Its about time!

Finally convinced SWMBO that I needed to start kegging. She usually helped me bottle so there wasn't much convincing to do

This is the 7.0 cu. ft Magic Chef chest freezer from Home Depot plus $15 of stuff to build the collar.


Fits 4 kegs perfectly with enough room on the hump for a carboy (for lagering) or two more kegs with a taller collar.

I need to add some caulk to seal it up. That is my pumpkin ale waiting to go into a keg.

Anyone else have this?


EDIT: Sorry about the poor grammar on the the title

Congrats, it looks nice so far.

me = jealous

If you received it empty, it doesn't contain contents so you are good to go.

I could use some bottles!!

I've been wanting a fridge or freezer for lagering/fermenting lately, with the possibility of converting later for another kegerator... how many carboys do you think you could fit in there..??

mrk305 said:

I could use some bottles!!

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Sure!!! I was actually going to make a thread asking anyone in the Atlanta area if they needed bottles. I don't have a lot of empty ones at the moment as I bottled a batch last week, send me a PM in a couple weeks though.

Jester said:

I've been wanting a fridge or freezer for lagering/fermenting lately, with the possibility of converting later for another kegerator... how many carboys do you think you could fit in there..??

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Depends on the size of the carboys.

Inside it is 17in deep and 20in wide to the hump and the hump is 8in...you do the math

Beerrific said:

Sure!!! I was actually going to make a thread asking anyone in the Atlanta area if they needed bottles. I don't have a lot of empty ones at the moment as I bottled a batch last week, send me a PM in a couple weeks though.

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Sounds great! I live close enough to pick them up. I share too much and have to buy more every other week or so!

Sounds like you need to enforce an empties trade-in policy on any outgoing brew!

Vanessa

Looks great. I have the exact same one but I have yet to make any modifications. I have some questions for you though:

*How hard was it to build the collar? How did you make it? Did you just measure the outer perimeter and buy wood to fit it and hold it all together with the corner brackets?

*When I eventually build my collar, I plan on making it big enough so that I can fit a 5th and or 6th keg. Would that be feasible?

*When you are doing your lagering in there, are you doing the first stage (50ish degrees), or the second stage (mid 30's) in the freezer? I ask because I was thinking about doing a lager, but dont want to serve my beer in the 50's. When winter hits, it gets in the 50s in my basement, so i can lager then, but I was wondering if you had some way of having two different temps in the same freezer.

Thanks in advance for any help.

cubbies said:

*How hard was it to build the collar? How did you make it? Did you just measure the outer perimeter and buy wood to fit it and hold it all together with the corner brackets?

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Easy took me about 2 hours. Used a 1x8, measured the inner dimensions (inside of the little lip), cut the wood eaxtly, put it in place, screwed the pieces together at the corners, and then added some L brackets on the corners for added support. Although it is not in the picture I used some caulking to seal the cracks. I am considering adding some L brackets between the collar and the top of the freezer for added support in the vertical direction but don't really need it at the moment since the wood is in their really tight.

cubbies said:

*When I eventually build my collar, I plan on making it big enough so that I can fit a 5th and or 6th keg. Would that be feasible?

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Yes. I think the added height from the 1x8 is all you would need. Might be close but I think it would fit.

cubbies said:

*When you are doing your lagering in there, are you doing the first stage (50ish degrees), or the second stage (mid 30's) in the freezer? I ask because I was thinking about doing a lager, but don't want to serve my beer in the 50's. When winter hits, it gets in the 50s in my basement, so i can lager then, but I was wondering if you had some way of having two different temps in the same freezer.

Thanks in advance for any help.

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I have not lagered in this yet. I actually have an old dorm fridge (does not work) that I am going to put next to the freezer with a duct and a fan from the freezer to the fridge. I think that I will be able to maintain fermentation temps in their (ale or lager) and use the main freezer for lagering/cold conditioning and serving kegs.

Man I can't wait to start kegging. I'm heading down to Best Buy tomorrow to see if I can pick up a Sanyo.

Time to drill some 1" holes and install the next level of hardware:



Awesome job. You'll love having four beers flowing. ...like...should I have the stout tonight???...or maybe I'm in the mood for something hoppy...no wait....my Anchor Steam clone should be bout perfect right now...then that porter sounds awful good on this cold night...oh...he11...I'll just have one of each...

Yep. Life is gonna get tough.

Looks great!

A couple of weeks ago, I got an old free fridge off of CL, and in fact I just mounted my taps about 10 minutes ago, but I'm not sure how long I'll be able to use it. It seems to run way too much, and the compressor gets might hot to the touch... As such, I'm looking into getting a chest freezer myself.

One question for ya ... did you attach the collar to the body of the freezer, or is it just resting there? It seems like lifting the lid might shift the whole shebang, if it wasn't attached.

BierMuncher said:

Time to drill some 1" holes and install the next level of hardware:

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Well, I don't know about that. No quite yet. I have to get a CO2 tank and regulator first. But that is in the works for the end of the year...I have to do this whole thing slowly so I don't get the "Do you know how much money you spent on beer this month" line from SWMBO.

Beerrific said:

Fits 4 kegs perfectly with enough room on the hump for a carboy (for lagering) or two more kegs with a taller collar.
View attachment 2680
I need to add some caulk to seal it up. That is my pumpkin ale waiting to go into a k

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Something that might help keep the cold in even more is some expanded polystyrene(styofoam) insulation board on the inside of the wood collar.

Brew Runner said:

Something that might help keep the cold in even more is some expanded polystyrene(styofoam) insulation board on the inside of the wood collar.

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Yeah I had thought about that. I have taken temp readings on the wood and on the top and they are the same, so I don't think I am loosing much heat through the wood. I might add some if I have a use for it in the future.