Richard-SSV
Well-Known Member
I was fortunate enough to obtain a new bar for the living room a few weeks ago (fortunate enough to talk my wife into it 
). The bar itself is great, but it was in need of a kegerator. There really wasn't much room for a fridge, so I bought a small one from Wal-mart and decided to go with 2.5 gallon kegs that fit inside the fridge with no modifications to the fridge. I'm actually looking forward to brewing smaller batches for a couple of reasons. For one, I'm pretty much the only beer drinker in the household, so there's no need for large batches. Secondly, smaller batches mean quicker turnover, which means brewing more often and more variety.
The biggest challenge in making this work was finding a way to not make the fridge look like it was sticking out so much. Originally in the center of the front bar was wine storage. I removed the wine racks and shelving and used them to fabricate panels to house the mini fridge. In the photos the top piece needs some more stain or trim molding, but honestly you really can't even notice it when looking at the bar in person because it's pretty dark where the bar is located. The camera flash really highlights that the top panel does not have finished edges. I'll resolve that down the road.
My mini fridge thermostat didn't seem to work right, as it would run the fridge non-stop, dropping the temps down into the 20's. Therefore, I added a STC-1000 controller to keep the temps where I want them. I also notice in the photos that my wiring is showing behind the false panel I made, so I'll have to tidy that up as well.
So far, so good, and the best part is that my homebrew is at my fingertips in my living room whenever I need a pint! :rockin:
). The bar itself is great, but it was in need of a kegerator. There really wasn't much room for a fridge, so I bought a small one from Wal-mart and decided to go with 2.5 gallon kegs that fit inside the fridge with no modifications to the fridge. I'm actually looking forward to brewing smaller batches for a couple of reasons. For one, I'm pretty much the only beer drinker in the household, so there's no need for large batches. Secondly, smaller batches mean quicker turnover, which means brewing more often and more variety.The biggest challenge in making this work was finding a way to not make the fridge look like it was sticking out so much. Originally in the center of the front bar was wine storage. I removed the wine racks and shelving and used them to fabricate panels to house the mini fridge. In the photos the top piece needs some more stain or trim molding, but honestly you really can't even notice it when looking at the bar in person because it's pretty dark where the bar is located. The camera flash really highlights that the top panel does not have finished edges. I'll resolve that down the road.
My mini fridge thermostat didn't seem to work right, as it would run the fridge non-stop, dropping the temps down into the 20's. Therefore, I added a STC-1000 controller to keep the temps where I want them. I also notice in the photos that my wiring is showing behind the false panel I made, so I'll have to tidy that up as well.
So far, so good, and the best part is that my homebrew is at my fingertips in my living room whenever I need a pint! :rockin:
