My keezer is kaput. It was a 5.5 ish cu ft magic chef. I want to get something better to make a new one. I am thinking around 7 cu ft. I assume I would go from 2 kegs to at least three. Does anyone have recommendations for brands and models? Do different brands around 7 cu ft have differences in number of corny kegs they can fit?
I have a Frigidaire model# FFFC25M4TW I can’t find where it states the size but a google search with the model number should help. It is big though, I can fit 12 corny kegs in with room to spare for harvested yeast. Also has a elevated shelf that makes room for non-beer related goods. It has worked as expected and is on year 5.
Thanks HopDen. That’s a 24 cu ft. Unfortunately I don’t have enough time for that amount of brewing, I am in the market for something that holds 3, ideally 4 or 5 kegs.
This thread at Homebrewtalk might help. The thread is still active but I don’t know how old the data in the table up front is.
I saw some advice a long time ago to take cardboard cutouts that are the diameter of a keg. Put those in the bottom of a chest freezer on display. Use one cutout for each keg you want to put in a freezer.
You may need a measuring tape if you plan to put anything on the hump in the freezer (CO2 bottle, 2.5 gallon kegs, etc).
Thanks Tommy, I will give that link a look. I was hopin* to buy online so I probably won’t use the cardboard cutout trick.
I bought mine online from keg king everything was great.
I don’t know the brand and I can’t be arsed to get up and go look at the moment until I finish this first cup of coffee but I know that its in the 7cu ft range and it fits 4 ball lock kegs easy. If I didn’t have the CO2 tank on the hump I could fit at least one more pin lock or small 3 gallon keg on it.
A couple months ago I finished up a 4-keg keezer project using an Arctic King 7 cu. ft freezer I picked up from Amazon for around $150. It’s been a super nice upgrade from my two barrel kegerator. Legend has it that these are Midea products in disguise but who knows. I have a 5 cu. ft. model that I purchased for food storage back in 2020 and it’s been reliable.
My Fridgidaire died after 12+ years. A guy in the club is in HVAC, and says Freezers don’t last as Keezers. He then rattled off all the people in the club that have had keezers die.
The one i had would hold 8 kegs. Looking at something that would just be used for lagering at 30⁰F. I have refrigerators that are used for serving.
Interesting. Did he give any technical reasons for the short life span?
Yeah, I’d be interested to know the cause, too. It seems like, if anything, running as a keezer should put fewer duty cycles on the compressor to hold the higher set-point. But I’m not an HVAC engineer or technician — There could be some second-order effect that’s not intuitively apparent.
Freezers are designed to stay cold. I was told there is paraffin in the cooling circuit (anti corrosion?) that can come loose if warm and gum up the works.
I’m not an HVAC guy either.
Edit - that’s why the next one will stay cold for Lagering only.
I have a 14.8 foot Frigidaire that serves as my keezer that I have been quite happy with. I brew 10 gallon batches, and have found this this freezer holds 8 kegs. With 4 taps, it serves me well.
I bought a chest freezer in the early 1990s that lasted for 20 years before the compressor died.
I have the temperature controller set for 35 to 39 degrees. It doesn’t cycle on very often. My old kegerator cycled on a lot more often.
I have something very similar and I’ve had it for about 5 years. I also brew 10 gallon batches, so I like the size (8 kegs, plus to 2.5 gal kegs on the hump, 6 taps). Unfortunately, I’m getting a little nervous as it seems to drift up and down more than it used to. Once you consider the cost to build, I’m not sure you are much better off than some of the newer kegerators being sold by the likes of MoreBeer.
That could be. My keezer total comes to $630 (first time I ever added it all up haha). The Komos with Quad taps and tower is a little over $900. I’m still “ahead” but if you consider the time put into building, it’s probably a wash:
- freezer $150
- Intertap (stainless) faucets and handles $170
- shanks $90
- Duotight hoses/connectors $170
- electronics (Inkbird, Microcontroller, LEDs) ~$50
The Komos kegerators are beautiful. I can see that price being attractive for a lot of people. Just order it, plug it in and enjoy. I have a lineage of German tinkering in my DNA however and the attraction of a good DIY project is inescapable. So, for me, the keezer build is more part of the hobby and a less about the utility.
I did some searching around trying to find out if Frigidaire, or GE, or anyone else had some basic warnings about running a freezer “warmer” than a freezer. I didn’t find a whole lot but the second search did turn up a forum discussion about someone’s keezer getting a leak and the unfortunate demise of several individuals named Keezer. On the contrary, Morebeer, and even the AHA website have articles on building a keezer from a freezer so maybe the failure rate of keezers is low enough that not a lot of people are complaining about it. I can’t find a lot of info recommending against it.
Maybe it all depends on your local climate. My kegerator (going on 10+ years now) ices up something awful in the summer months and it’s kept in a air conditioned basement. If it spent it’s life in the garage or breezeway all year 'round maybe it would have died a long time ago. Keeping my fingers crossed on the keezer. I’ll post back if/when it dies.
I did a bunch of research last year and this one had the most room for 7cf models. It has worked out great for me. 4 cornies and a 20lb CO2 in the bottom or 5 kegs and it will hold 2 short kegs on well.https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hisense-7-cu-ft-Chest-Freezer-White/1002937124
Hopfen, did the HVAC guy ever say why.
Anyway, there are chest freezers that are designed to operate at refrigerator temps. I wonder if these last longer.