Hi all, a little history first. Started off with a pot and some extract 3 years ago. Started getting crazier and into all grain. Almost quit but then i found the fast ferment which made life amazing. (I didnt want a ton of carboys so i was racking into pots then back into carboy it was a disaster). I eventually made a 18 percent all grain sam adams utopias cloan which was fun. Then i got into kegging which furthered the ease. Then i convinced my wife to let me get a kegerator…then 2 haha. Most recently i just got a grain father (new model with bluetooth which is awesome!) The only thing i didnt have is a good temp control during fermentation so i just ordered the brew jacket temp control tube thingy haha. Now that i am a little more classy i asked her to let me upgrade to a keezer and she said yes! It just had to be show quality as its going into the living room. Honestly i forget the cubic yards, its either 8.1 or 9.1 but its perfect for 5 corneys.
The reason the wheels dont go all the way over is because the bottom isnt flat. Theres another wheel that you cant see to help stabilize it. I also brew wine so i wanted to put a nitro cylinder in there so i figured why not do a stout, wine, and then 3 beers on c02. I got a nitro tank with a dual regulator, i already have a non flow control perlick for wine (cant use flow control because there is chrome inside) so i just needed a stout faucet, one more perlick flow control, and a co2 air line splitter to go with my dual co2 regulator and ill just have 2 beers at one pressure and the 3 can be independent. Ps there is room for both tanks in here too (sneak peak of the tap / spoiler)
Like i said originally its going into my living room so it has to like nice. I first framed it out and then picked a nice laminate that matched the room. The next part was the hardest choice. Top or collar mounted taps. I had two kegerators one with door mounted and one with a tower. Obviously the tower looks nicer but i loved not losing any beer to foam on the door mounted. So i opted to do collar mounted taps, plus a 5 tap beer tower is hella expensive!
I probably didnt need too but just to be safe i added foam isulation as well. Because of this i knew i would have to get 5 inch shanks but i got a pretty good deal, they were like $17 a piece on sale and stainless. The next issue was trying to figure out how to do a nice top. (I dont have a table saw so i cant cant anything width wise) boy did i luck out. More to follow on that later
Next i framed it out and put a 8" piece of wood on the collar. Too my surpise with the laminate on top plus the trim height it lined up 100 percent so i didnt have to worry about cutting anything with a jig saw. Also some putty in there to help smooth out the wood. Shank holes also drilled. That was fun, my bit didnt reach all the way, i ended up using a ratchet with an extension for the last inch on each
Now we have the hinges added back on and the top glue drying. Also at this point i ordered an inkbird temp controller and a beer tower cooler to help circulate the air inside.
Last but not least shanks and taps installed and all painted. I just added the drip tray a couple minutes ago. It couldnt have turned out better. I have a gluten free all grain that i just kegged last week and a pinotage that i have been aging for about 4 months going in tommorrow. At that point ill run the c02 and beer lines. If you have any questions feel free to ask away!
Looks great! Keep an eye on the outside wall and compressor temps. Often times the heat is dissipated on the outside faces.
Good to know! It will be pulled away from the wall more when i throw away the table, and theres a cut out on the side and back for where the compressor is so there is air flow getting to it
Nice job on your build!
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
Seconding what Stevie said and adding allow good air circulation on the bottom. We have an old chest freezer and the heat dissipation surface is the underside panel. You might want to put it on 1" blocks or feet to allow air to circulate from all sides.
That picture just makes it look like its sitting on the ground for some reason. Its sitting on an open frame and has wheels so its a good 3-4 inches open space on the bottom.
The heat varies from model to model. My unit the heat was on the front face, my two newer units have the heat on the back.
Looks great, this has been a project I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I’d like to move to taps to a coffin on top though, too many friends with kids running around. How well do the flow controls work? I’ve heard mixed reviews in the past.
Ive ran them for about a year. I love them, only issue i have had was that if i have them too low the beers feel under carbed. Perlicks in general are just amazing
Looks great. Enjoy. You certainly earned it.
Looks really good! Nice work
Looks really nice. I wish you the best with it - however, I think your design will (at best) be less efficient, and (at worst) result in a shortened lifespan for you chest freezer.
Traditional fridges/freezers have a compact condenser coil with a fan to shed the heat. Modern chest freezer design did away with the condenser coil, and instead has a network of high pressure tubing in the side walls that is in contact with the outside skin of the freezer. It uses the outside skin to radiate and shed the heat from compressing the freon. There are no high pressure tubes to shed heat from the bottom. The compressor does generate a little heat, and does need to be vented - but not nearly as much as the skin.
Wood is a great insulator. By boxing in the 2/3s of all the walls (back is open), you have significantly reduced it’s capability to shed heat. The unit is designed so that by the time the high pressure gas gets to the inside coils, the freon has condensed to liquid. It then goes through a tiny opening, into the much larger return lines. The pressure drop results in cooling. In your case, there will be much less liquid at that transition point - and much less cooling capacity. Your compressor will run more frequently - even at “fridge” temps.
Other wood clad keezer designs I have seen have incorporated a fan to blow air between the wood and the skin of the freezer. The best designs ensure that the air circulates completely around the unit. You might want to consider retrofitting something like that in your build. Otherwise, my money is on that unit crapping out in 2 yrs or less.
Mylo