How to Make Your Own Keg Refrigerator

Keg refrigerators can provide frosty cold beer on tap in your home.

If bottled beer is good, then draft beer must be the best thing ever. There’s something magical about the frothy head in a chilled glass that makes ordering your favorite beer on tap at your local pub or restaurant a must-do. And if you could somehow reproduce the experience of having on-tap beer in the comfort of your own home, chances are you would never leave. All you need is a device that both cools the keg of your favorite beer and dispenses it easily.

Things You'll Need

• 1 stand-up refrigerator
• 1 keg of beer
• 1 keg coupler
• 1 drill
• 1 1 1/8" hole saw drill bit
• 1 2" hole saw drill bit
• 1 wrench
• 1 keg refrigerator conversion kit, including:
• --1 CO2 tank with regulator
• --1 beer line with fittings (5' x 3/16")
• --1 CO2 line (4' x 5/16")
• --1 spigot
• --1 spigot handle
• --1 shank
• --1 drip tray
• --1 beer hose snap clamp
• --2 CO2 hose snap clamps

Instructions

Prep Steps

1. Get a fridge. The refrigerator that you will convert will be permanently altered and, ultimately, cannot be reversed for normal use. A standard stand-up model works best, and the top freezer can be utilized for ice cold glassware.

2. Prepare the fridge for conversion. Take out all shelves and drawers from the interior of the fridge. Thoroughly sanitize the interior, leaving a clean environment.

3. Purchase a conversion kit. The items needed to convert a refrigerator are sold in a handy kit via the web. Sites like Kegerators.com, KegWorks.com and MicroMatic.com have these kits available for purchase.

4. Purchase a beer line cleaning kit. It is important to maintain clean beer lines to ensure that you are dispensing quality product. The beer line cleaning kit can be purchased on websites like Kegerators.com, KegWorks.com and MicroMatic.com.

5. Ensure that you have the correct coupler. The keg coupler is the device that connects the keg to the draft hose. Different companies utilize a different system of couplers, which only fit their specific brand of kegs. Make sure that you get the coupler of the beer that you are planning on keeping on stock.

Building Your Kegerator

1. Drill the holes for the shank into the door. Drill a pilot hole with the smaller 1/8” drill bit, keeping in mind to clear the height of where the keg will rest inside. The spigot will go here, so give yourself ample clearance. Once the pilot is drilled all the way through, use the 1 1/8” hole saw to cut a hole through the exterior. On the interior, use the 2” hole saw to finish the hole on the inside.

2. Insert the shank into the hole. The shank, which is the 4 1/8” shaft that connects the spigot on the exterior to the beer line inside, should slip easily into the hole created coming from the inside. Secure the tightening nut on the exterior and on the interior, as well. These nuts are designed not only to secure the spigot in place, but also to seal the hole to prevent air leakage.

3. Attach the drip pan. Depending on the model purchased, the drip pan will attach a couple different ways. It will either slip over the exterior shank before the spigot is attached or screw into the door separate of the spigot. For this version, ensure that the pan is placed directly under the shank, with ample room for glasses or a pitcher to go under the shank. Screw directly into the fridge door to secure this style of drip pan.

4. Attach the spigot and beer hose. The spigot will easily screw onto the exterior shank. On the interior, attach the beer line hose onto the other side of the shank. The other end of the beer line should be attached to the coupler, via the screw on connection. Secure the spigot end of the beer line with the included snap clamp. Do not alter the length of the beer line. Five feet is the standard regulation from keg to tap.

The CO2 Tank

1. Attach the CO2 tank hose. Attach one end of the CO2 hose to the coupler and the other to the CO2 tank itself. Secure both ends with snap clamps.

2. Attach the coupler to your keg. Push the coupler into the opening of the keg and give it a quarter turn clockwise. After that, pull the handle of the coupler straight out and push it down. This will lock the handle in place and secure the coupler onto the keg.

3. After everything is attached, turn the CO2 tank on. After everything is connected and on, you will need to run the tap for a bit to get rid of excess foam.

References

• Micro Matic: How to build a kegerator
• Kegerators.com: How to build a kegerator
• Kegerators.com: conversion kits
• Keg Works: kegerator conversion kits