The 4 Tap Keezer Formerly Known As The 6 Tap Keezer

[Littlestan]

Heyo fellow HBT'ers!,

Yet another keezer build for everyone to gaze at in wonder and awe...

THE 6 TAP KEEZER BUILD YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!

Our journey begins with the hapless hero (beero?) scouring Craigslist for that elusive cheap freezer deal you just can't pass up. A few months pass and an older 4 footer is found for a whopping $40!

Placed my existing kegging equipment inside to get an idea of what it'll hold and where things should be positioned. It appears that it will comfortably hold 6 kegs with space for the 20lb C02 tank and a bank of secondary regulators mounted on the wall. Huzzah!

The plan at this point is to make/find/buy a 6 tap tower so I can situate where holes will be and get an idea of where lines will run. I've decided that an industrial-esque look is what I'm headed for... black iron pipe it is! Off to the local irrigation supply house to get fitted out.

They didn't have all the bits and pieces I needed, so I ordered some in and patiently (impatiently) waited. A couple days later and we're ready to assemble! All the parts for a 6 tap tower is in the pic. I went with 2" pipe as anything smaller is too small and anything bigger is too big, imo. Scoured HBT and the internet for every example of other black iron tower builds and that's what looks best to me.

The reducers (bushings) where the tap shanks will screw into is 2" down to 0.5". OBK carries some awesome short shanks with push in hose fittings that will eliminate any issues with fitment in the pipe others have had in the past. Hopefully.

I cleaned all the pieces in a mild soap and hot water solution (just to remove the majority of grease, you don't want it totally stripped as it will encourage rusting), assembled the 6 tap tower and proudly placed it on top of the freezer.

It's too long. Like, 6" too long.

Apparently, I didn't think or bother to take a measurement or even guesstimate how long the pipe tower would be fully assembled. And this, my friends, is where things get crazy...

THE 4 TAP KEEZER BUILD YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!

Sadly, dejectedly, and somewhat sheepishly I removed the 2 tap sections that made the tower too long and resolved to be OK with just 4 taps from this point on. I'll drown my sorrows in endless homebrew if I must!

And here's what the final result is...

That's all for now, which is probably a good thing since all your minds are blown with just this sneak peek.

All good things in moderation, friends. Till next time!

 

[drgoodbrew]

digging the "sneak peek" so far...looking forward to see how it turns out. good luck w/ the build!

 

[mongoose33]

Is there going to be enough room inside those pipes that you can blow cold air through them and cool the lines? Seems like it'll be crowded inside those pipes. Cooling the beer lines is a major element of reducing foam.

One other consideration: if you are able to cool the tower, it looks to me like you'll have no insulation inside the pipes to prevent the metal from cooling as well. That suggests to me that you'll have some significant condensation on those pipes, which will drip down on your keezer.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble, because I think the look is great, just that cooling the lines up to the faucets is generally considered a good idea.

 

[BrooklynTom]

I am looking forward to the rest of the build.

 

[Littlestan]

Is there going to be enough room inside those pipes that you can blow cold air through them and cool the lines? Seems like it'll be crowded inside those pipes. Cooling the beer lines is a major element of reducing foam.

One other consideration: if you are able to cool the tower, it looks to me like you'll have no insulation inside the pipes to prevent the metal from cooling as well. That suggests to me that you'll have some significant condensation on those pipes, which will drip down on your keezer.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble, because I think the look is great, just that cooling the lines up to the faucets is generally considered a good idea.

Thanks mongoose33, I appreciate the tip! The plan at the moment is to run the lines through pipe insulation, of which there are even tees to use. (like these: https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p....ation---master-pack-12-pieces.1000163126.html) This should take care of condensation issues.

