installed in it but it was long gone by the time i was there. it was 4 inches thick fully insulated. i did a changeout from an r12 to r22 condensor and evap. took home the old r-12 stuff and hooked it up in the box. ran a tap right out the side of the box. it worked great.

[haji7]

I have 2 kegerators one I made out of a refrigerator I bought the setup from The Beverage Factor.com for about 180.00 with a 5 lb tank. had to replace the tstat to get it colder, and then my nieghbor was throwing his tower sytle out so I grabed it. I only use that one for our parties now. I use the tower one all the time a 1/2 keg of coors light cost me 83.00 and last about a month it's the best tasting beer in my town I like the beer about 34 degrees I clean my lines every 2nd keg they can get really dirty. The local pubs never clean their lines and when we go there I buy bottle beer, I get the worst headaches from their draft beer. Hey good luck with your machine I love mine.

[Random Guy]

Before you cut the freezer off of the top of the fridge, I think that most residential refrigerators put the cold air from the evaporator in the freezer, and there is a damper between the fridge and the freezer to cool the fridge.

[numbawunfela]

A friend of mine brews his own beer (as do I) and instead of bottling it, he puts it into the syrup containers the soda machine guys use, allong with the last bit of sugar that, when fully fermented, gives it it's carbonation. then he stores the full and pressurized containers in a regular old fridge (fits 5 of these inside) and he drilled taps into the door. these are not the same size as kegs, they are taller and skinnier. so they stand up.

I like my beer close to room temperature, like they do in europe, so I have no interest in a beer cooler. hope it works for you though.

[Litchmo]

Here is my bear taper. Im hoping to build an outdoor kitchen this summer so i can brew my own beer and put it on tap, I need to change my tower to put in two taps. Can't wait Attachment 6865

Attachment 6866

[mattm]

That is one cool tiki bar right there !!

[Litchmo]

thanks I do enjoy it and so does everyone else.