OU Brewer
05-26-2007, 01:56 PM
Hey anyone that's interested...
So after brewing beer for 5 months and bottling everything, I decided it was time to start kegging. Kegging is much easier and cheaper in the long run (for anyone that doesn't already know). Well I can't do anything half-ass so I figured I would look into making a kegerator. After much searching around the internet and reading forums like this one, I decided to go with the chest freezer conversion. This seemed the most economical to me. Originally I wanted a mini-fridge that could hold two kegs with a tower tap because I live in a college house with 3 other guys, so space is limited. But after looking into it, that option was more expensive and harder to do (finding a mini-fridge that could hold two kegs and CO2). I found a local place around here that sells used working appliances, and picked up a 10.5 cu/ft chest freezer for $48. I measured it before I bought it and found that with enough internal height I could fit 5 cornelius kegs in it. Here's how I did it:
Construction:
I took all concepts from sites like Oregon Brew Crew etc. (I have links at the end to all the chest freezer conversion sites I found)
First I built a collar out of 2X8's because the 8" addition to internal height allows me to put kegs up on the shelf.
Then I built an outside collar of 1X12's to hold it tight to the freezer and also to make it look cleaner. I did not put a 1X12 on the back side of the collar, it would offset the lid too far.
I used a couple 1X6 metal plates with pre-drilled holes and screwed them into the back 2X8 then used the original holes for the lid to secure the collar to the freezer base.
I used some high-density weather stripping between the wood collar and top the freezer to keep a good seal.
I measured carefully and drilled 5, 1" holes with a hole-saw bit for the taps.
I placed the lid on the collar, and while holding it down tightly, I marked and drilled holes for the screws to hold the lid on.
After all that, I disassembled the whole thing and painted the wood because I didn't like the look of the plain wood. I used latex semi-gloss to seal the wood as best as possible (because I didn't use cedar boards that resist moisture). I painted it Ohio University colors (and my favorite colors) black, green and a white pinstripe.
Equipment:
I bought all my equipment from my local homebrew store, the Athens Do-It-Yourself Shop.
First I needed to control the temperature. I ordered a replacement temp controller for a beer box. This was designed exactly like the controller that was built in to the freezer, but it had a different temp range (32-45F). This only cost my $45 with shipping.
I bought a 10lb. CO2 tank with a refurbished dual-gauge regulator. My homebrew store had regulators with 2, 3 and 5 outlets. I bought the 5. The CO2 tank full was $90 and the regulator with 5 outlets was $45.
I bought gas lines with shut-off valves in-line so that I can carbonate a keg at a high psi, and not over carbonate other beer thats already in there.
I bought 5 refurbished Cornelius kegs for $15 each (what a steal huh?)
I bought 3 standard taps with lines. (I will buy the last 2 when I have some more $ over the summer).
In the Future:
I would like to work something out like the Oregon Brew Crew did, and be able to make lagers in it.
The owner of my local homebrew shop asked me to use my kegerator in his homebrew competition over the summer. Very exciting! (The comp. is during Ohio Brew Week here in Athens. This is a week-long festival celebrating Micro-Brews from around Ohio and beer in general. Anyone interested in checking it out, go to www.ohiobrewweek.com)
Cost Summary:
Used chest freezer: $48
CO2 Tank: $90
Regulator: $45
Kegs: $15x5= $75
Taps: $40x3= $120
Temp. Controller: $45
Lines & Connectors: about $50
Wood, Paint, etc.: about $70
Total Cost: about $550
Having a kegerator, and having 5 of my homebrewed beers on tap: Priceless.
Thank you to everyone with websites up showing their chest freezer conversions, you inspired me and showed me how to do all of this. Also thank you to anyone on this forum and others that has posted something about this, I've probably read just about every post related to chest freezers conversions and kegerators in general.
