My Kegerator/Keezer with Photos

[redhawk]

First, I want to say thanks to everybody that has helped me in this forum and to the forum itself. It was a very valuable service as I sought to get draught beer at home.

After a ton of research, I finally settled on an upright freezer for my kegerator. I wanted an upright freezer because I'm not a homebrewer, only wanted two taps and needed to lift in half barrels, so a chest freezer was out of the question. I didn't want a refrigerator because I wanted the vertical space to add a pony keg on top of a 1/2 barrel. I also didn't want an already built kegerator because of the cost and extra tweaks that would be needed to make it work right.

After scouring Craigslist everyday, I finally found a local 13.7 cubic foot Frigidaire Upright Freezer about 3 years old for $75. Here is what it looked like when I brought it home:





I ordered a conversion kit for $250 that included a ******* faucet, 9 foot hose, 5 lb tank, digital Johnson Controls, and dual regulator. I also ordered a large drip tray for $25 shipped. I also had to purchase various things at Lowe's for about another $25.

So for $400, here is what I ended up with. I put in a half barrel of Abita Purple Haze to break it in and have had nothing but perfect pours with no waste thus far. To see the updated thread that shows the shelf system and second faucet [URL="http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-en/kegerators-kegerator-kits-home/8083-updated-my-kegerator-keezer-photos.html"]click here[/URL].

[redhawk]

[redhawk]

[pvs6]

Go Hawkeyes. Very nice and brought it home for a great price. When you add the 2nd tap for the pony keg how are you planning to shelve that keg?

[bonefish]

I keep Abita Purple Haze or Abita Amber in my kegorator, too. Yummy!
SEAN

[81david]

Nice work! I would assume when he puts in the second keg he is going to take the shelf out and prop the second keg on top of the first....just my 2 cents.

Cheers!

[redhawk]

Go Hawkeyes. Very nice and brought it home for a great price. When you add the 2nd tap for the pony keg how are you planning to shelve that keg?

Right now my plan is to purchase one of those keg stackers that allow you to tap a keg on the bottom. But I might look into a permanent type shelving down the road if the keg stacker becomes too much of a PITA.

[rmcqueen78]

Great work!

I am also considering doing an upright freezer build.

I had a chest freezer conversion that ended up with an internal freon leak that is now just sitting in the garage.

The space where I want to put it is fairly narrow so the upright is much better for me than the chest freezer.

My only question is did you have a hard time finding an upright freezer that had removable shelves? Almost all of the ones I have been emailing people on craigslist about have the cooling elements in the shelves and are not removable. Also how did you know there was nothing in the door that you were going to hit when you drilled?

Thanks

[81david]

What do you have your Johnson setting set up as?

[redhawk]

I got lucky in that I found a Frost Free Upright Freezer within a week of looking that was the perfect size on Craigslist. I almost broke down and bought a brand new one for like $375 and then using that as my regular deep freeze and converting our existing upright freezer that I got off of Craigslist about four years ago for $40. The automatic defrosting freezers are the ones that have the removable shelves. Also, if there isn't anything connected to the door such as wires, you should be able to drill through it with no trouble. In my research, I haven't seen anybody have trouble drilling through the door of a refrigerator or freezer, it is the sides and top (in uprights) that you have to be careful about, which is why I didn't drill into the sides or top.

I plan on adding a second and maybe third tap in the next month or so.

[redhawk]

What do you have your Johnson setting set up as?

I have it at 36 degrees with a 4 degree difference. I also have the probe dangling in air about halfway down the freezer. I've put the glass off water on almost every shelf to measure the difference between top and bottom and there is about a difference of 3 degrees between the two. So that isn't a big deal. The freezer kicks on for 5 minutes and then off for 19 minutes.

[juicedsixfo]

Is it fairly quiet?

I've been modding my Vissani to hell and back to get it cold enough (tower cooler, circulation fan, reinsulated, still gives a half glass of foam on the first pour) and I'm about to throw in the towel and just buy an upright freezer myself so I can finally achieve that perfect pour.

