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Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 5:57 pm
by Spence
Finished this about a month back, forgot to post. All in all, bettered my life, graduated from extract to Brew House beers, and soon to graduate fully to some recipes.

That's a Danby Fridge from Costco (thanks to the guys here for helping me find it) and the tower has Perlicks. Will be upgrading as soon as I can find the right drip tray. This was a super easy build, after getting through the stressful cut through to ensure there's no lines.

For all you Chivers out there, that IS a Chive On beer pong table in the back!

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:14 pm
by LeafMan66_67
Looks great!

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:33 pm
by jtmwhyte
Excellent setup. I'm seeing the perks of having less taps as I can't really brew that often.

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:36 pm
by mr x
Yup, good job.

Sent from my Nexus 4

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:44 pm
by Jimmy
Nice clean setup

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:44 pm
by GuingesRock
Looks nice enough to go in the kitchen! Any chance of a peek inside sometime?...interested to see how those things are set up. Is there room for 2 cornys?

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:18 pm
by LeafMan66_67
GuingesRock wrote:Looks nice enough to go in the kitchen! Any chance of a peek inside sometime?...interested to see how those things are set up. Is there room for 2 cornys?
Room for two ball locks and a 5lb CO2.

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:47 pm
by GuingesRock
LeafMan66_67 wrote:
GuingesRock wrote:Looks nice enough to go in the kitchen! Any chance of a peek inside sometime?...interested to see how those things are set up. Is there room for 2 cornys?
Room for two ball locks and a 5lb CO2.
Thanks, I’ve always been scared of perlicks, but it’s only through ignorance. I read that you have to take them apart and clean them otherwise you get lumps of crud in your beer and a bad taste. Is there a lot to it? Do they have to be taken apart and cleaned often? also read people talking about leaks. I don’t know if it is correct practice, but I just run cleaner/sanitiser through the cobra taps and their lines and I’m done.

I have my kegs in a freezer with copra taps, with an old towel inside to catch drips. Jtmwhyte got me thinking in his post above, and I only really have about 2 beers that are being drunk at any one time, others are conditioning, not reached their prime, out of favour because a better one has come along, or waiting to put into bottles to give to family etc. and sometimes there are kegs wanting to get in there and there’s no room. One of these things in the kitchen might be a good thing to have/make.

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:56 pm
by LeafMan66_67
I've had that same setup for 8 months now. I have a small pump I use to recirculate PBW through my taps and lines. I then rinse with plenty of clean water and then pump Star San through. I do that every 4-6 weeks. No leaks. No issues. Love the setup.

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 9:03 pm
by mr x
I don't know where you got that info about the taps, but I'd say it applies to all faucets. They need cleaning every so often.

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Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:20 pm
by dexter
Love the KCCO!

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:02 pm
by Spence
GuingesRock wrote:Looks nice enough to go in the kitchen! Any chance of a peek inside sometime?...interested to see how those things are set up. Is there room for 2 cornys?
Here ya go! Holds two kegs and a CO2. I don't have a fan in it yet, I am noticing that if I turn the temp down enough to cool every last drop, the beer is freezing, so I will have go to go Radio Shack and pick up a computer fan.

It's pretty clean, a couple loose ends to tie up. I haven't finished with the door, Im trying to figure if there is any way to make use of the shelving there to hold ingredients that need to stay cold. Otherwise will replace soon with a whiteboard.

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:04 pm
by Spence
GuingesRock wrote:
LeafMan66_67 wrote:
GuingesRock wrote:Looks nice enough to go in the kitchen! Any chance of a peek inside sometime?...interested to see how those things are set up. Is there room for 2 cornys?
Room for two ball locks and a 5lb CO2.
Thanks, I’ve always been scared of perlicks, but it’s only through ignorance. I read that you have to take them apart and clean them otherwise you get lumps of crud in your beer and a bad taste. Is there a lot to it? Do they have to be taken apart and cleaned often? also read people talking about leaks. I don’t know if it is correct practice, but I just run cleaner/sanitiser through the cobra taps and their lines and I’m done.

