6-keg Kegerator

[CollinsBrew]

Yesterday was the start of what I know will be a beautiful relationship. I started the work on my 6-keg kegerator!:rockin: This week I'll be getting my manifold from MoreBeer.com and all of my QD's from BrewersDiscount.com and after they arrive I can get all of the hose clamps and hoses/tubing. By the way, BrewersDiscount has the best prices I have seen on ball-lock($4.00 ea) and pin-lock($4.75 ea) QD's as well as some of their other keg parts and accessories. MoreBeer's 6-way manifold was the best bang for my buck with check valves on each output...$65 shipped(shipping is free on most non-freight orders over $50 I think)

The design is much like the one that TNLandSailor did for his setup, which you can find here . The difference is that I don't yet have the funds to put six really nice VentMatic faucets through the door so I have settled for 6 picnic style taps that will hang inside the door. I guess I can get over having to open the door to pull my nicely kegged brew for awhile.

Basically, all I was able to do yesterday because my parts haven't arrived yet is clean all 7 of my cornies and build a shelf for the back three to sit on in the refrigerator. I completely disassembled the cornies (4 pin-lock, 3 ball-lock) and cleaned each part. Then I got around to fashioning a nice little shelf out of some scrap wood that I had laying around. Today I'm going to paint the shelf white so it blends in with the fridge. Hopefully when I get home I'll have a present sitting on my porch from either the UPS guy or my trusty U.S. Postal worker.

I'll post some pics on photobucket when I get them....maybe tonight!

Also, I could not get the posts off of one of my pin-locks....I now know why everyone prefers ball-lock kegs. The others gave me a little difficulty but it seems like someone glued these things on. I actually destroyed one of the posts by snapping off the pins so that will have to be replaced if I can ever get them off. I even put some vice-grips on and tried tapping...then beating the grips with a hammer. They didn't even budge....any suggestions?

 

[FSR402]

And why is there no pictures?

 

[Jester369]

They didn't even budge....any suggestions?

Impact wrench?

 

[98EXL]

Impact wrench?

or the ever fun BFG or Map gas torch!

 

[Bobby_M]

Did you have a proper pinlock socket or were you trying to use an open ended wrench? I took apart maybe 8 kegs with an open ended wrench until I got one that needed more torque. I made the slotted socket and had to sit on the keg laying down to keep it from spinning. There's nothing specific about a pinlock that makes the posts harder to remove. It's just glooped up with syrup. Apply a little heat with a propane torch if you have one or fill it with a little boiling water and flip it over to soak a bit.

 

[malkore]

my first corny i cleaned and refurb'd...I couldn't budge those posts at all the first night.
the next morning I got up, was gonna have the wife hold the keg so I could get more torque on it....but didn't have to. They came off really easily, for some reason.
Possibly just cool over night temps made seals contract and loosened the syrup residue.

 

[CollinsBrew]

I'll have to give the boiling water idea a try....and just try again earlier in the day. Its just my luck that this was the last keg I tried taking apart and spent almost half an hour trying different tools and tactics....yelling at it was my last resort and that obviously didn't work.

 

[olllllo]

my first corny i cleaned and refurb'd...I couldn't budge those posts at all the first night.
the next morning I got up, was gonna have the wife hold the keg so I could get more torque on it....but didn't have to. They came off really easily, for some reason.
Possibly just cool over night temps made seals contract and loosened the syrup residue.

Perhaps the keg knew that your wife is particularly good at busting nuts.

 

[CollinsBrew]

I guess I'll let my wife have a go at it when I get home today. She's been pretty good at 'handling' difficult situations like this....

 

[CollinsBrew]

Here are the long awaited pics of the 6-keg setup that I finally finished today. The three kegs in back are pin-lock and the three in front are ball-lock. The pin lock in the middle is about 1.5" taller than the other two...I don't know why.

CO2 Setup and Line into Fridge

Kegerator Closed w/ Tank

6-way CO2 manifold

Close-up of Kegs and Lines

Kegerator Full Set-up

I am having trouble organizing my picnic taps in an easily accessible way while still being able to close the door. It's already a tight fit with the 6 kegs in there...any suggestions....other than "buy real taps"

 

[SAS98M]

Organization?? Do yourself a favor-Do it right,right from the start.Buy the shanks and be done with it . It'd also be nice to have wifey ok a set of Perlicks-(Good luck,I'm still trying to get three past my wife).No seriously-Drill it,Shank it,Plumb it,Tap it-Viola ! Just my two cents. Shane

 

[neckbone]

Awesome project. Hope to do mine in a few months.

Just an observation. I would have probably made the gas lines on the front row of kegs longer, especially the blue top keg. That way, when one of the rear kegs is kicked, you don't have to unhook all the gas supplies to move the front kegs. But, they may get in the way too much if they're too long.

 

[CollinsBrew]

I thought about that. I do audio installs which makes me pretty obsessive about cable management, thus translating into hose management. If I had made the gas line longer I would still have to manage it somewhere inside so it didn't come uncoiled or pop out when I open the door. I basically made it so that when I disconnect them the connector will stay in place and just pop back on the keg when I set it back in the fridge.

 

[RadicalEd]

Why not just use some really big zip ties? If you're into cable management you probably already have some laying around and it'll cost you a couple bucks if you don't .

