Show us your upright refrigerator "Kegerator" conversion.

Just giving this a bump for any other submissions to this thread.

kerber said:

Here's my 1950's GE Kegerator. It's been repainted and given a new Arduino brain.

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That is one sexy kegerator! Let me know if you want some SS handles for it.

Mine is still under construction but at least I have a few beers on tap for nowhttps://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-stainless-kegerator-build-334717/

Very nice man... I read through your build thread as well. Is that compressor still holding up?

Huaco said:

Very nice man... I read through your build thread as well. Is that compressor still holding up?

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No problems so far.

Oh, I have an upright! Full build thread in my sig.

Just my conversion of a 10 cubic foot Whirlpool fridge/freezer...




The box at the bottom of the pic is to prevent the outside door from hitting the taps/drip tray. I plan on installing a door stop on one of the door hinges to take it's place.

Current tap handles.

I'll try to get a full pic later.

I had to install the piece of wood because the taps were hitting the door and wouldn't shut all the way off. One downside to the custom tap handle

I've already added the grommets for the 2nd co2 line to go in from the outside. I just need to get my actual co2 lines run and everything hooked up now

Here's mine. Fits 6 kegs easily with the door shelving replaced with sheet of galvanized steel. The CO2 tank has a dual regulator with each line running to a separate 3 way manifold. That way I can have either 2 different dispensing pressures or force carb easily. The chalk board is galvanized steel and chalkboard paint.

Here is an upright freezer, makes nice storage for beers,yeast, etc

I like the names and nice setup Norm.

Here is my upright side by side. It serves as a fermentation chamber as well as serving beer to the brewery staff (that's me!) and any friends who drop by.

The whole setup is getting torn out shortly and replaced with a keezer. This fridge will remain in the bar on a another wall to hold special beers.

Here is the start of my conversion...
I am taking cues from BeerSawks in my build... afterall, I purchased the 3 tap backsplash and drip tray from him... Thanks man...

Phase I:

Had my first pint out of my newly converted kegerator this evening!

The labels were actually reversed and I actually poured a pint of Dus Alt in this picture... Those were quickly switched after I picked up the beer and tasted it! lol...

First I had to replace the "door panel" with another plastic sheet to save some depth room in the fridge. I used the stuff you can line showers with. Find it at box stores in the lumber section close to peg board. I pulled the old magnetic seal off as well as the door shelves and used it as a template for my new flat panel.


I wanted to tie the top and bottom door together because I want to be able to use full size tap handles in the future. I have a buddy who is a world renowned bagpipe maker and I think I will get him to turn some handles for me. I want a handle for Scottish ales in the shape of a Chanter... Anyway, I took a 5/16 bolt and cut the head and treads off leaving the smooth shank. I filed off any sharp edges from the use of my bolt cutters and dropped it right into the plastic grommet in the doors used to carry the hinges (on the unused side).


I'm able to fit (6) ball locks with a 5 pound bottle in the fridge. I pre-measured what I needed to cut to build a platform and threw together the 2x4 and 1x4 platform this evening after work. It works well!


Completely excited to have "hard taps" and have the kegs out of the fermentation chamber!

Huaco, looks great! I've got a similar style fridge in my basement that I am hoping to do a similar conversion to. Have been bottling for over 2 years now, and I'm ready to move to kegs. The fridge came from my folks' house which we are emptying and preparing to sell now that their in assisted living. Been nice to have a beer fridge and have the extra freezer space.

Are you still able to use the freezer portion as a freezer? I assume so, and that you just connected the doors to avoid hitting longer handles when opening the freezer.

I'm only planning on two faucets, through the front door. I'm sure the fridge could hold 4, but I don't brew enough to have that many kegs going at one time. Will probably build a similar platform floor, but add some shelves up one side so I can still store bottles in there with the 2 corny kegs.

I see in several of these converted fridges that people mount manifolds to the inner wall, back wall, inner door, etc. I would imagine screwing a manifold attached to a plank of wood to the back wall of the fridge means you best know where the coolant lines are, right?

Going to take this slowly, research and plan, as I really know nothing about kegging, and I want to make sure I plan out everything before I touch a drill.

Thanks Jim,
I am REALLY enjoying having the beer on tap. It sure beats bottling.
I plan to mount my manifold on little hooks screwed into a piece of 1x4. (Tea cup hooks i think is what they are called?) I plan to use JB weld to epoxy the wood to the inside of the fridge. This keeps me from accidentally puncturing a line as well as making the manifold easily removable.

Few questions for the group:

1) at what height from the floor are you mounting your shanks?
2) For those with draining drip tray, where does the other end of the hose go? (i.e. the drain)
3) Where are you getting drip trays?
4) For those who combine stout faucets and regular faucets what are you doing for handles?
4a) What are you doing for gases since you need both beer gas and CO2? Inside or outside?

I have a spare fridge (now that we replaced the kitchen fridge with a 4 door stainless french door model $$$) and have bought shanks for one stout and two regular faucets. I have a 20lb CO2 tank I plan to use for beer gas and a 5lb tank for CO2 and was planning to put it all into the fridge (if it fits of course), so figure I am limited to three kegs/taps

geepmaley said:

Few questions for the group:

1) at what height from the floor are you mounting your shanks?

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The height that works well with the fridge used. It will vary by person's height as well as the fridge.

