Keezer/Keggerator Dilemma.

[Gerryjo]

I'm having a dilemma about whether to go Keezer or Keggerator and the reason is I'm buying a new fridge or freezer to convert.I already have a two tap Keggerator but it's an old fridge and the missus wants a new one for the brew room I've recently converted from the garage.
I already have 4 kegs plus a mobile kegging kit ordered but I'm torn at the minute as I can see pros and cons for both.Ideally 3 kegs on tap will be plenty as I've started Brewing hard Seltzer which the missus and daughter like on tap and would like more plus I can have 2 for my own with a free 19l and 10l kegs left over for rotation.
Any thoughts on fridge dimensions internally as I know my kegs are 24cm wide and most fridges only give external dimensions and internal insulation varies with each fridge and freezer as I know with 5 in the house though when I purchase new it will reduce it to 4 to make space.
Any thoughts are appreciated and budget will be up to £300 but cheaper if I can.

 

[Gerryjo]

Looking for ideas.Bump

 

[samale]

I can measure my larder fridge when I get home. Freezer or fridge I think it's down to personal choice. The freezer looks great all boxed in with a tap tower.

 

[Mayor of Simpleton]

I spent £200 on a brand new indesit tall larder fridge. It fits 4 of the large Cornies in easy

 

[Braufather]

I spent £200 on a brand new indesit tall larder fridge. It fits 4 of the large Cornies in easy

I bought the same a year or two back. Really happy with it.

 

[Gerryjo]

Just had a chat with the missus and have decided to go with a larder fridge but the new one I buy will replace our existing one which I will take as it will accommodate 4 kegs with no issues.
Don't feel right butchering a brand new fridge which means I won't have to buy another in a few years.

 

[phettebs]

I bought a brand new (on sale) freezer for my current kegerator. The reason I went with a freezer vs. fridge is that there was no drilling or cutting required on the freezer. I simply remove the lid. Build a wooden collar. Place the collar on top of the freezer body and attach the lid to the collar. Then, all drilling for lines and taps goes through the wood collar. That way A) I don't hit any cooling lines or mess anything up. B) I can return it to a freezer if I ever wanted to do so.

 

[chillipickle]

Four kegs will keep you busy brewing

 

[Gerryjo]

I bought a brand new (on sale) freezer for my current kegerator. The reason I went with a freezer vs. fridge is that there was no drilling or cutting required on the freezer. I simply remove the lid. Build a wooden collar. Place the collar on top of the freezer body and attach the lid to the collar. Then, all drilling for lines and taps goes through the wood collar. That way A) I don't hit any cooling lines or mess anything up. B) I can return it to a freezer if I ever wanted to do so.

Looked at the Keezer route for down the line and thought about heaving a full keg into it whereas the fridge is direct access plus it's a direct swap from my current set-up.

 

[Graz]

I can only really vote with respect to what I have which is a tall larder fridge which I've adapted to house 3 kegs, taps etc. I could probably get 4 kegs in there with the CO2 bottle outside, it currently has three + the CO2. The door had a bit of plastic bulging out, possibly from a milk holder or something that I had to cut off to get it to close. As it is quite big I can store other drinks in there and there's still even a drawer at the bottom that sometimes gets used as an overflow from our main fridge at busy times (i.e. Christmas). I could even fit a pressure barrel above the kegs which I had considered doing for low carbonation brews.

The choice was largely dictated by the space I had in our garage which already houses a chest freezer (for food) and my two brew fridges (undercounter larder fridges stacked on top of each other). Wouldn't ever consider buying new, there always coming up on eBay and so on, got mine for about £80 locally.

If I was in a position to have a dedicated brewing / drinking room (next house!) then a keezer might be preferable as it can hold more and could look quite neat as part of a bar setup.

 

[MickDundee]

A) I don't hit any cooling lines or mess anything up.

Most fridges these days only have the cooling lines in the back of the fridge. My taps are in the door.

I went for a tall fridge because I don’t have the basic joinery skills required to build a keezer collar

 

[HarryFlatters]

I built a keezer, but if you've any kind of dodgy back or tennis elbow or anything, please remember that lifting a full keg into position, over the top of a chest freezer with collar, isn't easy. So much so, that I'm setting up a winch to help me.

 

[Doive]

I built a keezer to accommodate three cornys. My thinking was that for lagering, a keezer could easily get down to 2C as it's designed to run permanently at -18C, whereas a fridge would struggle as it is designed to run at ~3C. I tested this theory out by reducing my controller in 1C increments to see how cold it could reliably sustain - ended up with a frozen keg. So it could be used to finish an eisbock as well...!

