DanC
Well-known member
I will have one in the garage...someday. Anyone have one now and have any tips, tricks, info. plans, parts to share?? thanks-
kegerators...
- Thread starter DanC
- Start date
wrigh003
Well-known member
Buddy of mine has one of the prefab ones, made to fit a regular half-barrel sized keg. For the money he spent on that, I think I'd rather have just an old fridge and retrofit it to fit a pony keg down in the bottom, that way you can keep other stuff (sodas, water) in the rest of it. I'd want the pony keg size to keep down on waste and save the extra space for other stuff.
'Course, that's just me.
'Course, that's just me.
I agree in that a retro-fit one would be best so that you could use it to cool other things as well. I'd really like to find and older cool looking fridge to retrofit but dont know how smart that would be, efficiency wise (i.e. a newer fridge being more economical to operate, energy conservation wise??)
6t7gto
Well-known member
and if you don't use the keg often enough, yeast mold will form in the tap line and make the beer taste lousy.
you should flush the line weekly.
david
you should flush the line weekly.
david
wrigh003
Well-known member
Your post got me to looking. Teh kegerator my friend has apparently costs about $600- that's plenty to get a basic, fairly energy-efficient new fridge, complete with freezer. It probably won't look that cool, but you could always paint hot-rod flames on it if you wanted.
yeah the small ones at Circuit City (I think is where I saw them) are like $419. They wouldnt look as cool as an old fridge but the smaller size would be nice and I do have a cool tap tower that looks like it would work on one of those. I'd like to scrounge up all the parts and pieces to build one, dont think the wife would smile on me spending hundreds of dollars to sit around and drink beer...
A friend of mine belongs to a little local group that brews their own beer. For the beer that they keg, they use small top door chest freezers, and put a separate thermostat that keeps it just where they want it. I don't know and did not ask if they have to disable the internal controls, but I will find out.
they run CO2 and mount the tap right on the front just beneath the top door seal. Looks about as good and slick as you can get in something not specifically built for the purpose. They have a couple chest freezers that fit 3 or 4 ponies each, then one that fits 2. Perfect sizing, and they store the bottled beer on a shelf above the ponies.
They have GREAT parties, but stay away from the tobasco beer!
they run CO2 and mount the tap right on the front just beneath the top door seal. Looks about as good and slick as you can get in something not specifically built for the purpose. They have a couple chest freezers that fit 3 or 4 ponies each, then one that fits 2. Perfect sizing, and they store the bottled beer on a shelf above the ponies.
They have GREAT parties, but stay away from the tobasco beer!
If I had tons of room and tons of friends who drank beer, I'd get one. Right now it seems like the best bet is to get a fridge and fill it with bottles. I like the look of kegerators, but they sound like too much of a hassle.
trainer
Well-known member
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/
These guys are ******** into draft beer.
These guys are ******** into draft beer.
Dan,
Take a look at ebay. They have a ton of DIY kits to retrofit regular fridges. Most around $150 complete, including the CO2 tank. I have two neighbors that both have one. They do the full size keg though. Around here a pony is $50. A full keg of Keystone is $65. Economics is better. A little modification to the shelving is all it takes. I'd have one, but I work out of town right now so it doesn't make a lot of sense. It sure is nice, however, to just grab a mug, jump on the golf cart and make a tour of the neighborhood.
One tip though, you'll still have to buy cans (or bottles) if your going to a buddies, bbq, party, whatever. The significant other may have a little heartburn if you come home with a keg and a case. From experience, or observation I should say, I know that a regular size fridge will hold a full size keg, three thirty packs of beer, and two cases of soda and still have room for the frilly stuff for the wife. If most of your adult beverage consumption is done at home, it is the way to go.
Take a look at ebay. They have a ton of DIY kits to retrofit regular fridges. Most around $150 complete, including the CO2 tank. I have two neighbors that both have one. They do the full size keg though. Around here a pony is $50. A full keg of Keystone is $65. Economics is better. A little modification to the shelving is all it takes. I'd have one, but I work out of town right now so it doesn't make a lot of sense. It sure is nice, however, to just grab a mug, jump on the golf cart and make a tour of the neighborhood.
One tip though, you'll still have to buy cans (or bottles) if your going to a buddies, bbq, party, whatever. The significant other may have a little heartburn if you come home with a keg and a case. From experience, or observation I should say, I know that a regular size fridge will hold a full size keg, three thirty packs of beer, and two cases of soda and still have room for the frilly stuff for the wife. If most of your adult beverage consumption is done at home, it is the way to go.
Tman
Well-known member
Dan, I scored a vintage Coke machine from Scott about the time you got the Ironhead from him. Uses bottles, I can stock Stewarts sodas and beers in teh same machine! No keg to go flat that way. A guy in the ally has a LARGE 70ish bottle machine for $300 I think? Mine is also late 60s-early70s...............
ARAMP1
Well-known member
Figured I'd drop a couple pics of my setup. I got most of my stuff from beveragefactory.com. Got a few tap handles on e-bay. Now, I always have two types of beer on tap at all times. And, it also helps to have a little of the hard stuff around too.
Attachments
ARAMP1 - cool setup, you must be using the thermostat on the freezer that allows you to keep it alittle above freezing? How is Beveragefactory to work with? Where do you drain the tray under the taps to? I've got a porcelin molson tap tower that I want to incorporate into the system.
