So I'm beginning to do research on making a kegerator here in the near future and I have a few questions...

1. What is a good reliable site to go to to buy conversion kits for a deep freezer conversion?
2. My plan is to have enough room for 2 kegs, one store bought keg and another keg of homebrew. Am I going to need a different type of kit for a homebrew keg?
3. Quality of the conversion kit is important but I don't want to pay out of my ass for a kit that is going to do the same job others will so what is a good price range to look at?

if you have a kegerator or have made one and there are other issues that you think I need to look into then please let me know.

9/4/2007 4:20:14 PM

1. i bought my cornelius kegs, regulator, co2 tank and hoses from:
http://stores.ebay.com/Tom-Hargrave-Sales. i bought my draft tower with 2 faucettes from www.beveragefactory.com. you will also need a temperature control device for the freezer. thisis the one i have: http://www.breworganic.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=459. i dont remreber where i bought it. you can all so buy all this stuff localy at american brewmaster. it may cost a little more, but they have everything you need plus they will co2 tanks on site.

2. my 5 cubic foot chest freezer will 2 corny kegs and 5lb co2 tank perfectly. depending on the size of your store bought keg (15.5 gal, 7.75 gal, 5.25 gal), you will need something bigger to hold both. you will need to "t" off the co2 to run it to 2 different kegs. the homebrew (cornelius kegs) will need ball lock liquid and gas connectors. for the store bought (sankey kegs) you will need either american or european sankey coupler depending on the kinf of beer. if you want to to keep to kegs at two different psi then you need 2 co2 takns and 2 regulators.

3. as far as quality on dont think there is much difference. most of the stuff sold buy different places is the same. i wouldnt buy need conry kegs, good used ones are much cheaper. you can saqve money buy getting a single gauge vs a dual gauge regulator. i would get the dual. you can spend more and get a digital thermostat vs an analog one. analog has worked fine for me.

are you using a chest freezer? if you want to mount a tower on the top you will have to drill through the top and mount it with sheet metal screws. could build a sill out of wood but for only 2 kegs its not worth it to me. http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?t=44422&highlight=&sid=68f96a0016a63f88d7f69d2a112bcd3c


you can come look at mine or i can try to post some pics if you would like.

let me know if you have any more questions.

9/4/2007 8:21:36 PM

Kegerators are WAY more fun to build than they are to own. Once you have built it you sit back and gawk at it... and then buy kegs for it, and then realize that your drinking has gone up a rediculous amount and any thoughts of "saving money by buying kegs" quickly go out the window when your buying a keg every 3 weeks... then you realize that your GPA will plummet directly proportional to your bank account if you don't just let the thing sit empty for the remainder of the semester. And if your thinking "I'll throw parties and my friends will pitch in on it" this doesn't work at all, your friends will drink more than they pay for every single time and you'll have like $20 donations on a $80+ keg.

don't do it.

9/4/2007 8:38:31 PM

Well I've thought more along the line of making it for 2 five gallon kegs for just homebrew. Store bought have gotten a little too expensive for my taste (Paid $40 a 1/2 barrel in Wisconsin). It'll pay for itself when I've made a few batches and I won't be paying anywhere close to the rediculous keg prices around here. I'm not doing this to throw parties, I'm doing it to start a hobby. And don't worry about my grades, I graduated so I think I'll be okay . Strata I might want to come check out what you have just to get a good idea of what I'm gonna be shooting for here.

9/4/2007 10:57:53 PM

I have two chest freezers that I use for fermentation control, and storing kegs.

I have a 7.7 cu ft that fits 3 five gallon kegs of homebrew + a 5 lb CO2 tank.

I also have an 8.8 cu ft freezer that can hold two fermentation buckets/carboys, and a shorter but wider 8 gallon bucket on the little "ledge" inside. This freezer fits 4 five gallon kegs, and possibly a bucket, I haven't tried.

I have 2 Ranco digital controllers on both freezers. The analog ones work fine, but I chose the digital because I like exact temperature control for my fermentations. You can dial it into a 1 degree variation, while the analog one (Johnson Controls) has a 4 or 5 degree variation.

I use squeeze faucets on all of my kegs because the tap towers are way too much for me at the moment.

I work over at American Brewmaster, and we sell a kegging kit for $210, which includes everything you need to get started kegging. Stop on buy, and we'll hook you up based on what you need and are going for with your kegerator. Like Strata mentioned, we also fill CO2 tanks on site. With a lot of kegging kits, you usually get a new aluminum tank with it, so you want to be careful to where you take it to get filled. A lot of places will swap out takes, and give you an old dirty tank and keep your new one. So whatever you do, keep your new tank, wherever you buy it.

I do disagree with Strata on buying a dual gauge vs a single gauge regualator. With the dual gauge, you have one reading the pressure coming in the regulator (tank pressure), and one reading the pressure coming out of the regulator. Since CO2 is a liquid, the first gauge only reads the pressure that is above the liquid, so that's not telling you how much CO2 you have left, only that you have some. I always fine that it reads just above the red area, until right before it's about to go empty, then it drops all of the way. Most regulators you'll find with a kit are dual gauge so no big deal though.

I think that's about it, if you have any more questions, post away!

[Edited on September 5, 2007 at 12:15 AM. Reason : .]

9/5/2007 12:14:39 AM

I tried to look online for the kit you are talking about but can't find it. What exactly does it include for 210?

9/5/2007 12:08:44 PM

5 gallon used keg
5 lb CO2 tank (new and FILLED)
beverage tubing w/squeeze faucet
gas and liquid quick connects
dual gauge regulator with gauge protector
gas tubing
replacement o-ring kit for keg
keg lube

9/5/2007 2:24:06 PM

Quote :

"Kegerators are WAY more fun to build than they are to own. Once you have built it you sit back and gawk at it... and then buy kegs for it, and then realize that your drinking has gone up a rediculous amount and any thoughts of "saving money by buying kegs" quickly go out the window when your buying a keg every 3 weeks... then you realize that your GPA will plummet directly proportional to your bank account if you don't just let the thing sit empty for the remainder of the semester. And if your thinking "I'll throw parties and my friends will pitch in on it" this doesn't work at all, your friends will drink more than they pay for every single time and you'll have like $20 donations on a $80+ keg."

I agree with everything posted except the advice not to do it. Its worth doing, its great for entertaining, when you get tired of it you can sell it to a freshmen who's parents supply them with money for what you have in it if not more.

9/5/2007 2:38:54 PM