First kegerator build

[Leard]

I'm considering building my first kegerator. I've got my eye on one of the kegerator kits from either Brewkegtap.com or Kegkingdom.co.uk. It seems relatively straight forward. Holes in the door for the two taps and then hook everything up inside.

However my other half has raised a contention about me creating one of these for our 'bar' room (the converted garage). She said I can have one, as long as it actually looks nice. Therefore a straight up conversion of a second hand ugly white under counter fridge isn't the way to go. Has anybody got any tips or how-tos on how to make a kegerator actually look good?

 

[Leon103]

I would research keg kingdom before spending your money with them. There are plenty of threads on here about them. I went with brewkegtap and just bought another keg and tap from them.

I would buy a tall fridge rather than under counter. You will have more room for the kegs and wouldn't need to bend on the floor every time you want a drink.

I simply painted mine with black chalk paint. Some others have used vinyl wrap

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I've seen all sorts on thi internet from chalkboard paint to beer mats etc. I like Dudes Brews on YouTube, though that's a keezer, not a kegerator.

 

[Leard]

My only issue with getting a tall fridge is that I don't own a van or know anybody that does. So I don't know how I would easily get a second hand fridge. Whereas a counter fridge would fit in my car.

 

[Stephenj]

For scale, I collected one yesterday, 177x 57 x55 cm, and it fit in my ford focus with the boot shut and the missus in the seat behind the driver.

 

[Leard]

Yeah unfortunately despite the size of my car, it's not a hatchback. There's a barrier between the back seats and the boot so I'm restricted to stuff that'll fit through the hole (a fridge won't), or things that would fit over the back seats.

 

[phildo79]

Sometimes people on gumtree sell them and include delivery. I got a tall-ish larder fridge for £80. It isn't the biggest available but I can get two kegs plus a gas tank inside. Might be able to get four kegs in if I kept the gas tank on the outside.

 

[Stephenj]

Yeah unfortunately despite the size of my car, it's not a hatchback. There's a barrier between the back seats and the boot so I'm restricted to stuff that'll fit through the hole (a fridge won't), or things that would fit over the back seats.

I hear you. As phildo said many do local delivery, it took 2 weeks of looking every hour on gumtree and missing out on 4 fridges to get this one. Many I saw offered local delivery.

 

[Leon103]

My only issue with getting a tall fridge is that I don't own a van or know anybody that does. So I don't know how I would easily get a second hand fridge. Whereas a counter fridge would fit in my car.

A tall fridge should fit in most cars with the seats down
My fermentation fridge fitted in my old Corsa.

Edit - just saw you have a saloon. Maybe see if there is a local man with a van. If you went small fridge you would need a beer font, or you would be poring beer at knee level. Plus you may struggle to get two kegs in one.

 

[Leard]

Yeah it does seem tricky to get cheap undercounter fridges that would hold two cornys. Looks like a tall fridge is the way forward.

 

[Banbeer]

I wouldn't touch Kegkingdom with a large barge pole, the taps are better with the BrewKegtap set up as well as they're intertaps. I've just started to build mine, I bought a brand new tall fridge a month or so back as I didn't want the hassle of looking for second hand ones during lockdown, also I get a lot better efficiency from my fridge and of course it was delivered. I got a kit with a tap that connects to the corny but flow control is a pain so have just ordered new taps and lines etc from BrewKegtap as I've bought from them before and had reasonable service from them. I got the C02 tank from Hobbyweld (they're nationwide) good luck, I think it's well worth it as I hated bottling day, filling a keg takes about 20mins including sanitising it.

 

[MmmBeer]

For scale, I collected one yesterday, 177x 57 x55 cm, and it fit in my ford focus with the boot shut and the missus in the seat behind the driver.

A piece of advice I was given some years ago, if you turn a fridge on its side (to transport it etc.), always leave it standing upright for 24 hours for the refrigerant to settle in the right places before switching on.

 

[Banbeer]

A piece of advice I was given some years ago, if you turn a fridge on its side (to transport it etc.), always leave it standing upright for 24 hours for the refrigerant to settle in the right places before switching on.

Yes I was not told this and when I moved house ( quite a few years ago) I just turned it straight on and it didn't like it, ended up buying a new one.

 

[Stephenj]

Aye, it'll be standing in the garage for a few days while I sort out space and reconfigure the layout. I'm them gonna test the temp for a few days using inkbird BBQ thermometer

 

[phildo79]

They aren't cheap but a really tall, brand new larder fridge would be the dogs bollocks. We have ones in work that are massive. Would easily hold four kegs plus a lot more above. Probably even four more 9L kegs. Again though, not cheap.

 

[Leard]

They aren't cheap but a really tall, brand new larder fridge would be the dogs bollocks. We have ones in work that are massive. Would easily hold four kegs plus a lot more above. Probably even four more 9L kegs. Again though, not cheap.

That's the dream. I really don't think I'll ever brew that much beer though.

 

[phildo79]

I know what you mean. I have 3 full-ish kegs ATM and that's the most I have ever had.

 

[Vandalay]

I managed to turn an ugly white under counter fridge into a pretty decent kegerator. I covered it in wood and I modified the door so that it left more room for the kegs. There´s no way to put two slims kegs side by side but you could place a 20 litre slim keg (or 5gal corny) and another 15 litre slim keg diagonally over the step. There´s also room for two 1gal minikegs and a small paintball aluminion CO2 tank.
In the photograph you cold see a 10 litre slim keg, there is another one at the back, also two minikegs horizontally on the floor whith flexible dip tubes and a two and a half coke bottle.

 

[Coomzy]

Why not use a chest freezer with a temperature controller? It can be the same size as an under counter fridge. You can extend the height as required with wood and you can fit up to 4 cornys in one if the gas is outside.

Haven't finished mine yet as it's currently just a fermentation chamber but I'm looking to convert shortly. Needless to say you need to extend a shelf out for a beer pump or you can just put taps out through the wood used for height extension.

 

[Coomzy]

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