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

I'm just finishing a kegerator as a) I bought a fridge years ago to use as a brew fridge, but had never used it for that and b) a lack of space, but thr best thing to do is probably make a list of pros and cons for each and watch a few videos online.

 

[foxbat]

Looked at the Keezer route for down the line and thought about heaving a full keg into it whereas the fridge is direct access plus it's a direct swap from my current set-up.

I have a keezer and after doing my back in lifting a full keg into it I now fill them directly in-place from a pipe attached to the fermenter outlet valve positioned higher up. It's not just the weight of a full keg it's that you have to lift it high and ease it gently and accurately down into the keezer avoiding all pipes and tap work. If you don't have a system worked out for that then I'd go with a kegerator.

 

[Redwulf]

I'm in the process of overhauling my Keezer and thought it might be helpful to share.

The main benefits I can see for a Keezer which you might not have considered is the nice flat Bar-top/workspace you get.

If you put the taps on top you can get it into a tight space. My cupboard is about 75cm deep, so it would be tight getting a fridge with front mounted taps in there.

I had mine sat on a dolly of 4x2" timber which added about 5-6" to the height with the wheels I put on, other than moving it to the cupboard from the garage I've never had to move it so it has been taken off the dolly and taken the front and side panels off. I'll replace them with metallic vinyl.

After living with mine for a nearly a year there are a couple of things other than the height I am changing. I have in-line regulators and the positioning of them inside was a mistake in hindsight, so I am going to rework the top box and shelves so I can fit another tap and/or an itap for bottling and have a chamber for the inline regulators.

 

[Gerryjo]

So change of plans again and may have to go the Keezer route as the new fridge is 50l less than our present one and with six of us

I have a keezer and after doing my back in lifting a full keg into it I now fill them directly in-place from a pipe attached to the fermenter outlet valve positioned higher up. It's not just the weight of a full keg it's that you have to lift it high and ease it gently and accurately down into the keezer avoiding all pipes and tap work. If you don't have a system worked out for that then I'd go with a kegerator.

Love the idea of filling in situ and certainly gives it more looking into.Cheers.

 

[Gerryjo]

I'm in the process of overhauling my Keezer and thought it might be helpful to share.

The main benefits I can see for a Keezer which you might not have considered is the nice flat Bar-top/workspace you get.

If you put the taps on top you can get it into a tight space. My cupboard is about 75cm deep, so it would be tight getting a fridge with front mounted taps in there.

View attachment 47050View attachment 47049

I had mine sat on a dolly of 4x2" timber which added about 5-6" to the height with the wheels I put on, other than moving it to the cupboard from the garage I've never had to move it so it has been taken off the dolly and taken the front and side panels off. I'll replace them with metallic vinyl.

After living with mine for a nearly a year there are a couple of things other than the height I am changing. I have in-line regulators and the positioning of them inside was a mistake in hindsight, so I am going to rework the top box and shelves so I can fit another tap and/or an itap for bottling and have a chamber for the inline regulators.

Always good to hear from others of their pros and cons so as it can be seen from a different perspective..

 

[Redwulf]

Always good to hear from others of their pros and cons so as it can be seen from a different perspective..

Just thought of something else, If you go down the coffin keezer route think about your line length and serving pressure. Up to now I've been running 3m beer 3/16 beer line which is fine except I've been brewing fizzier belgian brews recently and its out of balance and I've been a bit lazy in changing line length.

My planned solution for this is to run 1m 3/16" beer line from the tap to an inline connector and then use either a 2m, 3m or maybe even 4m line to the keg depending on the style/carbonation of the brew. In my mind I would set the line up as I set the mini regulator up and then adjust the pressure for the perfect pour.

 

[Gerryjo]

Just thought of something else, If you go down the coffin keezer route think about your line length and serving pressure. Up to now I've been running 3m beer 3/16 beer line which is fine except I've been brewing fizzier belgian brews recently and its out of balance and I've been a bit lazy in changing line length.

My planned solution for this is to run 1m 3/16" beer line from the tap to an inline connector and then use either a 2m, 3m or maybe even 4m line to the keg depending on the style/carbonation of the brew. In my mind I would set the line up as I set the mini regulator up and then adjust the pressure for the perfect pour.

I have flow control taps at the minute but if it changes I'll certainly bear that in mind.Cheers.