[rayallen]

Ive been wanting a kegerator long before I even thought of brewing.

Tonight I went out and bought a chest freezer to convert into my keezer. I really like the way a tower looks over having to build a collar and running the taps out the front. Is there really a benefit over one or the other (tower or out the colar)?

Im not going to buy this kit, but is this really all I need besides the ball lock 5g Corney? I want to run 4taps to start.

http://www.kegworks.com/product.php?productid=16432&cat=423&page=1

Any recommendations on a temp control for the freezer and if I have to have the C02 tank on the outside what is the best way to run the gas line into the freezer?

Am I missing anything?

Sorry for the newbie questions, but id rather get it right the 1st time.

[oscarvan]

The link you provided is for a Sanke connection.... you mentioned ball locks. Make sure you get stuff that connects. There are a lot of reasons to have the CO2 outside of the keezer. Bring the line in through the collar. If you want four taps, you need to go through the collar, unless you want to spend a LOT of money on  a tower that will hold four. No experience with controllers, yet.

[dano14041]

for the ball lock kegs you will need disconnects similar to the ones the arrows in this link are pointing at. http://stores.kegconnection.com/StoreFront.bok

I have had good luck with an analog Johnson controller, but would go with the digital if I had to do it over again.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/johnson-digital-temperature-controller.html

[rayallen]

ive found a affordable tower with three taps so that probably what im going to do.

thanks for the link to the temp controll. Exactly what im looking for.

[gsandel]

The set up you show has a Sanke coupler for American commercial style kegs.  You would need ball or pin lock (depending on your kegs) gas and beer couplers.  The tower shown has one faucet, so to run 4 kegs you would also need either 3 more towers and faucet combos or a tower that had 4 faucets.  You also will likely need more 3/16" beer line to balance the system than is shown for each tap (I use about 10 feet...there are other threads about this), a gas manifold to split the gas to each of the kegs, some gas line to run from manifold to kegs....

I opted for the collar, for ease of build, but agree that the tower looks nice.  I just finished my build and am still learning about my system....see my blog for info/pics.....I didn't detail the building, but talk about the problems and show the freezer.

Oh, and my chest freezer had a nice plug in the back of the lid (and no coils in the lid, either) where I could run electric into, but your gas could go through that too, just drill through the insulation.  There are a number of nice plug in style controllers available at HBS if you don't want to worry about wiring and mounting something like a Love controller.  

good luck.  It is a fun and satisfying build when complete.

g

[rayallen]

thanks guys, i think im ready to give this ago.

im going with the 3 or 4 tap tower and will be buying everything I need. Hopefully I can work on the keezer this weekend.

Will document my build...

[dano14041]

I don't know if this will affect you or your decision about the collar, but IIRC some people put the collar on the gain height to put kegs on the compressor hump. I have no experience with it, but I have read that a 2 or 3 gal keg will fit on the hump without the collar, but a 5 gal corny keg won't.

[rayallen]

I don't know if this will affect you or your decision about the collar, but IIRC some people put the collar on the gain height to put kegs on the compressor hump. I have no experience with it, but I have read that a 2 or 3 gal keg will fit on the hump without the collar, but a 5 gal corny keg won't.

Good Advice, definately something to think about.

[corkybstewart]

I started with a tower on top of my freezer but soon realized that I had to pull the whole thing away from the wall to open it, and that was a real PITA.  I also had a lot more foam issues with the tower so after a year I did away with the tower and built the collar.  I never regretted it for a minute.

[rayallen]

I started with a tower on top of my freezer but soon realized that I had to pull the whole thing away from the wall to open it, and that was a real PITA.  I also had a lot more foam issues with the tower so after a year I did away with the tower and built the collar.  I never regretted it for a minute.

Definately take that into consideration. You guys have me leaning towards the color. Save money that way to.

[tschmidlin]

I also chose a collar because it is a lot easier to start with one faucet and add them as you want (or as you get the money).  And towers are expensive for the 5 kegs that I can fit in my keezer with the collar - without the collar I could only fit 3 kegs.

And should you ever decide to get rid of the freezer, it is much easier to remove the collar and sell a chest freezer than one with a hole or two drilled in the lid.

[oscarvan]

Oh, and I don't know if anyone has told you so, and if they have ignore me, but BE VERY CAREFUL DRILLING INTO THE WALL OF A CHEST FREEZER.   Psssssssssssssssssssssssst.

[gsandel]

Another reason for a collar....you can drill into it and avoid marring the freezer altogether.

[rayallen]

Ive choosen to go with the collar for sure.

[rjharper]

I did the collar, and went from 2 taps, to 3, to 5, to 6...  Its the Pimp My System feature this month if you want to look at ideas