B.Y.O.K.B. (Build Your Own Kegerator for BEER)……..

So the absence of recent posts has not been without reason and certainly not for lack of continual and dedicated work on OKB’s part. We’ve somewhat purposefully held off posting for a while…..as we finished our new dual-tap kegerator system. Actually beer has been flowing from the taps for a few months now – we just wanted to wait until we finished our custom stainless bar top. Our first kegged summer homebrews (a cherry ale and an orange Hefeweizen – both variations from Extreme Brewing) have been delicious and the whole kegging process has been a great upgrade from all the bottling we were doing previously. In designing and building our system, we didn’t come across too many great step-by-step tutorials – not to mention how difficult it was trying to get exact cornelius keg dimensions, so….we put together some basic documentation of our process, if you want to see what’s involved…. read on…..

The whole process is actually quite simple and straightforward, though it may seem overwhelming at first. The first thing we did was to find an acceptably sized fridge or freezer for conversion. We went with a top loading freezer as opposed to a mini-fridge (since you’d have to remove a lot of interior molded plastic if you want to go with the refrigerator – especially if you want a 2-keg system). We brew 2 x 5-gallon batches each time we brew, so we also knew we wanted a 2 keg, dual tap setup. After a reconnaissance trip to Lowe’s to get interior dimensions of freezers, we then did a quick 3D model to make sure everything would fit.

After that, we ended up going with the Holiday®  5.0 Cu. Ft. Chest Freezer – it was compact enough to fit in an apartment while it had enough room inside for everything we needed. You could also look at Craigslist for a used freezer, but the price of this freezer was hard to beat brand new.

As for the kegging system itself, we used a Double Dual Cornelius Keg System from Midwest Supplies. It has a dual pressure regulator so you can maintain different pressures for each keg allowing for proper carbonation levels depending on your beer styles. A great chart for pressure/temperature/style relationships can be found HERE. More on force carbonating later. So we saved some money by getting the used cornelius kegs, but with a little scrubbing they cleaned right up. As you can see…..

…the kegs measure 8.625″ in diameter by 24.9375″ tall. This meant we had more than enough room for the kegs and the 5lb CO2 tank…….

Plenty of room for 2 kegs….

For distributing the beer, we chose 2 Chrome Axis Towers as opposed to a single dual tower (simply personal preference and the overall look we wanted). Again from Midwest Supply. Once we decided where we wanted them to be (take into consideration the kegs beneath and where you want your beer to pour) we simply measured, scribed, center-punched, pre-drilled, then finally hole-sawed (1″) to fit the threaded base through the top of the freezer.

Measuring/marking ctr. lines

Center-punch before drilling

Drill pilot holes

Hole-saw to the correct diameter

Finish the holes from the back-side

Voided warranty on the freezer!

Installed tap towers

Positioned perfectly

Good looking setup, but not done yet…

This almost completes the system, and the top could be fine as-is (though we opted to do a custom bar-top/integral drip tray – see further down) but you still need to control the temperature inside since it’s meant to be a freezer only and that would be (a) too cold for the beer and (b) not offer specific enough control over the temperature. So we now install a digital controller (similar to this ONE) which simply plugs into the wall, the freezer plugs into it, and a remote sensor measures the inside temperature, allowing the controller to cycle the freezer on/off as needed to maintain a specific temperature range. We mounted it on the rear, as neatly as possible – though mounting it on the side may be more desirable for easy access to read/control – again personal preference.

Measuring and center-punching for mounting the Temp. Controller

Sensor and extra wiring on the inside (you may want to put the end of the sensor in a jar/bottle of water for a more accurate temperature reading) Also, we sealed the hole off with a dab of silicone sealant.

Keeping the wiring neat & tidy

When we decided to build a kegerator/kegging system for our homebrew, we knew we’d want to trick it out a bit. Since we are all currently in apartments in the city, we also knew we’d have to limit the customization to the kegerator itself (as opposed to doing any built-ins), so we designed the system to have a custom laser-cut stainless steel top with an integral drip tray below the bar surface. (Special thanks to our good friends John and Jake Sasanecki at Tallmadge Spinning & Metal Co. in Akron, OH for the laser and brake-work ). As you can tell by the photos below, the installation for it is fairly straight-forward:

1×2 Poplar furring strips get cut to fit, then fastened to the top of the freezer with drywall screws and construction adhesive.

The spacing will allow the drip tray to be slid out for cleaning.

 

Collars are routed in for a close fir around the tap towers

Small square-drive fasteners are counter-sunk to finish the top off

The delicious fruits of our labours……

Quite literally – an Orange Hefeweizen…

….and a Cherry Ale!

O.K.B. any time in your haus!

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