Here are links to the sites I used as references:
http://www.oregonbrewcrew.com/freezer/freezer.html
http://kegerator.johnmasterson.com/
http://www.anthonyro.com/bar/
http://www.west-point.org/users/usma1986/42894/kegerator.htm
http://kpscellar.atlantabeer.com/bar/kegerator.html
So after brewing beer for 5 months and bottling everything, I decided it was time to start kegging. Kegging is much easier and cheaper in the long run (for anyone that doesn't already know). Well I can't do anything half-ass so I figured I would look into making a kegerator. After much searching around the internet and reading forums like this one, I decided to go with the chest freezer conversion. This seemed the most economical to me. Originally I wanted a mini-fridge that could hold two kegs with a tower tap because I live in a college house with 3 other guys, so space is limited. But after looking into it, that option was more expensive and harder to do (finding a mini-fridge that could hold two kegs and CO2). I found a local place around here that sells used working appliances, and picked up a 10.5 cu/ft chest freezer for $48. I measured it before I bought it and found that with enough internal height I could fit 5 cornelius kegs in it. Here's how I did it:
Construction:
I took all concepts from sites like Oregon Brew Crew etc. (I have links at the end to all the chest freezer conversion sites I found)
First I built a collar out of 2X8's because the 8" addition to internal height allows me to put kegs up on the shelf.
Then I built an outside collar of 1X12's to hold it tight to the freezer and also to make it look cleaner. I did not put a 1X12 on the back side of the collar, it would offset the lid too far.
I used a couple 1X6 metal plates with pre-drilled holes and screwed them into the back 2X8 then used the original holes for the lid to secure the collar to the freezer base.
I used some high-density weather stripping between the wood collar and top the freezer to keep a good seal.
I measured carefully and drilled 5, 1" holes with a hole-saw bit for the taps.
I placed the lid on the collar, and while holding it down tightly, I marked and drilled holes for the screws to hold the lid on.
After all that, I disassembled the whole thing and painted the wood because I didn't like the look of the plain wood. I used latex semi-gloss to seal the wood as best as possible (because I didn't use cedar boards that resist moisture). I painted it Ohio University colors (and my favorite colors) black, green and a white pinstripe.
Equipment:
I bought all my equipment from my local homebrew store, the Athens Do-It-Yourself Shop.
First I needed to control the temperature. I ordered a replacement temp controller for a beer box. This was designed exactly like the controller that was built in to the freezer, but it had a different temp range (32-45F). This only cost my $45 with shipping.
I bought a 10lb. CO2 tank with a refurbished dual-gauge regulator. My homebrew store had regulators with 2, 3 and 5 outlets. I bought the 5. The CO2 tank full was $90 and the regulator with 5 outlets was $45.
I bought gas lines with shut-off valves in-line so that I can carbonate a keg at a high psi, and not over carbonate other beer thats already in there.
I bought 5 refurbished Cornelius kegs for $15 each (what a steal huh?)
I bought 3 standard taps with lines. (I will buy the last 2 when I have some more $ over the summer).
In the Future:
I would like to work something out like the Oregon Brew Crew did, and be able to make lagers in it.
The owner of my local homebrew shop asked me to use my kegerator in his homebrew competition over the summer. Very exciting! (The comp. is during Ohio Brew Week here in Athens. This is a week-long festival celebrating Micro-Brews from around Ohio and beer in general. Anyone interested in checking it out, go to www.ohiobrewweek.com)
Cost Summary:
Used chest freezer: $48
CO2 Tank: $90
Regulator: $45
Kegs: $15x5= $75
Taps: $40x3= $120
Temp. Controller: $45
Lines & Connectors: about $50
Wood, Paint, etc.: about $70
Total Cost: about $550
Having a kegerator, and having 5 of my homebrewed beers on tap: Priceless.
Thank you to everyone with websites up showing their chest freezer conversions, you inspired me and showed me how to do all of this. Also thank you to anyone on this forum and others that has posted something about this, I've probably read just about every post related to chest freezers conversions and kegerators in general.
Here are links to the sites I used as references:
http://www.oregonbrewcrew.com/freezer/freezer.html
http://kegerator.johnmasterson.com/
http://www.anthonyro.com/bar/
http://www.west-point.org/users/usma1986/42894/kegerator.htm
http://kpscellar.atlantabeer.com/bar/kegerator.html