When I saw the outside pics first, I was worried, but the interior pics are actually very nice. I like how the light creates a halo around the middle rear keg.

 

[FireBrewer]

When I saw the outside pics first, I was worried, but the interior pics are actually very nice. I like how the light creates a halo around the middle rear keg.

Better weigh those kegs regularly, looks like there's some "divine intervention" going on.

Lookin' good!

 

[CollinsBrew]

I was reading the responses on this thread and it just hit me. I bought these1/2" quick clamps from Lowe's that I used to manage the gas lines and yesterday I tried attaching some more of them to the door and pulling my taps through those but the door wouldn't close. Instead, I just attached the clamps to the roof of the fridge and ran the beer lines through them, leaving the picnic taps to just hang down right in front. Now all I do it open the door and grab whichever one I want that's hanging there and poor. It was really easy. I was just overthinking it yesterday. I'll try and get a pic of what I'm talking about later today.

 

[Barley-Davidson]

As I'm reading throught the post I'm thinking pipe clamps on the roof, sounds like you had a similar thought.

Looking forward to more pics, a similar project looms in my future.

 

[kilroy]

Very nicely done,

Thanks also for the tips on brewersdiscount.com I need some more taps and a bigger manifold for my setup.

Kilroy

 

[gnef]

my only suggestion would be to get more than 7 kegs, trust me, you will need more if you have 6 kegs on tap. i would recommend getting at least twice as many kegs as you have on tap, so at least 12 kegs for you. i personally also have a 6 keg kegerator, and have 35 kegs. i also use mine for meads and wines though.

also, i would recommend gradually buying the shanks and faucets, as that will help to alleviate the cost a bit so you don't have to buy everything at once. that's what i did with my system when i was first building it. as i filled a keg, i would get a shank and faucet. i eventually upgraded to forward sealing faucets (and a stout faucet), but that i also did gradually to spread out the cost.

i think using picnic taps inside the fridge will get tiring very quickly, and you will also be dropping the efficiency of the fridge because when you open it, you will be releasing the chilled air.

just my opinion though...

 

[CollinsBrew]

I'm gradually saving the money to get all 6 forward sealing faucets and shanks. If I do it all at once, chances are I'll pay less in shipping. I have an inability to buy one at a time anyway...it irritates me to see it not finished....as will this soon enough.

Why the need for so many kegs? I plan on buying a few more so I can have some conditioning while others are tapped but until I am brewing on a much larger quantity scale I should be alright for the time being. I'm going to buy a couple carboys this week just so I can have more than ten gallons in primary at a time. If I time my batchess correctly I should be able to rotate fermenters pretty regularly.

 

[gnef]

do you really need to ask why so many kegs? haha.

honestly, it is to give flexibility. i primary in buckets, then go directly to kegs, so my kegs are conditioning vessels as well as serving vessels. i am also doing some higher gravity brews that will need to age for a while (double IPA, barleywine, imperial pilsner, etc), as well as some meads and wines that i'm thinking about putting on tap as well. i'm currently conditioning them in kegs, but wondering if i really want to bottle them. perhaps i could build another kegerator for meads and wines. haha.

the more kegs you have, the more likely when you empty one keg in the kegerator, you will have another keg ready to go immediately, and most likely a number of kegs ready. this way there is no dead spot in the kegerator. this is also nice if you ever plan a party or gathering and people drink a significant amount of your beer, you will have enough stock to keep the taps flowing.

this is just my perspective, and i understand how the way i do things can seem strange. hopefully i've been clear enough with the manner in which i approach brewing so you can take that in to consideration for your own practices.

 

[CollinsBrew]

I see your point...now all I have to do is convince SWMBO that I "need" more kegs in case there's some kind of "emergency."

 

[Jester369]

in case there's some kind of "emergency."

"In the event of a water landing, empty kegs may be used a flotation device"

 

[CollinsBrew]

So this thread is very old and my kegerator is still awesome, however, I just recently (FINALLY) received my 6 stainless perlick faucets for the door. The next on the list are the shanks and I will be finishing this beast. Along with the finishing work will be a fresh coat of black appliance paint to make it shine. I'm also going to remove the inside shelving of the refrigerator door and replace it with a flat piece of thin plywood. This will give me a few more inches inside the fridge so the door closes better and so my shanks have something rigid to be tightened onto. I'm hoping to use shorter shanks (maybe 3 1/8"SS) so I can place them lower on the door. I don't want them to protude into the fridge so much as to cause the same problem the door shelves did with the door closing.

Why lower on the door?...because I still want to be able to open the freezer without having to remove my tap handles. This will also keep the unknowing freezer opener (SWMBO) from opening all six taps and pouring golden delicious beer all over the floor. Thus, becoming my fault because I didn't write out full instructions on how to open the freezer door on that particular refrigerator.

 

[snccoulter]

Just use a small "L" bracket and attach it to the fridge door so you can open the fridge door without opening the freezer but if you open the freezer the fridge opens with it.. Then you can have the taps up high or even make some cool custom ones..

 

[CollinsBrew]

Sweet idea...the freezer shouldn't be a frequently visited part of this kegerator so I wouldn't worry about it being opened enough to effect the beer or the energy efficiency of the whole unit.