Here are the links to the kegerator build posts. Better organized for easier reading. Enjoy.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Kegerator Build - Part 3
It helps to shop around for the best deals. Most of the parts were ordered from Micromatic or Beverage Factory web sites.
Materials used for the inside plumbing connections:
One nice feature about the regulator is that the adjustment knob did not require a screwdriver - it has a hand control - unlike the regulator on the Danby kegerator which got kind of annoying when adjusting the PSI.
A small square of wood was attached to the collar for support and the 3-way air distributor was mounted to it. This allows three kegs to be connected to the same air source. 5/16-inch vinyl tubing is connected from the air tank to the distributor, and then each distributor is connected to the keg tap coupler. Plastic clamps secure the tubing in place.
The Brewers Edge temperature controller automatically regulates the temperature inside the freezer. Some people will open up the temperature controls inside the freezer and adjust the wires. I think having a controller is far easier - and if you ever wanted to covert the kegerator back to a freezer, you would simply unplug the temperature controller. Much simpler.
The temperature controller is connected between the power outlet and the freezer. Inside the freezer sits a small probe which monitors the temperature. The probe on this model is submersible, so I actually have it sitting in a bottle of water to help better target the liquid temperature (somewhat simulating what the beer would be within the keg). On the controller, a temperature is set - mine is 38-degrees. The unit will turn on and off the power to the freezer based upon this setting, essentially bypassing the freezer controls.
There is a default 5 degree differential. Even though the controller is set for 38-degrees, it will actually cool the unit down to 33-degrees. As it warms up and hits 38 again, it will turn itself on and start cooling. Apparently this helps prevent wear and tear on the compressor motor, reducing the number of times it has to turn on and off.
The 5 lb. CO2 tank sits inside the kegerator - for now. We may end up moving it outside to save space for other kegs. The process would be simply drilling a hole (just like the one for the temperature probe) into the wooden collar and running the vinyl tubing through to make the connections.
One keg so far. You can see how everything is connected here - blue lines are air hoses connected to the keg coupler from the air distributor. Clear lines are for beer connected from the keg to the shanks. The shanks are connected to the faucets. Obviously the kegerator can be used as a refrigerator storing bottled water and other beer.
With the kegerator design originally we were planning to include a 1x10 wood outter collar that would sit out and overhang down the front of the kegerator. I felt that with this design the 4-inch shank would be a better fit (even though a 3-inch shank would probably work too.) Since we scrapped the idea of an outter collar and because we already had the 4-inch shanks, we found they do stick out past the wood quite a bit. This probably doesn't make a whole lot of difference, but if we were doing it all over again I'd probably get a smaller shank.
Three taps and tap handles...
Every bar needs a blackboard to tell what's on tap. We painted a piece of wood with chalkboard paint and hung it next to three Ikea spice racks that happen to nicely fit pint glasses.
The finished product!
Materials used for the inside plumbing connections:
- Double Gauge Co2 Regulator
- Aluminum 3-Way Air Distributor
- D System Keg Tap Coupler
- 5/16-inch air hose (blue)
- 3/16-inch Beer Line (clear)
- 5 lb. Aluminum Co2 Tank
- 4-1/8" Long Shank with Nipple Assembly and Beer Faucet
- Plastic clamps for tubing
- Brewer's Edge - Temperature Controller
One nice feature about the regulator is that the adjustment knob did not require a screwdriver - it has a hand control - unlike the regulator on the Danby kegerator which got kind of annoying when adjusting the PSI.
A small square of wood was attached to the collar for support and the 3-way air distributor was mounted to it. This allows three kegs to be connected to the same air source. 5/16-inch vinyl tubing is connected from the air tank to the distributor, and then each distributor is connected to the keg tap coupler. Plastic clamps secure the tubing in place.
The Brewers Edge temperature controller automatically regulates the temperature inside the freezer. Some people will open up the temperature controls inside the freezer and adjust the wires. I think having a controller is far easier - and if you ever wanted to covert the kegerator back to a freezer, you would simply unplug the temperature controller. Much simpler.
The temperature controller is connected between the power outlet and the freezer. Inside the freezer sits a small probe which monitors the temperature. The probe on this model is submersible, so I actually have it sitting in a bottle of water to help better target the liquid temperature (somewhat simulating what the beer would be within the keg). On the controller, a temperature is set - mine is 38-degrees. The unit will turn on and off the power to the freezer based upon this setting, essentially bypassing the freezer controls.
There is a default 5 degree differential. Even though the controller is set for 38-degrees, it will actually cool the unit down to 33-degrees. As it warms up and hits 38 again, it will turn itself on and start cooling. Apparently this helps prevent wear and tear on the compressor motor, reducing the number of times it has to turn on and off.
The 5 lb. CO2 tank sits inside the kegerator - for now. We may end up moving it outside to save space for other kegs. The process would be simply drilling a hole (just like the one for the temperature probe) into the wooden collar and running the vinyl tubing through to make the connections.
One keg so far. You can see how everything is connected here - blue lines are air hoses connected to the keg coupler from the air distributor. Clear lines are for beer connected from the keg to the shanks. The shanks are connected to the faucets. Obviously the kegerator can be used as a refrigerator storing bottled water and other beer.
With the kegerator design originally we were planning to include a 1x10 wood outter collar that would sit out and overhang down the front of the kegerator. I felt that with this design the 4-inch shank would be a better fit (even though a 3-inch shank would probably work too.) Since we scrapped the idea of an outter collar and because we already had the 4-inch shanks, we found they do stick out past the wood quite a bit. This probably doesn't make a whole lot of difference, but if we were doing it all over again I'd probably get a smaller shank.
Three taps and tap handles...
Every bar needs a blackboard to tell what's on tap. We painted a piece of wood with chalkboard paint and hung it next to three Ikea spice racks that happen to nicely fit pint glasses.
The finished product!
Kegerator Build - Part 2
The internet is full of information, and in the case of building a kegerator there was lots of material to reference. I was looking for a configuration that is:
It is important to note that I choose a freezer instead of a refrigerator. While a fridge would keep beer cold, it would constantly be running at its coldest setting to maintain this temperature. A freezer is designed to be very cold, so warming it up to the 38-degrees should lessen the strain on the compressor and allow for overall better performance. It gives you a better variety of temperature.
After measuring the freezer and calculating the dimensions of the wood, here is the list of materials used:
Our first attempt at building the wooden collar proved that cheap wood wasn't the best option. The douglas fir wood purchased at Lowes was actually pretty poor quality with gaps and splits in the edges. It probably didn't help that we built the collar on the garage floor which isn't a level surface. Using screws for the corners and the corner braces, we attached everything together. We filled in the gaps with spray foam sealer and covered all of the edges and corners with silicon caulking. Three 1-inch holes were drilled in the front for the shanks.
After applying a coat of paint, we put it on top of the freezer and found it to be significantly uneven.
We removed the collar and began to sand the edges hopefully reducing the gap.
I think we figured that eventually adding the weatherstripping along with the weight from the freezer lid would help to level everything, but in general things just didn't sit right.
After a bit of frustration, we decided to scrap the cheap wood collar and start over. We headed to a local lumber yard who helped us pick out a quality piece of wood. Redwood is a better quality wood anyway, and we thought that the natural color of the wood would look nicer.
So this time we used the polyurethane wood finish instead of paint. Attaching the pieces together we decided to forgo the corner braces and instead used longer and sturdier screws. And this time, we built the collar on top of the freezer, ensuring it would sit level.
After placing the collar flush onto the freezer and making sure it fit snug, we added some weatherstripping along the outer edge to ensure a tight air seal. The weatherstripping has a sticky backside which attaches to the wood. Silicon caulking was applied to all of the seams of the wood as well.
