Refurbishing my Kegerator!

[Jon]

So I've always had the el-cheapo chrome taps on my kegerator, and my regulator is really dinged up.

I cleaned out the kegerator this weekend (it was pretty damn filthy...I hadn't cleaned it in a WHILE), and placed an order with Keg Connection!

Getting two of their fancy stainless forward sealing/creamer faucets, stainless shanks and hardware, silver barrier tubing, a dual-body regulator (so one keg can be at carbing pressure and one at serving!).

The only thing I didn't get was a manifold...but I'll get one of those later on down the line. My kegerator can hold 5 kegs, and it would be nice to be able to have 5 hooked up and on gas (though it's incredibly rare that I'll have 5 full), so I just have to swap disconnects to get different beers on tap.

Pretty excited for the upgrade...and it was a fair chunk of money, but it'll totally save me money in the long run, right? I mean, that's part of why I got into brewing in the first place!

[Whamolagan]

Sweet. I love being human, we can always justify anything we want when it suits us. That is how I ended up with 2 brewing machines, and debt. That must be a huge kegerator to hold 5 kegs. I would love to see it when it is done.

[Gymrat]

I have the perlics with the creamer. I never use it but its there if I ever wanted to.

[RayF]

Sounds like fun!

[Jon]

Sweet. I love being human, we can always justify anything we want when it suits us. That is how I ended up with 2 brewing machines, and debt. That must be a huge kegerator to hold 5 kegs. I would love to see it when it is done.

It's a fugly old fridge, but I'll definitely post some pics. It juuust barely holds 5 ball-lock kegs in an X pattern (which means when one of the kegs in the back kicks, it sucks to swap it out), with room for the hoses and a little room under the shelf in front of the compressor for miscellaneous other things (harvested yeast, a few bottles/cans, etc). I suppose I *could* eventually go up to 5 taps, (right now I have it planned for an eventual upgrade to 3, but have had two for most of its life)...but honestly, 3 is probably plenty. I'd have to start brewing every week again in order to keep the pipeline going enough to have 5 kegs solidly in the rotation.

Keg Connection was out of some parts, and they're doing inventory today, so I think I'm going to call tomorrow and switch up my order a little bit...drop the ability to have two different pressures and get the 5-way manifold. And switch to whatever SS taps and tubing they have in stock (since they were out of both the silver barrier tubing and the taps I chose!).

[bpgreen]

It's a fugly old fridge, but I'll definitely post some pics.

How old is old? My first kegerator was a commercial one that came prebuilt and made for Sanke kegs. I just converted it to corneys. I later got a full size fridge that somebody converted to a kegerator. I put it up for sale, but ended up taking $50 in trade from the electric company in order to take it out of commission. It doesn't take many years for a free old refrigerator to cost more than a new refrigerator that you buy.

Keg Connection was out of some parts, and they're doing inventory today, so I think I'm going to call tomorrow and switch up my order a little bit...drop the ability to have two different pressures and get the 5-way manifold. And switch to whatever SS taps and tubing they have in stock (since they were out of both the silver barrier tubing and the taps I chose!).

Get perlicks. Seriously. I'm a cheapskate, but I've never regretted getting my perlicks.

[Whamolagan]

Yep perlicks are the stuff

[Jon]

It's a fugly old fridge, but I'll definitely post some pics.

How old is old? My first kegerator was a commercial one that came prebuilt and made for Sanke kegs. I just converted it to corneys. I later got a full size fridge that somebody converted to a kegerator. I put it up for sale, but ended up taking $50 in trade from the electric company in order to take it out of commission. It doesn't take many years for a free old refrigerator to cost more than a new refrigerator that you buy.

Keg Connection was out of some parts, and they're doing inventory today, so I think I'm going to call tomorrow and switch up my order a little bit...drop the ability to have two different pressures and get the 5-way manifold. And switch to whatever SS taps and tubing they have in stock (since they were out of both the silver barrier tubing and the taps I chose!).

Get perlicks. Seriously. I'm a cheapskate, but I've never regretted getting my perlicks.

