Kegerators

[Stu McKinlay]

Had my gas filled at Wormalds the other day. Dealt with a nice guy there called Dave. Not only would he only take $40 (5kg fill was listed as $49) but he told me about this guy who has just started selling kegerators in NZ (see attachment).

Richard Hill
Manager
Gelid NZ

Ph. 06 377 7342
Fax. [phone]
email. [e-mail]


p.s. thanks to Kiwicrog for dropping my gas bottle out there in the morning.

[Steve Plowman]

I have had one of these kegerators for about 6 months as a trial. On the whole they are OK but there are a few issues.

The main problem is the quality of the fittings, the keg coupler is plated and pretty much instantly starts flaking and looks like crap.

The gas bottle is great, its about 1.2 kg and fits snugly in the back of the fridge, problem is that it has a US thread so wont fit any of the local regulators. The regulator included is really nifty, very compact, problem is it only has one bottle pressure gauge so you don’t now what the dispense pressure is.

The beer line set up is all wrong, the line between the keg and the tap is to short and the line diameter is to large, combined with a very cheap tap you have to have a tiny amount of gas pressure to be able to pour beer with out generating a glass of foam. At that small gas pressure the beer in the keg goes flat.

I have modified it to run two cornie kegs which works pretty well with about 2 meters of small diameter beer line. The tap is still pretty crappy and you would probably want to replace it.

The actual unit its self is well made, the fridge gets plenty cold and the casters are solid and robust.

End of the day, any half competent homebrewer with $1500 bucks to burn should be able to build a kick ass system far more useful and versatile. But the big plus about these ready to go kegerators is the compact size and no external gas bottles so they look smart enough to have in your kitchen.

Cheers

Steve

[BeerNZ]

Steve - can you comment on suitability for Cafe's etc...??? ie a keg a week type places

[studio1]

Got myself a kegerator up and running today. Scored an old fridge from a mate. Had to put in a ply 'half shelf' to mount the third keg and bottle above the compressor. the butter conditioner is now a yeast conditioner. Scored 3 x Ventmatic forward sealing taps. Had to use some scrap beer line I had lying around - so one tap is balanced, one not yet connected, and one a bit foamy. Hoping this is a temporary kegerator til I can get a keezer up and running at some point.

[Reviled]

Looks good Garrick!! So was this a fridge freezer originally and you took out the middle shelf or something?

[jt]

Looks like freezer top and there's no butchering gone on there as you can see the butter conditioner siting on the roof of the fridge compartment below.
Fridge in the middle and vege drawer arrangement below.
There's a removeable floor in the fridge seperating from the vege drawer - which has been removed ?

[studio1]

yip, freezer on top (has stopped freezing milk which is why my mate got rid of it - seems pretty cold to me in there though) just took out all the shelves and bottom insert. Had to put in the 'half' ply shelf. The only butchering has been the holes in the door. Now considering how I can mount the handpump on the side (and the bottle outside to get 4 kegs in)

[jt]

You can get 4 kegs in the standard fridge no problems - just a pain when the keg at the back needs changing

Anyway, looks good, nothing better than having a choice of beers on tap at home

[studio1]

yeah certainly beats farking around with picnic taps and pressure gauges.

[Cain Harland]

Digging up and old topic here but I'm trying to build a kegerator and could do with some advice. So here a couple of questions

1) I have been trying to find a fridge that will fit 4 corney kegs on the bottom shelf. Is this likely to happen?  Most I've looked at are a tad shallow.

2) 5 kegs would be ideal maybe 3 bottom shelf  and 2+ gas bottle top. Am I just dreaming thinking I might find a fridge this tall.

3) As much as I would prefer an upright fridge I am considering a chest freezer and I would rather taps on the front than a tower. Does anyone know if there are ever electronics, coolant pipes or anything else I shouldn't drill through in the front wall of a freezer.

4) maybe if I go the freezer way I might use Pluto Beer Guns rather than taps and keep everything inside the freezer. Any opinions?

[David Williams]

I have a old fridge only which holds 4 corneys with room for a shelf for bottles at top. Just needed to build a strong shelf to hold them. They should be easy enough to find. Different story if you want a freezer section or hide your gas bottle for aesthetic reasons. If I was going the keezer route I'd probably go all out and include a wooden collar for taps as some of the ones you see online are awesome. And to go to that effort and not have taps would be a travesty in my opinion.

[Cain Harland]

I think I will keep looking for a fridge. Front opening and being able to store brew equipment on top seem like a good idea.

[Cain Harland]

Any opinions on this fridge? Hopefully it works, seals etc

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=853910929

I recon 4 kegs and gas bottle in the fridge easy. If they haven't exaggerated or measured wrong maybe even 5 or 6. And I can always do with more freezer space for hop storage.