With the weatherstripping in place, the next step was to attach the hinges to the collar. Using the existing holes on the back of the freezer, we attached steel mending plates to the base of the wooden collar. This secures the wood to the freezer. Next was to drill a hole into the lower bottom of the hinge bracket that would line up with a hole on the steel mending plate. A second screw would attach the hinge bracket through the metal plate and into the wood. Finally, a screw went into the wood through the top hole of the hinge bracket.
The hinges work great - the spring action makes the lid really easy to open.
Some of the designs will suggest building an outer collar, but we found this not to be necessary. With the steel mending plates, the wooden collar is securely attached to the freezer and everything feels to be really solid.
For added functionality, we attached a metal wall-mount bottle opener to the side. The kegerator will function as a refrigerator which makes it a perfect place to store bottles of beer not on tap.
Next up... the inside plumbing.
- Big enough to store and distribute beer from multiple kegs
- Cold enough to prevent foam issues
- Easy to setup
- Bonus: energy efficient
It is important to note that I choose a freezer instead of a refrigerator. While a fridge would keep beer cold, it would constantly be running at its coldest setting to maintain this temperature. A freezer is designed to be very cold, so warming it up to the 38-degrees should lessen the strain on the compressor and allow for overall better performance. It gives you a better variety of temperature.
- 14.9 cubic foot Frigidaire chest freezer - energy star rated
After measuring the freezer and calculating the dimensions of the wood, here is the list of materials used:
Two 8ft douglas fir 2x8 boards- One 14ft 2x8 redwood board - cut to dimensions of the chest freezer- Stainless steel bolts and screws
Steel corner braces- Steel mending plates
- Silicon caulking
- Rubber weatherstripping
- Polyurethane wood finish
Our first attempt at building the wooden collar proved that cheap wood wasn't the best option. The douglas fir wood purchased at Lowes was actually pretty poor quality with gaps and splits in the edges. It probably didn't help that we built the collar on the garage floor which isn't a level surface. Using screws for the corners and the corner braces, we attached everything together. We filled in the gaps with spray foam sealer and covered all of the edges and corners with silicon caulking. Three 1-inch holes were drilled in the front for the shanks.
After applying a coat of paint, we put it on top of the freezer and found it to be significantly uneven.
We removed the collar and began to sand the edges hopefully reducing the gap.
I think we figured that eventually adding the weatherstripping along with the weight from the freezer lid would help to level everything, but in general things just didn't sit right.
After a bit of frustration, we decided to scrap the cheap wood collar and start over. We headed to a local lumber yard who helped us pick out a quality piece of wood. Redwood is a better quality wood anyway, and we thought that the natural color of the wood would look nicer.
So this time we used the polyurethane wood finish instead of paint. Attaching the pieces together we decided to forgo the corner braces and instead used longer and sturdier screws. And this time, we built the collar on top of the freezer, ensuring it would sit level.
After placing the collar flush onto the freezer and making sure it fit snug, we added some weatherstripping along the outer edge to ensure a tight air seal. The weatherstripping has a sticky backside which attaches to the wood. Silicon caulking was applied to all of the seams of the wood as well.
With the weatherstripping in place, the next step was to attach the hinges to the collar. Using the existing holes on the back of the freezer, we attached steel mending plates to the base of the wooden collar. This secures the wood to the freezer. Next was to drill a hole into the lower bottom of the hinge bracket that would line up with a hole on the steel mending plate. A second screw would attach the hinge bracket through the metal plate and into the wood. Finally, a screw went into the wood through the top hole of the hinge bracket.
The hinges work great - the spring action makes the lid really easy to open.
Some of the designs will suggest building an outer collar, but we found this not to be necessary. With the steel mending plates, the wooden collar is securely attached to the freezer and everything feels to be really solid.
For added functionality, we attached a metal wall-mount bottle opener to the side. The kegerator will function as a refrigerator which makes it a perfect place to store bottles of beer not on tap.
Next up... the inside plumbing.