As for foaming, I'll be running the keezer a few degrees colder than what will be actual serving temp coming out the tap, so hopefully that offsets well enough to prevent major foaming beyond the first half glass pour. I've got some reading to do yet, but if you can link some cooling solutions for the 2" pipe and installed pipe insulation, I'd love to see them. I'm not wanting to incorporate a glycol chill system or anything too over the top, however.

Edit: After a cursory search in HBT, I found that some people are running the line through copper pipe that extends into the freezer, and running
the bundled copper/beer line through pipe insulation. This seems like an ideal way to go? I could even split it evenly between the taps, two copper
pipes (one on each side with 2 beer lines in them) to increase cooling efficiency potential!

 

[mongoose33]

Thanks mongoose33, I appreciate the tip! The plan at the moment is to run the lines through pipe insulation, of which there are even tees to use. (like these: https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p....ation---master-pack-12-pieces.1000163126.html) This should take care of condensation issues.

As for foaming, I'll be running the keezer a few degrees colder than what will be actual serving temp coming out the tap, so hopefully that offsets well enough to prevent major foaming beyond the first half glass pour. I've got some reading to do yet, but if you can link some cooling solutions for the 2" pipe and installed pipe insulation, I'd love to see them. I'm not wanting to incorporate a glycol chill system or anything too over the top, however.

If you can insulate the inside of the pipes--and that's what I was wondering about being able to do--then the issues should go away. I hope there's enough room inside the insulation for the lines, and enough room for you to blow cold air up through there. That should solve the problem if you can do that.

I think the look is very cool, I hope it works.

 

[drgonzo2k2]

As for foaming, I'll be running the keezer a few degrees colder than what will be actual serving temp coming out the tap, so hopefully that offsets well enough to prevent major foaming beyond the first half glass pour. I've got some reading to do yet, but if you can link some cooling solutions for the 2" pipe and installed pipe insulation, I'd love to see them. I'm not wanting to incorporate a glycol chill system or anything too over the top, however.

Unfortunately I think that plan is going to make the foam issues even worse. You want the temperature from the bottom to the top of your keezer to be as uniform as possible, and that same temperature evenness needs to extend to wherever you have your beer lines as well. Even a couple of degrees difference here can make a pretty big impact on foaming. This is because the dip tube is going to draw beer from the bottom of the keg (where it is presumably the coldest) up to serving level (where it can be warmer). As the beer comes in contact with the warmer beer lines, faucet, and so on, it starts to foam up.

I've got a pretty long thread here where I dealt with this problem last year. TL;DR version would be:

- Do something to get you kegs up off the floor of the keezer so the air can freely move around down there
- Use one or more fans inside the keezer to keep the air circulating, and take temp readings at various areas with a full keezer and the fans in different orientations to see what works with you
- Since you have a tower to deal with in addition to just the keezer you're going to need something like this tower cooler to suck cold air from the bottom of your keezer up into that tower

I have 2 kegerators with towers at work and they foamed like crazy until I added those tower coolers, and that fixed things right up.

 

[Littlestan]

I've got a pretty long thread here where I dealt with this problem last year.

Thanks for all the info drgonzo2k2! I think I figured out at least a half assed
solution to the foaming issue here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=43072

Figure I'll run two sets of copper pipes on either side of the keezer all the way to the bottom, and run two beer lines in each. Wrap in pipe insulation and Bob should be my uncle! I'll probably have a fan for circulating air within the keezer to keep things on the level as well.

 

[drgonzo2k2]

Hey, that's an interesting idea! I didn't read all 18 pages of the thread (obviously), but skimming through folks seemed to report that it was a working solution. I guess you're counting on the copper pipe to get cold at the bottom which then cools the entire length of the pipe without the need for a fan. Pretty smart thinking there.

In that scenario though, I don't think you would want the pipe insulation around the copper though, as you'd want the copper exposed to the open air in the cold bottom part of the keezer.

Please do post back with your results and final build, pretty intrigued by that idea.

 

[speeddemon11L]

Can you post some details on how you installed the shanks/faucets and plumbed the lines? I have been drawing up a similar idea and that is the part that I am getting hung up on.