I have my kegs in a freezer with copra taps, with an old towel inside to catch drips. Jtmwhyte got me thinking in his post above, and I only really have about 2 beers that are being drunk at any one time, others are conditioning, not reached their prime, out of favour because a better one has come along, or waiting to put into bottles to give to family etc. and sometimes there are kegs wanting to get in there and there’s no room. One of these things in the kitchen might be a good thing to have/make.
One of my buddies is a brewmaster at a major brewery, and has a lot of experience with making beer at home. When I said about the Perlicks, he talked as if it was such a bonus to be able to take them apart (easy) and clean them. So, I would say the ability to take them apart is really a good thing. I haven't had to yet, but as with the rest of brewing, I'm sure it won't be a huge burden!

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:31 pm
by GuingesRock
Thanks Spence, I think that is a good point that you can actually take them apart. I said my fears were probably from ignorance. I’ll have to ask Ed at NG in Coldbrook if I can have a look at one and take it apart. Also thanks for posting the other picture. That does look really neat. Even the dials on the CO2 tank are illuminated. I was wondering if a computer fan is really needed, how would you wire it in, would it need a transformer, does the beer really need to be that cold? (I'm English) Also to clean and sanitize the lines and faucets, would it be the easiest way to hook them up to a keg containing whatever solution and run it through them?

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:01 pm
by AllanMar
GuingesRock wrote:Thanks Spence, I think that is a good point that you can actually take them apart. I said my fears were probably from ignorance. I’ll have to ask Ed at NG in Coldbrook if I can have a look at one and take it apart. Also thanks for posting the other picture. That does look really neat. Even the dials on the CO2 tank are illuminated. I was wondering if a computer fan is really needed, how would you wire it in, would it need a transformer, does the beer really need to be that cold? (I'm English) Also to clean and sanitize the lines and faucets, would it be the easiest way to hook them up to a keg containing whatever solution and run it through them?
The points you made earlier about Perilick's is what most people normally say about normal faucets. IMHO all faucets still need to be cleaned, but just have a look at how much simpler the design of forward sealing faucets is (assuming you've had the standard style faucets apart).
Image

Not all of them have the creamer part though. I'm a big fan of Perilicks most big guys (bars, etc) don't bother with them though, as they see so much use it doesn't really matter.

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:04 pm
by Tony L
Spence wrote: One of my buddies is a brewmaster at a major brewery, and has a lot of experience with making beer at home. When I said about the Perlicks, he talked as if it was such a bonus to be able to take them apart (easy) and clean them. So, I would say the ability to take them apart is really a good thing. I haven't had to yet, but as with the rest of brewing, I'm sure it won't be a huge burden!
Hmmm, seems like you and me have crossed paths before somewhere talking about beer and you having a buddy that was a brewmaster at a brewery currently on strike. :lol: But I have been known to be wrong at least once in my life.

Perlicks are the cats meow. Forward sealing means they don't stick like ordinary fawcetts. And yes they are easy to clean. I love my Perlicks.
I would like to see your set up sometime and perhaps share a brew with you. PM me if you are interested.

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:07 pm
by Spence
GuingesRock wrote:Thanks Spence, I think that is a good point that you can actually take them apart. I said my fears were probably from ignorance. I’ll have to ask Ed at NG in Coldbrook if I can have a look at one and take it apart. Also thanks for posting the other picture. That does look really neat. Even the dials on the CO2 tank are illuminated. I was wondering if a computer fan is really needed, how would you wire it in, would it need a transformer, does the beer really need to be that cold? (I'm English) Also to clean and sanitize the lines and faucets, would it be the easiest way to hook them up to a keg containing whatever solution and run it through them?
The computer fan is really easy, you just run it through the back of the fridge (drain tube) and use an old adapter to power it. I'm with you on the beer being super cold, I'm generally the guy who is OK with his beer being left on the counter at a party when the fridge is full. But man, there are just some days when you want an ice cold beer. It's really to keep the first pour cold, cause its the stuff going through the lines and up into the tap that gets warm. If I put this rig into a bar, I'll definitely add that and some copper piping as well to run the lines through.

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:52 pm
by GuingesRock
I probably had been reading about “normal faucets” and not specifically Perlicks. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Thanks for all the great information, it’s all really useful.

Re: Kegerator Complete

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:27 pm
by mr x
Fwiw, I received a standard faucet in a box marked perlick, so they may make them both.

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