How to Make a Beer Keg Refrigerator
Once the exclusive domain of college fraternity houses, the beer keg refrigerator, or kegerator, is a crucial part of any respectable modern man cave. Once chilled, beer needs to stay cold, and ice is unreliable because it melts quickly. Kegerators solve this problem by converting a working fridge into a dedicated keg cooling and beer delivery system. Popular in game rooms and for home poker tournaments, a kegerator can make staying at home feel like a trip to the bar. And it can save on the cost of beer in the long run. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Electric drill with 1/8-inch bit 1-to-3 inch hole saw bits Screwdrivers Long-nose pliers Level Conversion kit OR CO2 tank with regulator Coupler Surgical tubing for beer and CO2 lines Beer taps Drip tray Draft spigot Shank Handle
Instructions
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Find a used or refurbished refrigerator that still cools to below 40 degrees, preferably one without a freezer. Lay out all of the necessary tools and materials. Refrigerator conversion kits can be bought or ordered online, or the individual components can be picked up at most any hardware store. Before conversion, measure to be sure a keg of desired size will fit comfortably in the fridge with the CO2 canister. Remove and dispose of as much shelving as possible. Sanitize all surfaces.
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Drill holes. For each tap, drill a 1/8-inch starter hole all the way through the fridge door from the front, and in the upper third. From the inside, use the larger bore hole saw bit to make the hole large enough for the tubing of the beer lines to fit through.
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Fasten the spigot and the shank. The shank is the interface between the spigot (or tap) and the beer line. Using the bolts included with the shank, attach the two inside the drilled hole with enough pressure to hold the spigot in place on the door. The handle can then be screwed onto the spigot.
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Connect the tubing. Run a line of tubing from the back of the shank into the output of the coupler. Run another line from the input of the coupler to the CO2 tank. Leave enough slack to allow for attaching and detaching the coupler and exchanging the keg. Each connection should fit snugly, so use tubing clamps if necessary.
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Connect the coupler and engage C02. With the tubing in place, attach the coupler to the beer keg. Set the pressure of the CO2 regulator to about 6 PSI. Test the spigot to determine whether the pressure is too high or low, and adjust accordingly until beer flow is optimal.
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Attach the drip tray (optional). Although a drip tray is not strictly necessary, drips are an inevitable part of tap beer. Most drip trays can be attached with screws, which might require drilling lead holes into the door of the fridge. Placement of the drip tray can be just off the floor, if desired.
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Tips & Warnings
The further the distance between the keg and the spigot, the more CO2 pressure will be needed to drive the beer. The ideal pressure is usually between 5 and 12 PSI, depending on the configuration. If the beer is all foam at first, this could be a result of having recently moved the keg. Allow the beer to settle before assuming the pressure is too high.
Dirty lines can result in too much foam (head) on your beer. Be sure to clean or replace the beer lines regularly.
Resources
- Photo Credit Stahlkocher (GFDL 1.2)
