The Latest Project From JohnnyMac Labs Inc.

[JohnnyMac]

For those of you unfortunate to hang around me a bit, you have likely heard me whine about getting a Keezer project going. Well, the whining has stopped, for now, as I have finally managed to get this beast finished off and fired up.

I wanted to get a Keezer going for two primary reasons;
1) I wanted to be able to control my fermentation temperature and handle longer lagering times.
2) I wanted to finally install and use my Colin Farrar beer engine that's been sitting idle for two years.

So, I figured out that in order to handle two Sanke's side by side on the bottom ( my second fermentation/secondary set-up), I'd be into a 14-15 cubic foot freezer. After a bit of looking around, I came across this one at Bedford Buy & Sell - 15 cubic foot for $100. There were a few 15's around but only a couple had enough room on the bottom, before the compressor bump, to handle the Sanke's.

I had already decided that I was going to go with the wood collar design but the beer engine is so fucking long that I had to go with a 12" collar. Try to find a fucking straight 2"x12" in this town. The longest part of the whole project was planing/sanding the collar square in order to get a reasonble fit with the freezer and lid.

Enough typing - have a look........

[JohnnyMac]

Photos - round 2

[JohnnyMac]

Photos - round 3

[mr x]

That turned out really nice, love the opener, lol.

[chalmers]

Wow, looks great! What will be the first beer through the engine?

[RubberToe]

Very nice, great work!

[Garak]

Looking really good.

Are you going to put a few regular taps on there?
--
Garak

[Jmac00]

Ok, sorry for the stupid question...but what's the big 'claim to fame' of these beer engines? WTF are they, and what do they do?.....besides the obvious of a large handle and funky SS hose out the front

Excellent job on the keezer btw...

[akr71]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_engine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Its usually a hand pump, from what I understand.

[JohnnyMac]

That turned out really nice, love the opener, lol.

Thanks Brother. My sister believes that I went to all that trouble to make a spot to mount the opener.

[JohnnyMac]

Wow, looks great! What will be the first beer through the engine?

I'm going to kick it old school and go with a traditional BitteréESB. I`ve managed to pick up a stainless pin complete with shives and keystones in order to make the whole set-up authentic.

[JohnnyMac]

Looking really good.

Are you going to put a few regular taps on there?
--
Garak

I probably will over time but no plan to right now. I`ve got a 3 tap Kegerator that`s my primary source of liquid love.

[JohnnyMac]

Ok, sorry for the stupid question...but what's the big 'claim to fame' of these beer engines? WTF are they, and what do they do?.....besides the obvious of a large handle and funky SS hose out the front

Excellent job on the keezer btw...

Andy`s right - they are just a fancy looking hand pump. Old school british pubs didn`t have CO2 to push beer from the kegs to the taps so the beer engines were used to pump the casked beer from the cellar below the bar to the thirsty folks above.

I know, I`ve gone to a shitload of trouble for a fancy hand beer pump. I just think it`s cool and wanted to try an real cask beer set-up myself.

[akr71]

I know, I`ve gone to a shitload of trouble for a fancy hand beer pump. I just think it`s cool and wanted to try an real cask beer set-up myself.

I think many of our friends & significant others think we've all gone to a shitload of trouble many times over for the love of beer

BTW I think it looks awesomely cool, and I am jealous.

[LiverDance]

I know, I`ve gone to a shitload of trouble for a fancy hand beer pump. I just think it`s cool and wanted to try an real cask beer set-up myself.

I think many of our friends & significant others think we've all gone to a shitload of trouble many times over for the love of beer

BTW I think it looks awesomely cool, and I am jealous.

+1. Sweet setup!