The Keezer Build

[BKBrews]

I've been putting info about my build in someone else's thread, so I thought I should start my own and document the entire journey.

I bought a 215L whirlpool chest freezer for $70 on gumtree. It was in pretty good condition - no rust - and was owned by an old farmer who used to preserve fruit in it. I went and picked it up and off we went.

So far I have bought:
- 4 X keg King 19L ball lock kegs (2nd hand but less than 6 months old - look new - bought the lot for $250)
- 1 X Perlick 650SS flow control tap and SS shank with JG fitting
- 15m 4mm beer and gas line
- 6 X Keg King Premium Disconnects (3 Gas 3 Liquid)
- 4 way manifold
- Keg King MKIII regulator

Last thing to purchase is a CO2 bottle which will be done in the next few days.

My mate has just finished building his house and has a heap of treated pine left over, so the collar is being built this weekend. Luckily for me, he is also a plasterer by trade, so my plans that I will explain shortly will hopefully come to fruition.

So far I have sanded the entire freezer ready for paint. It will get 2 - 3 coats of Wattyl Epoxy Gloss Enamel in Matte Black. I chose this paint as it does not require a primer first (similar to white knight - hoping it's as good). Sanding was a *****. I went through about 10 sanding pads, but it is now finished.




The plan is to make the collar about 310mm high. I have some 200x100 subway tiles left over from my renovation which I plan to tile the collar with. Inspiration was Stone and Wood and Balter, who both have this in their brew pubs.



So 2 coats of paint this weekend, get the collar sorted and take it from there. Will keep this updated for anyone interested!

 

[Judanero]

Pics ALWAYS help. Thousand words, all that jazz.

 

[BKBrews]

Pics ALWAYS help. Thousand words, all that jazz.

Ugh, there was pics, but they have disappeared. I'll edit the post.

 

[mstrelan]

Sounds like you need 3 more taps and 2 more disconnects.

 

[BKBrews]

Plan is to have two taps and then maybe get a 3rd down the track. Going to just start with the one and switch over each time, to give my wallet a rest. I'd say I'll have two by Christmas.

 

[peteru]

I hope it all goes well for you, but I probably would have started with all the work that runs a risk of damaging/ruining the freezer. Namely, bending any pipework, drilling holes, screwing things down, wiring up controllers and probes, etc. Sanding and painting would have come later, once I was sure that it will actually work.

The reason I say this, is that I have had one fridge and one freezer die on me before I got them converted. Moving the old fridge from the kitchen, down some stairs and into the backyard was enough to cause it to leak refrigerant, so that was written off pretty quick. The small freezer I found on the other side of the road during council cleanup was just fine, but in the process of removing some extra cooling ribs and bending the pipework, I managed to puncture the pipe and ruined it. It would have sucked if I spent days sanding back the paint, only to have to chuck the thing.

Anyway, good luck with it!

 

[BKBrews]

I hope it all goes well for you, but I probably would have started with all the work that runs a risk of damaging/ruining the freezer. Namely, bending any pipework, drilling holes, screwing things down, wiring up controllers and probes, etc. Sanding and painting would have come later, once I was sure that it will actually work.

The reason I say this, is that I have had one fridge and one freezer die on me before I got them converted. Moving the old fridge from the kitchen, down some stairs and into the backyard was enough to cause it to leak refrigerant, so that was written off pretty quick. The small freezer I found on the other side of the road during council cleanup was just fine, but in the process of removing some extra cooling ribs and bending the pipework, I managed to puncture the pipe and ruined it. It would have sucked if I spent days sanding back the paint, only to have to chuck the thing.

Anyway, good luck with it!

Have been plugging it in after each day of prep to ensure everything is still working well. I'm not drilling or modifying anything to do with the freezer, just adding parts on top, so painting was the first logical step, as it will move quickly once the collar is built and I didn't want to paint around that.

 

[BKBrews]

Just realised I've made a rookie mistake.... I've taken all of my kegs apart for cleaning and I've since filled two of them, to be ready when the keezer is built. Only just found out that the gas and beer posts on the kegs are different? No idea which is which and I just chucked them on any which way.....

 

[Tahoose]

The gas posts have a line marked on the side.

 

[BKBrews]

The gas posts have a line marked on the side.

Yep, found that out now.... Too late when they're both full and primed! Will have to check tonight whether I somehow miraculously got it right!

 

[Rocker1986]

I dunno about your kegs but on my kegs, there is IN and OUT embossed on the black plastic stuff right next to the posts. I'll grab a piccy in a sec.

Edit: Not sure how clear these will be.. the keg is in the kegerator and I can't get to the spare ones at the moment due to works being done in that area.