2) For those with draining drip tray, where does the other end of the hose go? (i.e. the drain)

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Mine doesn't have a drain in it. So no need to worry about that. Plus, I don't pour so much into each pint glass that I get overflow.

3) Where are you getting drip trays?

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There are several suppliers. I believe I got mine from Keg Connection.

4) For those who combine stout faucets and regular faucets what are you doing for handles?

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I'm not using a true stout faucet, but have two 'creamer' faucets on my brew fridge. So, one 525SS and two 575SS faucets in use.

4a) What are you doing for gases since you need both beer gas and CO2? Inside or outside?

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With the 20# CO2 tank and dual body regulator, the CO2 side is outside the fridge. It would have been tough to fit even a 5# CO2 tank inside with a single body regulator. With the gas system mostly outside (I have a pair of manifolds inside) it's not an issue. Plus, I can see what the gas status is at a quick glance. I only open the brew fridge to change kegs out (that includes cleaning the lines). I feed the Co2 into the fridge via gas bulkhead fittings.

I have a spare fridge (now that we replaced the kitchen fridge with a 4 door stainless french door model $$$) and have bought shanks for one stout and two regular faucets. I have a 20lb CO2 tank I plan to use for beer gas and a 5lb tank for CO2 and was planning to put it all into the fridge (if it fits of course), so figure I am limited to three kegs/taps

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I would advise putting the CO2 system (tank and regulator) outside the fridge. There are far more benefits from doing this. Not the least of which is room for another keg.

My brew fridge (a 10 cubic foot model bought from Sears and then setup for kegs right from the start):



BTW, the freezer is full of hops.

Finally getting into making my kegerator. Got an old ('90) GE kitchen fridge that used to be my folks'. Been using it in the basement for a year as a back up and beer fridge. Not big as far as kitchen fridges go, and it's a top freezer set up. My hope is to start with one, but go to two faucets. If I can keep one side of the fridge useable for things other than beer, my wife would obviously be happier. And I don't brew enough to be one of you guys who has 6 kegs on tap with a few more spots for lager brewing, etc. So. I will post some pics to show what I'm dealing with.

Pulled the two bottom drawers and the full width shelf that held them. (bottom shelf was weak and plastic). There's a good sized indent across the back bottom of the fridge which limits depth. So, I'm going to build a shelf with 3/4" plywood and some 2x4 front legs, resting the back of the shelf in the slot where the shelf that held the drawers had fit.

The issue is that I am trying to keep the two glass shelves (one with a small drawer) in there on the right. If I'm going to have just the two corney kegs on the left, this will work, but if I keep the CO2 tank in there was well, it's not happening easily. I haven't removed the door shelves, which eat into the space in the front of course.

So as I see it, I have a few options:
1. leave the CO2 tank outside the fridge, which means drilling a hole in the side of the fridge (which COULD lead to issues if not lucky)
2. lose one of the two right side shelves and put the CO2 tank on the bottom right (the plywood shelf was only going to be as wide as the left half of the fridge, so there's more space on the bottom right)
3. remove all the shelves and build wood shelving that allows the tank and 2 kegs to fit more easily.
4. remove the door shelving which MIGHT give enough space front to back on the left to allow for the tank and two kegs more easily.

Bump

here is mine.. got the second tap in now.. has been flawless.



https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-kegarator-icebox-antique-style-470118/

Looking good!
How many cornies could you squeeze in there?

Here is the old girl, finally up and running.

Showing up late here but I'm making the switch from a chest freezer to an upright fridge. What size cu ft do you guys have and how many kegs can you fit? Also do you temp control it or just run it at normal fridge temps?

I thought since the thread was revived from the dead, I'd post a progress pic of my new kegerator. I'm still working on it to get it "complete" i.e. finish the gas systems... I'll soon be bulkheading for CO2 and Beergas to be used on my stout tap. So, there are 5 taps in total. This is a 19.5 FT^3 upright freezer. I removed the door panel with shelves to make more room for kegs and replaced it with a sheet of FRP. I got a steal on this freezer on CL... $25! It works just fine too. I had to replace the door gasket, it was a bit torn and got thrown away by SWIMBO. This should serve my homebrew needs many years!
(nevermind the corn starch on the side. I was trying to locate lines...)

Had this built out for awhile now. Starting to work on getting the 3rd tap running (was installed, just never running); swapping out for Perlicks 630SS taps and some interior modifications to control that nest of tubing....

Morebeer had the manifold as their deal-of-the-day last week so I picked one up and started converting a fridge to a kegerator. Using picnic taps right now until I can save up enough to buy four faucets.

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Biyobe said:

Had this built out for awhile now. Starting to work on getting the 3rd tap running (was installed, just never running); swapping out for Perlicks 630SS taps and some interior modifications to control that nest of tubing....

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Strong first post. Welcome aboard

To those who painted- What type of paint did ya'll use on your kegerators?

Cheers

She's ugly, but she puts out.

AgBrew12 said:

To those who painted- What type of paint did ya'll use on your kegerators?

Cheers

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I used a coat of primer and a coat of chalkboard paint, aerosol can.

Finished... used a bottom freezer so taps are at perfect height.. 2 draft taps and a third keg on the beer engine... balancing the temp for the real ales on beer engine is a pain but workable... logo and tap titles are printed magnets ran a competition on a freelance website to design the logo... I’m done lol