Kegerator Build - Part 1
This is the story of building a kegerator. But first, some context.
I purchased a kegerator about a year ago from Costco. Made by Danby, it was basically a smaller freezer that included all of the keg distribution hardware. Assembly was simple out of the box and for its purposes, the kegerator was decent. It fit all sized kegs - including the wide band Coors and the 15.5 gallon model. Initially the kegerator didn't come with the keg stand (see picture below), but a call to Danby and a discussion with their customer service department finally got one shipped.
There was a major problem I had with foamy beer. Every pour would produce about half of a glass of head. Adjusting the pressure did not help at all. PSI too low caused flat beer, and too high was just way too much foam. I posted my problem to the kegerator forums on Micromatic and got some really good advice.
Apparently this is a common problem with Danby kegerators - the liquid temperature of the beer does not get cold enough. Since the unit is basically a freezer, it does have the ability to get extremely cold but they've installed a temperature sensor there to prevent ice and freezing which inadvertently prevents it from getting cold enough. When the sensor detects ice, it will start warming up the kegerator. The external display will read 38 degrees, but upon measuring the liquid temperature of the beer, you'll find it to be 40-42 degrees. Hence the foam.
The folks on the Micromatic forums were every helpful and directed me to a thread describing some kegerator improvements, specifically for the Danby model. Some people get pretty detailed with their improvements - adding a fan and blower to cool the draft tower, bypassing the temperature controls with an external controller, and even adding longer beer lines. For my setup, the installation of a 33k resistor (less than a dollar at Radio Shack) in the sensor actually allowed the beer to get cold enough and fixed the biggest problem!
While this kegerator served us well, it certainty wasn't perfect. Despite my desire for making additional improvements, it just didn't make sense to keep the Danby kegerator considering the physical limitations of the model. Plus, in talking to someone who brews beer for a living and drinking beer from his kegerator (which he said was built in one weekend), I realized there was potential for something better out there.
So, a quick post to Craigslist and the Danby kegerator is now gone. Onto building a new kegerator.
I purchased a kegerator about a year ago from Costco. Made by Danby, it was basically a smaller freezer that included all of the keg distribution hardware. Assembly was simple out of the box and for its purposes, the kegerator was decent. It fit all sized kegs - including the wide band Coors and the 15.5 gallon model. Initially the kegerator didn't come with the keg stand (see picture below), but a call to Danby and a discussion with their customer service department finally got one shipped.
There was a major problem I had with foamy beer. Every pour would produce about half of a glass of head. Adjusting the pressure did not help at all. PSI too low caused flat beer, and too high was just way too much foam. I posted my problem to the kegerator forums on Micromatic and got some really good advice.
Apparently this is a common problem with Danby kegerators - the liquid temperature of the beer does not get cold enough. Since the unit is basically a freezer, it does have the ability to get extremely cold but they've installed a temperature sensor there to prevent ice and freezing which inadvertently prevents it from getting cold enough. When the sensor detects ice, it will start warming up the kegerator. The external display will read 38 degrees, but upon measuring the liquid temperature of the beer, you'll find it to be 40-42 degrees. Hence the foam.
The folks on the Micromatic forums were every helpful and directed me to a thread describing some kegerator improvements, specifically for the Danby model. Some people get pretty detailed with their improvements - adding a fan and blower to cool the draft tower, bypassing the temperature controls with an external controller, and even adding longer beer lines. For my setup, the installation of a 33k resistor (less than a dollar at Radio Shack) in the sensor actually allowed the beer to get cold enough and fixed the biggest problem!
While this kegerator served us well, it certainty wasn't perfect. Despite my desire for making additional improvements, it just didn't make sense to keep the Danby kegerator considering the physical limitations of the model. Plus, in talking to someone who brews beer for a living and drinking beer from his kegerator (which he said was built in one weekend), I realized there was potential for something better out there.
So, a quick post to Craigslist and the Danby kegerator is now gone. Onto building a new kegerator.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
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