 

[BKBrews]

I dunno about your kegs but on my kegs, there is IN and OUT embossed on the black plastic stuff right next to the posts. I'll grab a piccy in a sec.

Edit: Not sure how clear these will be.. the keg is in the kegerator and I can't get to the spare ones at the moment due to works being done in that area.

Now I'm confused.... If I take the posts off the in and out, are they the same? My kegs say in and out as well, but now I'm reading that the actual posts are different for beer and gas - so you still need to screw the correct post to the correct outlet...?

 

[earle]

The actual posts are ever so slightly different, but different enough that if you put the wrong disconnect on the wrong post it will get jammed.

The gas posts have little notches at the bottom and need to be on the same outlet as the short gas tube.

The liquid posts have no notches and need to be on the same outlet as the long dip tube.

The in and out markings on the keg are to help you keep everything sorted.

 

[BKBrews]

That's what I've been reading.....

So much for priming the kegs! Will just have to quickly change them over (if they're incorrect) when I go to hook them up to the keezer and then give them a bit of force carb to make up for any pressure loss.

 

[earle]

Chill them down before you do it but be sure to release the pressure before you start unscrewing the posts. You don't want the post shooting off because of gas pressure.

 

[stilvia]

The 'Out' post is connected to the dip tube. If you've got the gas line on the 'Out' post, you'll probably find you've stripped some flavor from the beer. From memory the gas disconnect will fit on either post, but the beer disconnect will only fit the 'Out' post.

Just a quick note, I have the same fridge and used 90x45 timber from my collar. I found when sizzing up my collar that going much higher than 100mm makes it a bit more difficult to put a full keg in and out of the kezzer. 45mm width is also perfect for the width of the existing plastic moulding.

 

[BKBrews]

The 'Out' post is connected to the dip tube. If you've got the gas line on the 'Out' post, you'll probably find you've stripped some flavor from the beer. From memory the gas disconnect will fit on either post, but the beer disconnect will only fit the 'Out' post.

Just a quick note, I have the same fridge and used 90x45 timber from my collar. I found when sizzing up my collar that going much higher than 100mm makes it a bit more difficult to put a full keg in and out of the kezzer. 45mm width is also perfect for the width of the existing plastic moulding.

I don't really understand that first part? I took both the gas and beer dip tubes out when I cleaned everything and I put the beer dip tube back on the OUT side and the gas dip tube on the IN side. The only thing I'm not sure of is whether I put the correct post on each side.

For my collar, I'm probably going with 19mm pine, as the thickness will be increased with the tiling setup. I'm going to put the 19mm pine flush against the lid seal and then build outwards:

19mm pine + 6mm villaboard + 4mm tile adhesive + 8mm ceramic tile = 37mm total thickness

In regards to putting kegs in and out of the freezer, yes, I'm sure it won't be easy, but I want to build something aesthetically pleasing. I'll probably build a small pine step to sit at the side of the freezer, to stand on to lift kegs in and out.

 

[Meddo]

I accidentally put my dip tubes and posts into one keg back to front (correct post for each dip tube, but in the wrong holes). Confuses the ***** out of me every time I look at it given that the "IN" and "OUT" labels are wrong, but functionally no drama.

If it turns out that you've got the wrong posts on each dip tube (regardless whether they're in the right holes or not) just swap the disconnects on your gas and beer lines while you're using that keg - easier than trying to change the posts and tubes on a full keg. Push-in fittings rather than hose barbs on your disconnects are a massive pain-saver in this situation...

 

[stilvia]

I don't really understand that first part? I took both the gas and beer dip tubes out when I cleaned everything and I put the beer dip tube back on the OUT side and the gas dip tube on the IN side. The only thing I'm not sure of is whether I put the correct post on each side.

Does one dip tube reach the bottom of the keg and the other is short? When I say dip tube, I meant the tube running to the bottom.

 

[BKBrews]

Does one dip tube reach the bottom of the keg and the other is short? When I say dip tube, I meant the tube running to the bottom.

Yes I know - long dip tube = beer, short dip tube = gas. The long tube was put on the OUT hole and the short tube on the IN hole. This I know is correct. What I'm not sure about is whether I put the gas post on the IN hole.

I accidentally put my dip tubes and posts into one keg back to front (correct post for each dip tube, but in the wrong holes). Confuses the ***** out of me every time I look at it given that the "IN" and "OUT" labels are wrong, but functionally no drama.

If it turns out that you've got the wrong posts on each dip tube (regardless whether they're in the right holes or not) just swap the disconnects on your gas and beer lines while you're using that keg - easier than trying to change the posts and tubes on a full keg. Push-in fittings rather than hose barbs on your disconnects are a massive pain-saver in this situation...

That makes sense, but what if the gas post is on the beer dip tube? Then it won't work.....