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In May of 2004, I decided that I wanted to step up my brewing to the larger (and more advanced) kits, so I invested in a kit from Beer, Beer and More Beer. It was a brewing and kegging kit. So, this brought up something else I was going to need to buy: A Kegerator. (Beer Refrigerator)
Kegerators run anywhere from $450 to $2000+. Many of them are designed for 1 full-size keg (15 Gal.), with 1 faucet (or tap). I was interested in offering multiple drinks on tap, so this wouldn't work for me. After much research, I decided to build my own, out of a chest freezer.
Here's a picture of my kegerator.
Here's how I built it:
- Bought a chest freezer from Costco. I sized it to fit 4 5-gal. "corny" kegs, and 1 2.5-gal keg.
- Built a collar for the faucets and CO2 lines to run through. This was made out of redwood, glossy redwood stain, varathane clearcoat, and some nuts/bolts/brackets/weatherstripping.
- Bought 3 more 5-gal. kegs (1 came with my kegging kit) and 1 2.5-gal. keg.
- Bought a 4-way CO2 regulator (this was one of the most-expensive parts: more than the freezer, but well worth it).
- Bought 3 faucets for dispensing (2 more to go). The holes are already drilled for the other 2 faucets, and sealed off to keep the cold in.
- Built a rolling cart, for portability. Since the regulators are mounted in the back, I needed an easy way to get to them. Also, I can move the kegerator to the party (wherever the party is), instead of having to run the party in my garage.
Here is a picture of the back of the kegerator. As you can see, the collar is just sandwiched between the top of the chest freezer and the lid. I used the pre-drilled holes in the chest freezer to mount the hinges, but I just shifted them up one set (bottom hinge holes match up with old top holes in freezer). Then, I used the top set of holes in the hinges to screw into the collar.
The regulators are mounted to the back of the collar. The CO2 lines are running through the collar to the inside. The temperature controller is hanging from one of the hinges, with the probe running over the collar to the inside.
This is a closeup of the faucets and drip tray. The drip tray is sandwiched between the outside board of the collar (the 1x6) and the inside board of the collar (the 2x4). It's also sandwiched between the outside board of the collar and the freezer. The holes are drilled all the way through the collar and the drip tray (drilling through the stainless steel was a pain...).
I have some hose hooked up to the bottom of the drain, but it doesn't currently go anywhere. Long-term goal is to have this go into a bucket or something (maybe I'll build a little reservoir on the side).
Ok, here is the inside of the rear-left corner of the collar. You can see the rear 2x4 and the side 2x4 attached with l-brackets. The left 1x6 is attached with bolts from the outside, and nuts/lockwashers on the inside. If you look closely, you can see some of the insulating tape that is sandwiched between the collar and the top of the freezer (it's a greyish color).
This last picture is a closeup of the side of the drip tray. I had to cut a notch in the front of the collar to accommodate the lip on the side of the drip tray. Without this, the collar couldn't be flush with the tray and freezer.
More details to come...