 

[Littlestan]

Can you post some details on how you installed the shanks/faucets and plumbed the lines? I have been drawing up a similar idea and that is the part that I am getting hung up on.

Thanks for the question! I hit a snag that I wasn't anticipating... the 1/2"
NPS (the S is for Straight) male threads of the shank aren't totally
compatible with the 1/2" NPT (the T is for Tapered) female threads of the
bushing/reducer. I can thread it in about a third of the way, then the
tapering stops progress entirely. Here's some pics to illustrate what I
mean:

So I've got to pick up a 1/2" - 14 NPS tap from somewhere tomorrow and
run it through to widen the threads out. The beer hose simply pushes into
the rear of the shank to connect, so if this thread incompatibility issue
hadn't occurred, this would have been a simple operation. Always
something!

In more promising news however, I received my order from OBK the other
day and brewed 2 more batches of beer last weekend. Things are looking
up! I'll update with more progress tomorrow.

 

[Littlestan]

I bring to you, my boozy brethren, another update of the keezery kind.

Borrowed a 1/2 - 14 NPS tap from a friend with a major metalworking background and
got to work reaming out the NPT holes in the bushings/reducers. A liberal amount of cutting
fluid and a surprisingly small amount of effort later and the tap is run through and the threads
are now a perfect nesting ground for the shank!

Starting to come together now! Slower than I originally planned, but summer is here and interfering
in all the right ways.

To expand further on the copper pipe cooling idea, here's a pic with the two lines for the one side run
through a 1" elbow. It's a perfect fit; not too big as to have large air gaps and not too small as to not
fit altogether. Just have to slip the pipe insulation over when installing and it should keep cool. Theoretically.

That's is for now... having trouble locating actual 1" copper pipe, even though the 1" fittings were abundant at every
hardware store I went to. Weird. Think I'll get the freezer framed up next. Still have to pick up a few things, but at
least there's progress.

 

[Littlestan]

Ahoy there, fellow AA initiates!

It's been a long 8 months of non-keezery related things, so I thought
it was time to necro bump this thread with some progress I achieved over
the last week so that I might actually finish this project within my lifetime.

And hopefully before the wedding I promised I'd brew the beer for in 5
months.

Dropped by my local Home Depot and picked up lumber for the
framework. This is what I ended up with:

Base is built out of 2x6 with 3 inch casters. Hella strong and no flex.
Framework is 2x4 with pocket holes made by a super handy Kreg Jig Mini
Kit. Only needed to buy a pack of Kreg screws and an extended length #2
Robertson bit and I had a full pocket hole package for $40! Worked really
slick, highly suggest it.

As the keezer will predominately be situated against a wall, I decided I'm
not going to wrap the whole thing in corrugate tin like I had originally
planned and keep the back opened up. I may change my mind as I start
slapping on tin, we'll see. Cut the dado slot in the 2x4 so the wiring can
remain undisturbed. I'll be using an Inkbird ITC-310T so no fancy wiring
box or controller is needed, just plug and play.

Anyways, planning on cutting up tin tonight... will report back soon!

 

[Littlestan]

'Nother chunk o time, 'mo progress dun.

Tin slapped on in a somewhat linear and aesthetically pleasing fashion, 3/4" plywood acquired,
cut and installed, giant holes drilled and many beers consumed. All in all, a slow but enjoyable
progression towards an agreeable end goal which is now in sight!

I'd brainlessly left the pallets I'd picked up outside the shop during a recent deluge and now have
to wait for them to dry out mostly before cutting up and attaching them to the top then pouring the
epoxy. Figure it should all come together over the weekend, though I may end up building a
makeshift tent over it with a small space heater to hurry things along.

Gettin' there, one cold dog at a time!

