Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale

Best Buy carries this 4912M Sanyo model fridge that is perfect for converting into a kegerator.  This was a project we worked on a few months ago.  Why spend a thousand or more bucks, when you can build it yourself in a few days for more than half the cost?

Check it out:

http://www.absbrew.com/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=11

If anyone is interested in a project like this, I can sure tell you what NOT to do (LOL), and what to watch out for, corners to cut, etc.  This was challenging, fun, and now very very rewarding.  No more bottles!  However, the next step is to get a counter-pressure bottle filler to bottle off the keg, for those long road trips without homebrew.

Nice pix. I wish my was operational. Have patience young grasshopper. But I don't want patience, I want beer. Great idea to share the space with your lagering brew. Is your system running smoothly? Any hitches with the CO2?

For those out there that are thinking about kegging and want to get a tower, the one thing that I would stress that I did was to spend a little more on your taps and upgrade to the forward-sealing models. I love my Perlick faucets! You don't realize how crappy the standard faucets are until you've tried these. They break down completely for easy cleaning and they've got a good weight to them. What I like best is that when you crack the tap, it's full power. Pull all the way forward and it slows to a trickle. This is great because I can start a pint on full, build up a nice head and then pull all the way forward to top off the glass. I don't even have a drip tray...these faucets barely need them, which is really cool. I may get one or two small drips after I pour a pint, which if I'm patient, I can catch in the glass.

Highly recommend them.

The only hitches with the CO2 I have is that it takes a lot of CO2 to clean the kegs, ie. pushing sanitizer through the lines. So instead of pressurizing the keg and pushing the sanitizer through, I got a reverse line cleaner, pump bottle.  This way it also forces you to take the faucets apart and clean them, because the pump bottle fits onto the faucet connection to the beer line. I hate having to drop a lot of CO2 for cleaning, when it can be used for the beer.

Make sure all your gas fittings are tight, and watch for pressure drops due to leaks in the line.  I didn't have this happen, but I have heard of it, which is why they also sell the CO2 detectors.

The whole system is working very nice. Very impressed with the outcome. Now the goal is to keep both lines full of homebrew! Fermenting the Simcoe IPA at 60 degrees F with US-56, 1057. Nice to hear the IPA bubbling in the lagering fridge next to the kegerator. 

I'll give the pump a go once I get my system up and running. It sounds like a good idea. My Ventmatic faucets are sitting idle until I get replacement poppets and a new shank. Who know the European and American parts don't mesh? I guess everyone but me.