Kegging Setups

[Meddo]

G'day all, finally got my keg freezer mostly finished after getting a fair bit of inspiration from this forum and thread - pretty happy with how it's come up. Just fermenting FWKs with some dry-hopping at the moment until I get some time to have a crack at actual brewing, hoping that I can develop the skills to put some of my own beer in there that's worth drinking...

320 litre Westinghouse freezer, room for six 19 litre cornies plus two halves on the hump, room for up to eight taps at even spacing if I can justify adding to the three Intertap SS flow controls that I've got. All work has been done to the collar so the freezer can be returned to 100% stock if ever required.

Still waiting on a few bits and pieces to turn up - bottle opener, secondary reg, a new PC fan after I snapped a blade on the last one (attaches to the gate hinge), SS tap handles, more beer....

Carport needs a bit of a tidy, too

 

[mofox1]

Too pretty mate. Great idea for the fan mounts... I've been trying to think of how to do mine, might "borrow" that idea

 

[Meddo]

Too pretty mate. Great idea for the fan mounts... I've been trying to think of how to do mine, might "borrow" that idea

Thanks mate, it's probably the least "clean" part of the setup but it's pretty effective. Also at 230 mm it's massive overkill but at only $20 why not?

Tried to catch the last one when it fell from the upright position but just wound up getting a finger in the blades and snapping one off (blade, not finger ). Got the new fan this afternoon, same model except this one comes with LEDs - just need to work out how to turn off disco mode... :beerbang: :huh:

Also need to find some sort of a cheap reed or momentary on switch to turn the fan off when the lid opens, otherwise it's just gonna blow all the cold air straight out the top.

 

[spog]

Nice setup. Can you please tell all as to the parts used ,gas manifold etc.
The fan inside the kegerator is used to circulate the cold air inside not specially for tap cooling ?
As for the fan off switch surely there is a reverse switch of sorts to be found,one that turns off not on similar to the light in the fridge that comes on when it's opened ( I'm as dumb as dog **** when it comes to electrics etc ), would it be as easy as switching terminals to reverse polarity..........

 

[Meddo]

Nice setup. Can you please tell all as to the parts used ,gas manifold etc.
The fan inside the kegerator is used to circulate the cold air inside not specially for tap cooling ?
As for the fan off switch surely there is a reverse switch of sorts to be found,one that turns off not on similar to the light in the fridge that comes on when it's opened ( I'm as dumb as dog **** when it comes to electrics etc ), would it be as easy as switching terminals to reverse polarity..........

Thanks mate. Bit of both re the fan, wanted to have a consistent temp for kegs in the bottom of the freezer and stubbies at the top in the basket. Also as I add more kegs (have one more at the moment waiting to be filled but hopefully more down the track) it should help circulate better as they get packed tighter. Was hoping that it would have some effect on the taps / shanks as well and it seems to have made a small difference since I turned it on with a little less foam on first pour, probably just placebo though given there's bugger-all of the shank exposed internally...

I'll give the parts list a crack, most of it came from Bunnings and Keg King or their resellers:

Collar:
Internal - Dressed pine 90 x 30 mm (sides and back), 90 x 45 mm (front)
Facing - Tas oak 135 x 19 mm
Liquid nails and angle mending plate for fixing, plus 8 mm stainless steel coach bolts for decorative (but redundant) fixing
Window seal via Bunnings for sealing the base of the collar to the freezer
Keg King 40 cm door mounted drip tray, removable from hanging screws on the inside surface of the collar facing
Zenith 300 mm tee gate hinge and 200 x 200 mm tee mending plate for fan mount
Stainless steel 3-hook hanging plate for hose loops and keeping unused disconnects in easy reach


Gas:
Kegs with Legs 6.8 kg CO2 bottle via Craftbrewer
Micromatic CO2 regulator
Keg King 4-way gas manifold with check valves
Keg King push in check valve (redundant)


Plumbing / beer:
Intertap stainless steel flow control taps x 3
Keg King stainless steel 100 mm shanks
Keg King 8 mm OD / 5 mm ID beer and gas line
Keg King stainless steel MFL gas and beer ball lock disconnects
Keg King push in fittings where possible
Keg King 19 litre cornies x 3

Temperature:
Pre-wired single mode AC switch thermostat via eBay (Aussie reseller), temp probe in water filled wine bottle
BitFenix 230 mm 12V PC case fan

 

[quadbox]

A couple of fans is pretty high up on my list of to-dos too, in no small part because I hope it'll reduce the amount of condensation inside...

 

[Tahoose]

Have had some slow leaking problems in my keezer on the past. Seems to be an o-ring on a ball lock gas post. Glad I picked that up, if I hadn't have cleaned all of my ball lock disconnects and gone mad with a spray bottle of starsan I surely would have missed it again..

 

[rude]

G'day all, finally got my keg freezer mostly finished after getting a fair bit of inspiration from this forum and thread - pretty happy with how it's come up. Just fermenting FWKs with some dry-hopping at the moment until I get some time to have a crack at actual brewing, hoping that I can develop the skills to put some of my own beer in there that's worth drinking...

320 litre Westinghouse freezer, room for six 19 litre cornies plus two halves on the hump, room for up to eight taps at even spacing if I can justify adding to the three Intertap SS flow controls that I've got. All work has been done to the collar so the freezer can be returned to 100% stock if ever required.

Still waiting on a few bits and pieces to turn up - bottle opener, secondary reg, a new PC fan after I snapped a blade on the last one (attaches to the gate hinge), SS tap handles, more beer....

