I’m in the market for a commercially made kegerator (preferably 2, even 3 taps) capable of fitting two 5-gallon cornys (or three cornys, if three taps).
Anybody have experience with them and suggestions on where to find/buy the best brands.
This kegerator is going inside the penthouse at the condo complex, and the garage is too far away (by elevator) to be practical, so it has to be located inside the penthouse, and it has to look “really nice.”
DIY keezers and front-mounted fridge conversions aren’t going to be considered due to time and aesthetics.
You don’t want to build one? I think it may be cheaper to build your own. But I’ve often thought about what I’ll do next when my current kegerator goes out. Think I’d want to get a medium sized fridge off Craigslist and install taps in the door.
Check out Beveragefactory for commercial kegerators if money isn’t necessarily an issue.
I understand the time factor, but I gotta say, on the aesthetics factor, I have seen some amazing keggerator builds from chest freezers on here. WIth the wood collar for mounting the taps and wood facing to make it pretty some of them look a heck of lot nicer, IMO, than the commercial ones.
A keezer will be nice (once day), but would still be relegated to the garage area.
What I’m looking for is a relatively compact, wheeled, kegerator with the ability to dispense 2 (or 3) corny kegs at a time. Something with dimensions around 2 x 2 x 3 ft, let’s say.
I’ll check out beverage factory. Open to any and all suggestions.
The thing I worry about with building one with a chest freezer and a collar is, what if the floor of the freezer gets dirty and you want to clean it? The collar would make it way hard to get down to the floor of the freezer to clean. I rather like the idea of a fridge much more. Especially for your garage? Get a used fridge off Craigslist, drill holes for taps and there you go. Why does it need to be so portable?
Those Beermeisters are expensive! There’s a few that are under $600 on Beverage Factory.
I have a Sanyo 4912 which is still available evidently, albeit under other names and manufacturer. A small fridge (no freezer compartment) holds two cornies and perhaps a third if you modify the door.
You can go through the door or top to place external taps or tower- though I still use cobra-taps.
If you don’t mind spending a tad more look into a real keg-orator fridge- they should hold 3 cornies. A look at the insides will show the difference between the two types of fridges. Plus they are plumbed for the tower already. That’s what I would do to do it all again.
I built collered keezer for my storage room in the basement, but my brother went with a used Beverage-Air professional unit as his lives in his dining room for around $400.
Has wheels and fits 3 ball lock cornys and his 5 pound tank (albeit very, very, very snuggly). He has a single tap tower (wants to eventually upgrade to 3) and uses cobra taps on the rest. Only problem with the snugness and the cobras is more than once he opened his taps by closing the door on them.
I designed mine to sit on a seam of weather stripping. The weight of the 2"x8" collar and the 2"x10" facing on the three visible sides is more than enough weight to hold the collar steady even when opening and closing the lid. The face board “lip” keeps it from sliding. For light cleaning i just throw in a towel and wipe it around with a pair of tongs. If I need to really clean well I can lift the collar off and do the deed. No fuss, no muss. Works and looks like a charm.
Danby, Haier, Fridgidaier had models similar and I think Kenmore for a while was a Sanyo fridge. I had a hard time finding a new one around that size a few years ago. It seems like most manufacturers stopped making 5 cu.ft. models. The ones that i found that were new, were expensive. Most new ones are 4.5 cu.ft. I found mine on Craigslist. Unfortunately its still in my garage waiting to become a kegerator. :-\
If you are not against using Craigslist, I would check there. I see a lot of good(and bad ones) up for sale.
From what I researched a few years ago when I was looking to buy one, Danby, Sanyo, Summit and Beermeister were all good. A lot depended on what kegs you want to use and how many, the types of beer(some were not as good at holding lager temperatures), and where you want to put it, specifically if you plan to install it inside a bar or under the counter somewhere. My friend has a Danby and loves it. He replaced out the cheaper tower for a metal one, but only uses a single tower with a single sixtel so I’m not sure how much room he has. I’d be interested in an update because if I dont get around to converting the one I have soon, I will probably be buying one.
Just swung by HD and noted that they had a Danby single tap kegerator.
Originally $499, then $447, today $358 (on clearance).
Took measurements to confirm 3 cornies could fit in there and they do (just barely).
The hump is on the bottom but it is curved to allow room for ponies (or the third corny).