WTB: 3 Tap Kegerator (cheapest source)

[thefrothologist]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a 3 tap Kegerator for my cafe and wondering if people knew the cheapest place to buy one?

I've looked at Kegking but has anyone seen any better places?

Cheers,

Daniel

 

[Gweedo]

For your cafe? if intent to distribute you might want to check on the laws for selling alcohol on a commercial level, as well as your local councils food safety laws unless you are getting kegs of commercial beer, but in that case you will only want 1 tap on the font as that's all you can fit inside the fridge. If it just for the back break room for yourself when you knock off work, then its a little different story......but to answer your question, KegKing is pretty close to the best your gonna get. There are 2 major kegerator manufactures sold here in Australia, both made in China, and the one that KegKing sells and distributes is the better of the 2 manufactures IMO. You can try Cheeky Peek, Grain and Grape, Craft Brewer, and a handful of others around but they are all the same fridge. Pinnacle on eBay sells the other manufacturer, I'm sure there are some others that sell it, but Pinnacle is the only one that comes to mind at this stage.

 

[Bribie G]

Kegerators are comparatively cheap compared to walking into Harvey Norman with $500 in your hand and see what you can get there that's suitable for serving beer, which is basically zip. I've seen a couple in commercial use, including brewery bars where they put the "guest beer" in behind the bar with its own font.

I recently had a look around for a new Kegmate (I now have 3) and Craftbrewer offered the best price and warranty.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Kegerators are comparatively cheap compared to walking into Harvey Norman with $500 in your hand and see what you can get there that's suitable for serving beer, which is basically zip. I've seen a couple in commercial use, including brewery bars where they put the "guest beer" in behind the bar with its own font.

I recently had a look around for a new Kegmate (I now have 3) and Craftbrewer offered the best price and warranty.

Hey Bribie, just looking at your price breakdown for Kks4 vs Kegmate series 3. I'm looking for later this year and Kk seems the cheapest to me.

 

[pcmfisher]

For your cafe? if intent to distribute you might want to check on the laws for selling alcohol on a commercial level, as well as your local councils food safety laws unless you are getting kegs of commercial beer, but in that case you will only want 1 tap on the font as that's all you can fit inside the fridge. If it just for the back break room for yourself when you knock off work, then its a little different story......but to answer your question, KegKing is pretty close to the best your gonna get. There are 2 major kegerator manufactures sold here in Australia, both made in China, and the one that KegKing sells and distributes is the better of the 2 manufactures IMO. You can try Cheeky Peek, Grain and Grape, Craft Brewer, and a handful of others around but they are all the same fridge. Pinnacle on eBay sells the other manufacturer, I'm sure there are some others that sell it, but Pinnacle is the only one that comes to mind at this stage.

He might not be using it for alcohol.

 

[Bribie G]

Hey Bribie, just looking at your price breakdown for Kks4 vs Kegmate series 3. I'm looking for later this year and Kk seems the cheapest to me.

Craftbrewer series 4 $499 which is what I paid for mine about 3 months ago, Keg King $550

??????????

I'd get in quick and preorder.

That's without fonts of course which can be sourced from various sites.

 

[Gweedo]

Kegerators are comparatively cheap compared to walking into Harvey Norman with $500 in your hand and see what you can get there that's suitable for serving beer, which is basically zip. I've seen a couple in commercial use, including brewery bars where they put the "guest beer" in behind the bar with its own font.

I recently had a look around for a new Kegmate (I now have 3) and Craftbrewer offered the best price and warranty.

Hey Bribie, just looking at your price breakdown for Kks4 vs Kegmate series 3. I'm looking for later this year and Kk seems the cheapest to me.

Just wondering if you are both aware that KegKing's and Craftbrewer's kegerators are the exact same thing, as is Grain and Grape's. They are ALL KegMaster Series 4, Ross at Craftbrewer has stopped selling the series 3 and advertises the series 4 on his website and is currently out of stock. They are all roughly the same price for fridge only, $449.00 The difference is that Ross at Craftbrewer sells fridge only and you buy your font and taps seperately and has no option for the cheaper/budget PC fonts and taps, he only offers SS. The other model of kegerator sold by Pinnacle is badged as Euro Grand and IMHO are rubbish as I have seen a mates and it just doesn't hold temp even close to what the display says. seems a bit more flimsy constructed and with the new KegMaster series 4 upgrades to the compressor, I fear it is less efficient. The down sides to the Series 4 on a personal level is the font fan is a waste of time, but then I am used to flooded fonts and it probably does help a little over having no fan at all, the glass holder needs to be removed to fit 3 kegs in and really need flow control taps as standard, as its a spaghetti mess of tubing inside when you have 3 kegs connected up and 3 beer lines at roughly 1.2 - 1.5 meters in length each. You are restricted to an extent of which fonts you can use as there is a hole predrilled on the top. So if you plan on putting a cobra font or some other aftermarket font you will have to cut and drill your fridge top to suit and I think the refrigeration lines run in the top from what one of the fellas at KegKing was telling me, so you would have to drill/cut top first layer, pick out any insulation to inspect for gas lines and then carry forward from there.

Also I am not aware of a kegerator called a KegMate. I am familiar with a newish software system called Yelp KegMate, which is an open source software system hooked up to an Arduino micro controller, sensors and a RFID scanner that send all information to a tablet on or near your kegerator that tells you what beer is on tap, your reviews of the beer and how much you have consumed of that particular keg.

He might not be using it for alcohol.

hence why I said "intent"

 

[Gweedo]

Craftbrewer series 4 $499 which is what I paid for mine about 3 months ago, Keg King $550

??????????

I'd get in quick and preorder.

That's without fonts of course which can be sourced from various sites.

I was in middle of writing last post when you posted this. Craftbrewer is $499 out of stock, and KegKing is $449 in stock and Grain and Grape do not sell "Fridge only" they come with the SS single, double, and triple, with the single starting at $589

 

[Gweedo]

oh and for those that are interested in Yelp KegMate and like to get hands dirty with a little programming here is the link for Yelp KegMate

http://engineeringblog.yelp.com/2010/08/yelp-makes-beer-more-fun.html