Carport needs a bit of a tidy, too

IMG_20160307_193451_1.jpg

IMG_20160404_200047_1.jpg

IMG_20160404_200032_1.jpg

IMG_20160323_181133_1.jpg

That top shelf looks a bit bendy
I managed to linish some 20mm jarrah skirting boards at the ends so they fit
into the fridge slots for more strength for my ferm fridge

 

[mstrelan]

G'day all, finally got my keg freezer mostly finished after getting a fair bit of inspiration from this forum and thread - pretty happy with how it's come up. Just fermenting FWKs with some dry-hopping at the moment until I get some time to have a crack at actual brewing, hoping that I can develop the skills to put some of my own beer in there that's worth drinking...

320 litre Westinghouse freezer, room for six 19 litre cornies plus two halves on the hump, room for up to eight taps at even spacing if I can justify adding to the three Intertap SS flow controls that I've got. All work has been done to the collar so the freezer can be returned to 100% stock if ever required.

Still waiting on a few bits and pieces to turn up - bottle opener, secondary reg, a new PC fan after I snapped a blade on the last one (attaches to the gate hinge), SS tap handles, more beer....

Carport needs a bit of a tidy, too

IMG_20160307_193451_1.jpg

IMG_20160404_200047_1.jpg

IMG_20160404_200032_1.jpg

IMG_20160323_181133_1.jpg

There is 100% chance that hydrometer is going to fall off the drip tray and shatter in to 1000 pieces on the floor.

 

[Meddo]

Haha good spot, I was hoping no one would notice, but there isn't actually as there's a couple of magnets holding the base out from the freezer and tilting it back. Was temporary storage only though, just missed it in the photo.

Yeah there's a bit of flex in the shelf but no real danger of breakage. On the to-do list is too reinforce it with some steel angle to take it from 99% to 100% safe.

 

[quadbox]

Building a basic collar for the big chesty today. Plan is for it to be an interim jobbie till I have more space to work in and do something fancier, but eh, it'll do a couple of years

I'll sand it and varnish this week then throw her on. Chesty itself has been sanded for an undercoat/prime and getting the blackboard treatment during the week too, if assessment timetable permits.

 

[hwall95]

The new setup thanks to a great old guy called Peter and a couple ahb members for pointing it out on Gumtree.

My old chest freezer setup recently died so been meaning to either get a new one and remake it or a large freezer. Found this beauty for a bargain so said yes pretty fast. Unfortunately its not worth to hassle to get it upstairs on the deck so its now under the deck but it'll be right. Only main concern is that when the compressor starts its a bit noisy, may have to setup a acoustic barrier if it annoys my housemate (bedroom right behind it) too much.

Currently only has 3 taps in, but have four more to put in probably next weekend. Have loaded it up with various bottled beer that I had under the stairs to give it some thermal mass, will go buy a tonne of cheap soft drink for the housemates and cocktails tomorrow when the shops are open.

Currently a little concerned on the effect it may have on the power bill.. But it will be set for my 21st end of the month! Will save having to setup a portable keg setup as will be able to run all 6 kegs at once. Feeling pretty content!

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Tissue please

 

[mofox1]

If I only had a setup like that for my 21st... damn.

I think at best I had a VB beanbag and a fosters light bar mat that someone swiped for me.

 

[Danwood]

Keep it as full as possible and it won't need to cycle on and off as often...easier said than done though.

If you're really bothered, cubes of water will do exactly the same 'thermal mass' job as beer.

Now....where was I ? Oh, yes **** *** *** *** ****

 

[Yob]

Result!!

 

[GalBrew]

These commercial style fridges are all much noisier than one designed for a home. My experience with them is they do have a pretty high cycle rate compared to a chesty.

 

[peteru]

Keep the fridge under the deck and run some largish diameter beer line up to a few taps on the deck. Think of it as an OH&S measure. Going up and down the stairs with glasses, while under the influence, could be dangerous! B)

 

[hwall95]

Yeah super happy with it. Need to get a few more gas dislocks and a splitter but should be able to have it all set up for all taps on friday night if the week progresses as planned - doubt it will though, something always comes up..

Measured the temp and it was sitting at 1-2C so I connected it to a temp controller to keep it at 4 but the only problem is now the internal fans won't be running all the time so speaking to my fridgie mate to see if we can work out a solution to have the internal fans running whilst the compressor isn't running to keep the air circulating inside. Until then it should be fine. With the temp controller it cycles a lot less, and only powers on for a couples minutes each time.

Keep the fridge under the deck and run some largish diameter beer line up to a few taps on the deck. Think of it as an OH&S measure. Going up and down the stairs with glasses, while under the influence, could be dangerous! B)

Haha Peteru would need some beer gas and some insulated line for that but it would be great. Most likely moving end of the year so we'll see what happens.

If I only had a setup like that for my 21st... damn.

I think at best I had a VB beanbag and a fosters light bar mat that someone swiped for me.

Yeah very fortunate, has been a pretty rewarding hobby that I spend too much of my small salary one :lol:

Keep it as full as possible and it won't need to cycle on and off as often...easier said than done though.

If you're really bothered, cubes of water will do exactly the same 'thermal mass' job as beer.

Now....where was I ? Oh, yes **** *** *** *** ****

Yeah good idea, have a few spare water containers laying around so will throw a few in to keep it a bit more stable

 

[Mr B]

What about using a pc fan for circulation, it would use heaps less electrickery than the fridge ones.

I've got a similar fridge (used for fermenting), ad the fans are much more noisy and powerful than required for circulation.