Hi folks, long-time lurker here and not a very frequent poster. Sorry in advance for lenghty post, but wanted to share my thought process as I'm looking for the input from the wealth of knowledge on here.
For some time I was contemplating purchasing one of the priceier commercial units like the MM Pro-line, BM23 or TDD-1 in a two-tap configuration, but the more I've thought about this, these units may not fit our style. Based on the bottles I normally stock in our spare garage fridge, I think our normal drinking habits would entail me stocking a 1/2 keg of say Bud Light or similar for my wife and In-Laws (aka Transient Free-Loaders) that pass thru, and a 1/4 or 1/6 of a nice craft IPA or Belgian for me.
So given the above what I am currently thinking about is picking up a new fridge or freezer (I may troll Craigslist, but I'm not the patient type) and going the DIY route. I'm confident in my handyman skills (within reason) and now I'm debating what type of unit to consider. I've ruled out chest freezers as lifting a 1/2 keg up and over is pretty heavy. So I'm looking at converting an upright freezer or using a conventional fridge with freezer on top.
Redhawk's creation using a 13.7cuft freezer is very impressive http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-e...er-photos.html, and I might "borrow" this design heavily.
I have a few questions;
a) Are there any particular technical considerations when considering fridge vs freezer for one of these builds that should make me look at a fridge vs a freezer?
b) Looking at Redhawk's layout using the 13.7, it appears that if I always have a 1/2 barrel as #1, that draft #2 would be limited to whatever options happen to come in a 1/4 pny keg (in the upper position). It would seem I would need to go bigger than 13.7 if I want to be able to fit both a 1/2 and a slim 1/4 in the lower position.
c) I've not purchased keg beer in quite some time, so before getting all-consumed by item (b) is there any practical way to identify which type of 1/4 keg is most common in the craft brew circles? For example does anyone know if DFH, Brklyn, GL uses pony or slim 1/4? Or is it possible that most of these brands would only come in 1/6's?
I'm sure I may be over analyzing the issue, but I'd appreciate any practical feedback that might be offered in my quest to identify an appropriately sized unit to turn into my project.
Thanks,
Greg
For some time I was contemplating purchasing one of the priceier commercial units like the MM Pro-line, BM23 or TDD-1 in a two-tap configuration, but the more I've thought about this, these units may not fit our style. Based on the bottles I normally stock in our spare garage fridge, I think our normal drinking habits would entail me stocking a 1/2 keg of say Bud Light or similar for my wife and In-Laws (aka Transient Free-Loaders) that pass thru, and a 1/4 or 1/6 of a nice craft IPA or Belgian for me.
So given the above what I am currently thinking about is picking up a new fridge or freezer (I may troll Craigslist, but I'm not the patient type) and going the DIY route. I'm confident in my handyman skills (within reason) and now I'm debating what type of unit to consider. I've ruled out chest freezers as lifting a 1/2 keg up and over is pretty heavy. So I'm looking at converting an upright freezer or using a conventional fridge with freezer on top.
Redhawk's creation using a 13.7cuft freezer is very impressive http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-e...er-photos.html, and I might "borrow" this design heavily.
I have a few questions;
a) Are there any particular technical considerations when considering fridge vs freezer for one of these builds that should make me look at a fridge vs a freezer?
b) Looking at Redhawk's layout using the 13.7, it appears that if I always have a 1/2 barrel as #1, that draft #2 would be limited to whatever options happen to come in a 1/4 pny keg (in the upper position). It would seem I would need to go bigger than 13.7 if I want to be able to fit both a 1/2 and a slim 1/4 in the lower position.
c) I've not purchased keg beer in quite some time, so before getting all-consumed by item (b) is there any practical way to identify which type of 1/4 keg is most common in the craft brew circles? For example does anyone know if DFH, Brklyn, GL uses pony or slim 1/4? Or is it possible that most of these brands would only come in 1/6's?
I'm sure I may be over analyzing the issue, but I'd appreciate any practical feedback that might be offered in my quest to identify an appropriately sized unit to turn into my project.
Thanks,
Greg
Comment