[rmcqueen78]

Thanks for the quick response. I will be on the lookout for a frost free upright that is a big help.

So 13.7 cu ft seems to be the perfect size for a half barrel and co2 ? I am mainly going to use it for 2 sixths and co2 but want to have the ability to do a half barrel for parties.

Also did you have an issue with a high temperature alarm on your model? Does anyone know if there is a way to disable that or will I need to find one that doesn't have an alarm?

Thanks!

[redhawk]

Is it fairly quiet?

I've been modding my Vissani to hell and back to get it cold enough (tower cooler, circulation fan, reinsulated, still gives a half glass of foam on the first pour) and I'm about to throw in the towel and just buy an upright freezer myself so I can finally achieve that perfect pour.

Very quiet. It is about 10 feet from the living room and I never hear it with the TV even on a low setting. I can barely hear it when the TV is off, but you have to be listening for it.

I think the combination of getting the beer cold enough (38 degree second glass pour), at least 7 feet of beer line and having the line cooled all the way to the faucet is the key. I've had nothing but perfect pours from the very first glass. Maybe I've just gotten lucky so far, but I know I didn't want to deal with a tower.

[redhawk]

Thanks for the quick response. I will be on the lookout for a frost free upright that is a big help.

So 13.7 cu ft seems to be the perfect size for a half barrel and co2 ? I am mainly going to use it for 2 sixths and co2 but want to have the ability to do a half barrel for parties.

Also did you have an issue with a high temperature alarm on your model? Does anyone know if there is a way to disable that or will I need to find one that doesn't have an alarm?

Thanks!

On this Frigidaire it is the perfect size for a 1/2 barrel and CO2. Might be able to even slide in a 1/6 on the floor too, but haven't tried. On some models, you might have to cut away the interior shelves on the door for the extra width, but I haven't had to yet.

This one didn't come with an alarm, but I think you can disable them.

[rmcqueen78]

Thanks, one last question.

It looks like there used to be a grid like surface or shelf on the floor of the freezer when you first got it, was that easy to remove?

[redhawk]

Yes, it is just a plastic shelf that would have been used to keep things from sticking to the bottom in normal operation. It just popped out. The shelves came out by taking off the rubber stoppers and then sliding them out. I'm going to add a piece of plywood to the bottom to even out the weight better on the floor and maybe a little piece of rubber matting on top of that. That way when I add a pony on top of a 1/2 barrel, I won't worry about it caving in the floor. Though I'm sure it wouldn't even in the present setup.

[xscash]

i bet if you moved the co2 to the outside of the freezer you would be able to fit 4 slim quarters. now thats a party! looks great!!

[redhawk]

i bet if you moved the co2 to the outside of the freezer you would be able to fit 4 slim quarters. now thats a party! looks great!!

That's what I love about this setup is the flexibility. Can't see going past three though.

[miller lite man]

Good job and good thinking!! Thanks for the pics!

[rmcqueen78]

Hey Redhawk,

I was wondering if you could tell me the interior dimensions of the floor of your freezer?

I found a Frigidaire frost free 13.7 freezer here on craigslist and the owner told me the interior dimensions of the floor were 17" x 22"

The 22" seems to be no problem to fit a half barrel and co2 tank side by side but I am afraid the 17" will be an issue for the door to close because the door shelves will probably hit the keg when closing and a standard half barrel keg is 16 1/8". In the picture it looks like you have a good 5 inches or so of floor space left infront of the keg so I am thinking your dimensions must be a little larger.

Thanks so much for your help

Rich

[redhawk]

My dimensions on the floor are 23 inches by 17 inches. But the 17 front to back is hard to tell since the door does impede on some of that space. Worst case scenario for you is that would have to cut out the bottom shelves, which wouldn't be hard as they are just flimsy plastic. I was surprised a 1/2 keg and CO2 tank fit on the floor without having to cut our the shelves on my freezer.

If you look closely at my pictures, the 17 inches front to back is measured to the lip right in front of the keg and not all the way to the edge of the freezer, since the door will take up that space.