 

[troglodytes]

Your project is exactly what I was thinking about doing in my basement, only difference being, my pipes would be wall mounts and the keezer would be behind the wall in my utility room. The one thing I'm worried about is hard it would be to replace a beer line if needed. Wouldn't this be really hard to thread a new line through without disassembling everything, or do you have enough room in that copper to pull through the turn with a snake??

 

[aeneas01]

The plan at this point is to make/find/buy a 6 tap tower so I can situate where holes will be and get an idea of where lines will run. I've decided that an industrial-esque look is what I'm headed for... black iron pipe it is! Off to the local irrigation supply house to get fitted out.

They didn't have all the bits and pieces I needed, so I ordered some in and patiently (impatiently) waited. A couple days later and we're ready to assemble! All the parts for a 6 tap tower is in the pic. I went with 2" pipe as anything smaller is too small and anything bigger is too big, imo. Scoured HBT and the internet for every example of other black iron tower builds and that's what looks best to me.

first, outstanding job! well done sir! second, where did you purchase your 2" pipe and fittings? surprisingly (imo) 2" black pipe isn't that readily available, or at least not as readily available as i thought it would be... i thought i could just pick it up at home depot or the like, but they really only carry 1" and smaller, at least in my neck of the woods... the 2" piping i did find, after a lot of googling and weeding out the many uk returns, was very expensive, especially the fittings.... i did a project with 1" black pipe a few years back and it was dirt cheap! 2" galvanized steel piping (and fittings) seems to be readily available tho, maybe i could go that route and paint it...

anyway i've been planning on doing a 10-tap industrial pipe tower for a while now, for my cafe, and am finally getting around to it... but just when i had settled on the typical "h" or "u" tower style that's used in most pipe towers, i came across this photo from the union station terminal bar in denver, which i really like, so rather than the "h/u" style i think i'm going to go with individual posts but still use the industrial piping, but rather than stagger the towers and have different heights (as in the picture) i plan to make the 10 towers the same height and the same distance apart...

 

[branman]

any updates?

 

[mainprize]

first, outstanding job! well done sir! second, where did you purchase your 2" pipe and fittings? surprisingly (imo) 2" black pipe isn't that readily available, or at least not as readily available as i thought it would be... i thought i could just pick it up at home depot or the like, but they really only carry 1" and smaller, at least in my neck of the woods... the 2" piping i did find, after a lot of googling and weeding out the many uk returns, was very expensive, especially the fittings.... i did a project with 1" black pipe a few years back and it was dirt cheap! 2" galvanized steel piping (and fittings) seems to be readily available tho, maybe i could go that route and paint it...

anyway i've been planning on doing a 10-tap industrial pipe tower for a while now, for my cafe, and am finally getting around to it... but just when i had settled on the typical "h" or "u" tower style that's used in most pipe towers, i came across this photo from the union station terminal bar in denver, which i really like, so rather than the "h/u" style i think i'm going to go with individual posts but still use the industrial piping, but rather than stagger the towers and have different heights (as in the picture) i plan to make the 10 towers the same height and the same distance apart...

I don't know if you have a Menards nearby, but that's where I got all my 2" black iron pipe fittings.

 

[aeneas01]

I don't know if you have a Menards nearby, but that's where I got all my 2" black iron pipe fittings.

thanks, unfortunately no menards in my neck of the woods, altho i think they ship....

 

[BrewinSoldier]

Anyone know where he got those PTC shanks at? I can't find them anywhere and since the last time he posted in this thread was 2017, I doubt he will come on and anwser. I'm building mine similar to this but just picked up a bunch of 2.5" pipe yesterday. Going to figure out a better way to insulate the pipe itself so it won't sweat, and then run a fan on one side to push the cold air through. Right now I'm thinking about using the packing foam, rolling it in a circle to fit inside the black pipe.

 

[RollinBoulders]

Very cool!
I plan on making something very similar this winter using some old barn wood from my grandfather's farm.
I will try to post some pics as it comes along.