Baz's Kegerator Build

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

phettebs

Landlord.
Joined
Mar 9, 2010
Messages
1,457
Reaction score
191
Location
Tennessee, US
Now that I am a proud owner of my very own UK beer engine, I need to get it into production! My plan has been to use my existing kegerator which is just a chest freezer with a temp controller. I currently use corny kegs and I lift the lid of the freezer and use picnic taps to fill my glass. Not very elegant but it works.

With the engine, I will need a place to mount it and then a place to run the line. I will also have 2 cornies on tap as well. Rather than drill through the sides of the freezer and run the risk of hitting a cooling line, I will be building a wood "collar" which will be mounted to the top of the freezer. I'll remove the lid and the lid will then be mounted to the collar. With the collar in place, I have a safe area through which to do any drilling and mounting of hardware.

But what good is a story without some pics of the process? I don't expect this to be the epic Shed Building thread but hopefully someone finds it interesting or at least takes the **** out of my lack of carpentry skills!

Right, let's start with the freezer. My original plan (before the beer engine) was to have four cornies on tap. So this freezer is big enough for that. Now it will be two cornies and a polypin.
IMG_20131012_081247_508_zps14ca56f6.jpg


Here is the beer engine after I took it out of the shipping box. I have since cleaned it up and reassembled it. It is simply begging for a pint of beer to be run through it!
IMG_20131007_192033_871_zps360117af.jpg


For the collar, I am using 2x6 pine as my base. It will match the perimeter of the top of the freezer, under the lid.
I will then attach 1x8 pine to the base so that I have 2" extending below the base. This will "lock" the base onto the freezer. I will not actually attach the collar to the freezer in any way other than the weight of it and the 1x8 holding it in place. Here is the base cut out but not screwed together:
IMG_20131012_081233_271_zpsefcda340.jpg


Now that the base of the collar is connected, I've started gluing the 1x8 to the face of the base. I went with glue because the it was a face to face join and I didn't want a bunch of screws or nails all the way around.
IMG_20131012_193722_376_zps1b107b4b.jpg


Before the next step, I removed the lid from the freezer and put the collar in place to test the fit. Of course, it did not fit at all. I made a poor assumption whilst measuring the top of the freezer. I assumed the the thing was square! It turns out, the sheet metal under the plastic top of the freezer, actually bulged out as much as 1/4" in some spots on both sides of the freezer. I used a router to cut some of the material away on one side of the collar and then used a hammer to bash the metal back flush with the plastic top of the freezer. My projects never go smoothly. :evil:

Now that the collar is all together, I can start to drill holes for the hardware. Here I've drilled two 7/8" holes for the beer shanks. I will put two Perlick SS faucets on the outside and inside will run to the cornies. I didn't take pictures but there is also a 5/8" hole for the beer engine's line, a 1/4" hole for the temp controller probe, and an oversized 1/2" hole for the CO2 line.
IMG_20131013_101716_908_zps8c2bd1a5.jpg


With the holes drilled and the corners caulked, I stained and then varnished the collar. Keep in mind, this is not a demonstration of proper woodworking skills. I'm not all that handy and this is meant to be functional. Eventually, I will finish my basement and build a bar. The kegerator will be closed away in the "beer room" with the taps protruding from the wall behind the bar. Nobody will see it!
IMG_20131013_145444_375_zps7e8632f6.jpg


Well, that's it for now. The next step is to attach all the hardware like beer shanks etc. I will take pictures of each step and post them to this thread.

Baz
 
Looking good so far Baz :clap:

I look forward to seeing the finished project :thumb:
 
Nice one Barry, keep the pics going, we promise not to be too critical.... :D
 
Day 2

I got the major outside work done tonight. I had hoped to attach the gas lines but I need another piece of gas tubing to go from the tank through the collar. I thought I some longer stuff but didn't. I'll get more tomorrow. It's pretty close now!

Here is the collar just sitting in place
IMG_20131014_171448_371_zpsfee3bba0.jpg


Crappy pic but the shanks are attached
IMG_20131014_171606_276_zps42d88681.jpg


Shanks from the top down
IMG_20131014_171629_362_zps955f9fa2.jpg


Temp controller in place
IMG_20131014_174503_414_zps8d12fff5.jpg


Beer engine "shelf" in place along with the Perlick faucets.
IMG_20131014_190443_421_zps90cbec6e.jpg


The shelf again. Just a 2x6 12" piece of pine attached with 3 angle brackets.
IMG_20131014_190451_316_zps4e3aaa8f.jpg


Shelf brackets
IMG_20131014_205045_582_zps888ce435.jpg


Starting to look more like a kegerator now!
IMG_20131014_191114_898_zps4b3033a8.jpg


I put the lid on just resting there. I still have work to do inside the kegerator yet. I just wanted to see what it would look like.
IMG_20131014_191152_780_zpsc344389a.jpg


Authentic Bass pump clip from the UK (ta Jim)
IMG_20131014_204736_838_zps5ca2901c.jpg
 
Great job there Barry :thumb: , what temp will you be serving your beer at?

I think beer engines have an allergy to temps below 53F (12C in proper temp) :D

Seriously though nice work :hat:
 
The pump clip came from the Moulders Arms in Riddings Derbys.
It used to be a Bass house, but in the big government shake up many years ago it became a Kimberley house, it is now a Free house.
I used to go there purely for the Bass and was bitterly disappointed when I drank the last pint of Bass it ever sold.
The then landlord gave me the clip as memento.
I have written the date and pub name on the back of the clip!
 
Thanks for the trivia Jim!

BB, I will keep it set at around 53-54F. That means the two beers on the faucets will also be served at that temp. Luckily I don't get to many people drinking my beer who will complain about it being "warm." :D
 
Typical !

Giving away bits of our heritage to the Americans again !




:grin:
 
Day 3
Well, I had hoped that this would be the last day but when I tested one of the faucets, it leaked. It turns out genius here put the washers in wrong. :whistle: So another trip to the LHBS today for washers.

This is the bit that's wrong. It leaked at the tailpiece.
IMG_20131015_195323_998_zps44923b44.jpg


I've the the CO2 distributor hooked up now
IMG_20131015_195330_423_zpsf2e29fb7.jpg


All put back together now, aside from the washer fix tonight
IMG_20131015_202405_030_zps820de20f.jpg


The temp controller is hooked up and running. It should be at 53F +/- 3 degrees F.

The next set of pictures will be of me pulling a pint through the engine. But that won't be for another week or so until the beer is done conditioning in the pin.

Almost there!
 
I've done Keezer conversions in the past, and the one thing I've never really resolved is lifting the kegs in and out over the taps . . . especially with a Beer Engine mounted :hmm: :hmm: . It's not too much of an issue if you drop a corny 12" or so, but you don't want to try that with a polypin :shock:
 
Yes, that is definitely a concern Tony. Fortunately, I'm 6'5" and have long arms so that does help. But yeah, not everyone has the reach of an ape like me. :-)

The polypin will sit on an upturned milk crate. So I will lift it in with the handles on that and gently set it down. At least that's the plan...
 

Latest posts

Back
Top