Tman - a coke machine would be cool, I'd use one if I could find it. The old bottle dispensers are cool. Yours would look cool painted in the Coke colors but using candies, pearls, metalflakes, etc.
Just saw this smilie, that it fit this post well
Tman - a coke machine would be cool, I'd use one if I could find it. The old bottle dispensers are cool. Yours would look cool painted in the Coke colors but using candies, pearls, metalflakes, etc.
Just saw this smilie, that it fit this post well
Goobzilla
Well-known member
I got a free Coke machine from work a couple years ago. Works great! Not the prettiest thing but keeps beverages mighty cold.
70chevelle
New member
Just a little info. What most people consider to be a full size keg is actually only a half barrel 15.5 gallons. Full size kegs actually hold 31 gallons and are about 6ft tall. Quarter barrels or pony kegs are 7.75 gallons.
Tman
Well-known member
Dan, by the next time you come down here we should be living in the new shop! I will invite you guys down for the haousewarming bash!
Luckydevil
Well-known member
Forgive my ignorance, but if properly refrigerated how long is the beer in a keg good for?
milly
Well-known member
If I remember right, if you keep it around 36-38 degrees F. and keep it under pressure, it should last several months.
z28toz06
Well-known member
My neighbors got one in his garage. A Full size fridge holds typical half keg plus a pile of those frozen mugs, and has room for a case or so of bottles or cans for administering first aid!
ARAMP1
Well-known member
bmwpower said:ARAMP1,
You must be an alcoholic with all that liquor...
I try!
ARAMP1
Well-known member
DanC said:ARAMP1 - cool setup, you must be using the thermostat on the freezer that allows you to keep it alittle above freezing? How is Beveragefactory to work with? Where do you drain the tray under the taps to? I've got a porcelin molson tap tower that I want to incorporate into the system.
Tman - a coke machine would be cool, I'd use one if I could find it. The old bottle dispensers are cool. Yours would look cool painted in the Coke colors but using candies, pearls, metalflakes, etc.
Just saw this smilie, that it fit this post well
I do have a thermostat that will keep my beer from freezing. I've seen some people that have taken the freezer thermostat out an wired in a refrig thermostat, but I'm just using a plugin one now. It works just as well. I believe you can get them from beveragefactory.com.
BTW, the company is great! I have gotten all of my orders within two to three days.
Right now, the drain tray goes to a five gallon bucket that I have inside the kegorator that I have to empty every couple months or so. Eventually, I'd like to plumb it into a real house drain.
ARAMP1
Well-known member
Luckydevil said:
It really depends on what kind of beer it is. I've found that the average light colored domestic lager/pilsner likes to be presurized to aprox 15 psi and will last around 3 months. Any longer and you start to notice a taste difference. Kind of like opening a two liter of coke and letting it sit for a long while. I've noticed that the darker heavier beers like the lower pressure, around 11-13 psi, and really only last about 6 to 11 weeks before you start to notice a taste difference.
ARAMP1
Well-known member
milly said:
I personally keep my kegorator at 34 degrees F. For me, the colder the better. There are several beers that are supposed to be served several degrees above freezing including some at room temp, but I'm a cold beer guy.
Tman
Well-known member
Dan, if you are interested in that other Coke machine I can ask my neighbor?
Tman
Well-known member
It is a 7 foot tall one? Last I heard he would take $200
Tman
Well-known member
It is a bottle machine,if it like mine you can adjust it for the size of bottles.
zman
Well-known member
I don't have a kegerator in the garage but I do have one of these...
I have a whole bar....
CO2 beers should be pressurized at 12 lbs. that will cover all your domestics. Tempature around 35.... Guinness and other Nitrogen gassed beers will be around 20 lbs. or so (it's not as critical as the CO2 beers) and the tempature is 40-41.... Just FYI... You can pick up most everything you need to put one together pretty cheap, there's alot on eBay, but you can also pick up a real keg cooler pretty cheap used.... I got the one in the bar given to me...
I have a whole bar....
CO2 beers should be pressurized at 12 lbs. that will cover all your domestics. Tempature around 35.... Guinness and other Nitrogen gassed beers will be around 20 lbs. or so (it's not as critical as the CO2 beers) and the tempature is 40-41.... Just FYI... You can pick up most everything you need to put one together pretty cheap, there's alot on eBay, but you can also pick up a real keg cooler pretty cheap used.... I got the one in the bar given to me...
zman
Well-known member
it would be more awesome if it was at the house.. but it's in downtown Raleigh...
Sorry if this is considered SPAM, but I think it's cool and some folks here might want one... A co-worker of mine invented this little widget:
The tap timer
It meters your beer flow (based on: time tap is open * a std. flow rate)and has a digital gauge so you don't have to yank the keg out and lift it to see how much beer is left in the keg. Pretty slick!
The tap timer
It meters your beer flow (based on: time tap is open * a std. flow rate)and has a digital gauge so you don't have to yank the keg out and lift it to see how much beer is left in the keg. Pretty slick!
Luckydevil said:
I have it under CO2 and you can keep it for a long time (2months) however, it never lasts that long. I have 2 x 5 gallon kegs. An dit's nice to switch different beers (only good beers)
because life is too short to drink cheap beer.Cheers
Engelbert
http://carmagic.us
http://muelhaupt.us