It's a hotpoint fridge--not sure exactly how old it is, but it fits 5 cornies perfectly with the door innards removed. I'm considering adding some more insulation inside the door, but I don't want to get rid of this fridge yet...though maybe I'll look into the price difference of switching to a newer, more efficient one in the future.

I didn't go with Perlicks, but with the SS forward sealing German-made faucets KegConnection reccomends. Should still be great!

I also called today and updated my order to have a 5-way manifold and just a single body regulator instead of dual body. Price came out slightly lower, so I let tgem add a t-shirt to the order instead of refunding my card $7.

Gonna have to see if I can't manage to get the pipeline going enough to get 5 kegs filled and in the kegerator...and I'll eventually get a 3rd tap in the door. Will be nice to have some backup kegs for when the ones on tap kick.

[Whamolagan]

Get that grainfather pumping brotha

[Jon]

Get that grainfather pumping brotha

Working on it!

[Kealia]

Congrats Jon. It's always fun to treat yourself to some upgrades when you can.

[Jon]

Woo-hoo! Parts arrived today!

Kegerator is assembled, plugged in and has 3 kegs chilling!

A stupid easy cider, a Triple Chocolate Tripel (that one's been aging for a while, I have NO idea what to expect from it, except it has a LOT of cocoa powder and nibs in it, sooo...it might be better on ice cream than in a glass...but we'll see) and Thorn's Myrrh Mead.

Tomorrow or Sunday I'll keg my brown ale and brew up a cream ale (with Masa Harina as the adjunct) to drop on the S-04 cake and ferment in the mid 50s!
And now, PICS!

[ScrewyBrewer]

@Jon nice build it must feel great having your own dual tap setup too. Your kegerator looks like it will hold more kegs than mine and yours has dual Perlicks mounted in the front, but we are both using plywood to hold the kegs upright. My second tap was added just last year, 4 years after my first single tap was installed. Thank you for sharing your kegerator build and enjoy pouring your own drafts of fresh cold beer.

sec-co2sml.jpg (70.2 KiB) Viewed 820 times

Maybe something to consider down the road, Foxx Equipment had a single product secondary Co2 regulator for less than $60. Three days later, or the day before Memorial Day, it was mounted inside my kegerator. A secondary gauge enables me to force carbonate using the primary gauge and at the same time serve pours using the secondary gauge. Kegerators are the best!

[Jon]

@Jon nice build it must feel great having your own dual tap setup too. Your kegerator looks like it will hold more kegs than mine and yours has dual Perlicks mounted in the front, but we are both using plywood to hold the kegs upright. My second tap was added just last year, 4 years after my first single tap was installed. Thank you for sharing your kegerator build and enjoy pouring your own drafts of fresh cold beer.

Maybe something to consider down the road, Foxx Equipment had a single product secondary Co2 regulator for less than $60. Three days later, or the day before Memorial Day, it was mounted inside my kegerator. A secondary gauge enables me to force carbonate using the primary gauge and at the same time serve pours using the secondary gauge. Kegerators are the best!

Screwy, thanks! Yes, mine will hold 5 kegs. I've had it since...2009, I think. I bought it with my tax refund, and it started life as a 1 tap kegerator...that I soon upgraded to a 2 tap kegerator, and with this move, I went all stainless...I've had a chrome tap/shank get the chrome stripped off and start imparting a metallic taste to beers--aside from the lead I was probably drinking, I really didn't like my beers tasting like metal!

So with my recent move to Houston, I decided it was time for to refurbish the kegerator and upgrade to SS forward sealing taps!

At some point in the future, I'll upgrade to a 3rd tap...just not sure if I want to go nitro (probably not...it's a PITA to be honest), or just go with a 3rd SS tap. I'll probably just go with a 3rd SS tap to match the other two.

Someday, when I'm not living in an apartment, maybe I'll think about sanding and painting this beast, but not just yet. I still appreciate it's crappy, beat-up appearance.

I also have a spare, beat-up old regulator and 2nd CO2 tank--so I can always rapid carb, purge kegs, etc with that, and keep this regulator dedicated to serving.

[Whamolagan]

Very nice jon