Keg tap options - help needed

[H0PM0NSTER]

After many years of bottling my brews, I'd like to try kegging. I have an old fridge in the garage which could fit two kegs... Or will it?

I started looking at 10ltr kegs but have quickly up-sold myself to 19ltr kegs which seem better value and mean I can store a lot more of each brew. However, the internal dimensions of my fridge mean I'll only have 7cm clearance over the keg. Any suggestions for a party style (keg mounted) tap that will fit in the fridge?

I know the obvious answer is to fit an external tap/s on the outside of the fridge but if there's any chance of moving the fridge into the house, it will have to be housed in an attractive wooden cabinet and Mrs Hopmonster won't abide beer taps sticking out of it! I don't mind having to open the door to dispense a pint, but it does mean a keg mounted tap would be easiest and allow me to have one keg dispensing while the other conditions and then swap the tap and co2 from one to the other when ready.

I've found a stainless steel disconnect where the outlet connector is at right angles, so allowing a tap to be connected without the height increase that a normal 45 degree angle disconnect would create. However, I don't know if any tap would be small enough to fit in the space?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

 

[Clint]

Mount taps through door...build fancy wooden box with door..put fridge in box.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Crazy suggestion/idea. Mount the tap/s with short shanks on a bracket secured to the inside of the fridge door so the tap faces into the fridge when the door is closed and “nestles” between the kegs. When you open the fridge door the tap/s swing out so you can pull a beer.

 

[Clint]

Here's an idea..
Do what you like...tell Mrs if she don't like it don't look at it...
It's not a rehearsal...

 

[Buffers brewery]

Another idea. Make a tap bracket from a piece of aluminium sheet to fit your tap to which can then be clamped to the keg using a couple of quick release large diameter hose clips.
https://hcl-clamping.co.uk/products...uXU2slsIm_NEd8oV6wjO4xkOFHKyAfx8aAmn4EALw_wcB

 

[DavidB]

Agree with Buffers Brewery.
Do you have enough clearance between the door and the kegs to mount a tap on the inside of the door? You'd have to be a bit creative on how you mount it but it could be a solution.
There's always party taps and pluto guns to dispense the beer, but really to have any control on how the beer is delivered you either want a standard tap and a calculated quantity of beer line, or else a flow control tap. Given the space you have, a flow control tap might be better.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

Excellent suggestions - thanks chaps. I like the simplicity of fixing the taps onto the outside of the fridge door and just making the cabinet bigger. I hadn't thought of that!

I guess I was also hoping to avoid lots of tubing (and the extra cleaning and sanitation worries) if the tap was keg mounted. I've seen flow control disconnects that supposedly stop frothing issues so was going to try one these. Flow control taps seem to be a rare commodity at the moment. Think there's been a spike in sales as people upgrade their kit in lockdown!