The Craigerator

Brew buddy Jim Gramprie calls this contraption a Craigerator. He is really smart, especially about all  things beer, so I won't argue with him. Home brewers have often used refrigerators (kegerators) and chest freezers (keezers) for storing and dispensing kegged beer. I had a keezer with "picnic taps" for dispensing beer that was OK, but I ended up spilling beer and making a mess with it.

So my criteria for a new keezer were:

• 10 external bar taps

• Comfortable pouring height

• A functional and low cost drip tray

• Use my existing freezer, kegs & hardware

• Upgrade plumbing including nitro stouts

• Expand total beer capacity for lagering

• Easy to build: using simple hand tools and stock wood sizes with no board ripping.

Kenneth Cahill put a great keezer build video on Youtube. I love his drip tray, his vertical keezer expansion and the comfortable pouring height. I've been inspired by many of his design ideas. Plus, what could be better than a design from a guy named Cahill for my K-Hill Keezer!

A new design 

So it was time for an upgrade. Here is what I came up with.

Start with a good design. Like every venture in life, building a keezer starts with a good plan - a plan solid enough to get all the basics right, but flexible enough to allow adjustment as you go. Although influenced by other Youtube keezer ideas, I used Kenneth Cahill's design as a starting point. 

I bought 4 3-gal kegs to ensure I set the interior measurements to fit them. I modified the drip tray frame design to make it easier to build but still have it look professional. I then made a rough sketch and drew up a parts list. Throughout the build process I made multiple trips to Home Depot, usually bringing back 20% of the stuff I bought the previous time as I modified the design on the fly. My creative approach has always been iterative inspiration and improvement. One of the things I realized is that using a bit of high quality wood for accent or for key elements can really improve the overall aesthetics of a piece.

Build a simple frame. First we painted the freezer black to mute the boring appliance feel and to let the light colored wood visually pop from the mundane sheet metal. We used black spray Rustoleum appliance paint. Lance helped me with it and we had it painted fairly quickly.

Next I built the 17" high 2 X 3 frame using primarily angle screwing. A set of large wood clamps helped keep everything square. Notice the 3 gal keg with easy clearance for the lid while sitting atop 2 5-gal kegs. 

Using 2 X 3s minimized the frame weight and allowed me to recess insulation into the open areas of the frame to avoid the loss of interior volume (save it for beer!) The frame sits atop and is not connected to the freezer. A strip of insulating tape  separates them and serves to make a thermal seal between them.

Build the drip tray frame.

 I made the drip tray frame to fit to a couple of $17 restaurant drip trays. Most beer drip trays cost about $100-$150. 

I used 1 X 2 red oak throughout except for 1 X 2 select pine on the bottom. A slot in the bottom allows the trays to be pushed out for cleaning. Screw heads are hidden using angle screwing from the bottom and screwing from the backside of the drip tray frame.

Cover the frame with pine. 

I then attached 1 X 10 pine boards to the frame with 2" drywall screws from the inside for a total height of 18.5". A scrap 1 X 10 in my shop with a nice grain was used on the upper front.

The lower 1 X 10s on each side extend 1.5" below the frame. This makes a snug "cap" over the freezer to make it secure but easily removable. This allowed me to avoid the use of glue between the frame and freezer.

In the original design a slot was routed into the lower front 1 X 10 into which the bottom of the drip tray frame was slid. To simplify and allow a slotted bottom, I attached the drip tray frame with a dozen screws from the back of the 1 X 10 before attaching the 1 X 10 to the 2 X 3 frame. 

Position the faucets.

I was a little concerned about sturdiness, but the drip tray is solid and has no problem supporting multiple full glasses of beer.

Add trim and drill faucet holes. I added 1 X 2 red oak trim pieces to hide the horizontal joints of the 1 X 10s on each side, screwing them on from the inside with 1.25" drywall screws.I spaced the faucets 3.75" on center, centering both sets of 5 taps over their drip tray. This put a slightly larger gap between faucets #5 and #6 to accommodate the spacer between the two drip trays.

I chose 8 Perlick  flow control faucets and two stout faucets. I will get a spare Perlick faucet for the times I don't have two stouts on tap (or brew more stouts!).To make it classier, 

I removed the freezer's plastic lid handle and replaced it with a stainless steel appliance pull backed by red oak trim. To avoid the handle getting in the way of the tap handles, the lid sits back 3/4" from the original placement. I screwed a piece of 1 X 2 pine to the inside of the front 2 X 3 frame so that the lid could partially rest on this and the top 1 X 10 in the rear.Finish the trim. I screwed a 1 X 2 red oak board to the top front of the frame, overhanging the front edge by 3/8".

Add the oak trim.

To that I glued red oak molding (pre-rounded, no router!) and also put the same molding horizontally on the two sides with mitered corners (I dusted off a seldom-used miter box). 

The molding somewhat hides the freezer lid gasket which more than anything reminds you this is still just a freezer.In the front, the molding extends below the capping 1 X 2 to create a slot for LED ribbon lighting. I cut a notch at each end of the 1 X 2 so that the lighting ends could extend outside of the freezer next to the lid gasket. 

I later read to avoid this slot configuration since it has heat dissipation issues. I'll just limited the time I keep the lighting on since it does have a high coolness factor.

The same molding covers the vertical 1 X 10 seams to give a more finished look to the piece.I finished with a clear stain for a nice red oak/pine contrast and kept both woods light so that the black base almost disappears from notice. Coats of polyurethane (recommended by brew buddy and master woodworker Tom Wruble) were next, especially covering well the front and the drip tray frame.

Clean  and upgrade the plumbing. 

I gave the inside of the freezer a thorough cleaning. It needed it. There was rust along a few interior seams of the freezer walls and floor that I removed with a small wire brush. I then caulked each seam with silicon. It looked virtually new when I was done.I then gave the keezer a plumbing upgrade going from a single pressure manifold for the whole keezer to an individual pressure gauge for each keg. This allows for the tuning of the carbonation and dispensing pressure for each keg so that each beer can have the individualized care it deserves.

With increased keg capacity I increased the the number of CO2 lines to 14 and nitrogen to 4 (stouts need one of each). I also installed screw hose connectors for easier reconfiguration. I chose blue tubing for the gas lines to help provide a measure of visual organization in this keezer-of-many-hoses. Fluid lines are clear.

Recessed double-thick insulation fills the 1.5" frame space. For shank nut access the front insulation is easily removable with duct tape around all edges. The freezer seems to cool with no extra compressor strain.

Configure the kegs. 

Here are the stacked kegs (a 3 gal atop 2 5-gal). Since access to the posts of the lower 5-gal kegs is required, stagger stacking 3-gal kegs is needed. I can fit 4 3-gal kegs at this upper tier.

3-gal kegs offer flexibility. For instance, if I've drained a two gallons from a 5-gal pale ale keg and need to make room to lager a pilsner, I can transfer the remaining 3 gal of pale ale to a 3-gal keg and stack it on top of the pilsner which now has a space since the 5-gal pale ale keg is no longer in the keezer.

It is a bit of a reach to connect the hoses to the 5 gal kegs on the bottom, but is made easier by standing on a small step or milk crate and leaning into the keezer. 

With the potential of having 500+ pounds of beer and kegs in the keezer I am mindful of the stress it places on the keezer floor. I put thin boards under the keezer to reinforce the floor so that it can't bend downward.