Chest Freezer Kegerator!

I recently built a kegerator and wanted to post a little step by step to show, those of you that are interested, what I've done.

I started with a Frigidaire 7.2 cu ft. chest freezer, $200 at BestBuy. I decided not to drill through the top of the door, like some others have done, but instead build a collar for the taps to go through.

I bought a couple of nice, premium grade 2x6 at Lowe's for this. They wouldn't cut the mitered corners like I wanted so I had to do it myself. Thanks Dad for all the practice at Shaver Brothers over the years! With Jinger as my lookout I quickly "borrowed" the miter saw from the contractor who was working on the stairs down to the lake. Thank you Leon. Eight carefully measured chops later and we were well on our way.

After a little screwing, drilling and staining, the collar was starting to come together. I used some metal brakets in each of the corners and some Elmer's Glue to help hold it together. I detached the hinges from the back of the freezer and once the stain dried I siliconed the collar to the upper rim. The excitement of draft beer at home got to me so I was only able to put one coat of stain on the wood. The hinges from the lid attached easily to the collar and then I secured the collar to the freezer with a few metal brackets. It all came together pretty easy.

I didn't have the strength to wait that long for the silicon to dry but I weighted the top down with a few bins full of junk for about two hours until I felt that it was ready to go.

Jinger and I drove over to Big Al Brewing to pick out the inaugural keg. After a taste test we decided on a 1/6th barrel of Irish Red... mmmmmm!

Most of the draft beer components that I got for the fridge came from Larry's Brewing Supply in Kent, WA. That included all the gas and beer lines, CO2 tank, regulator, faucet, tap and the Ranco digital temperature controller. I bought an "anti-fatigue" rubber floor mat from Lowe's that I cut up to line the inside bottom of the fridge to help avoid the inevitable dropped keg from doing to much damage.

I decided to get a stainless steel drip tray but struggled with a good way to mount it to the fridge.  I didn't want to drill holes in the front because of the risk of hitting the heat exchange coils that run through there near the surface.  I tried glueing some magnet strips that I picked up at the craft store to the tray but they were not strong enough.  I found some wicked strong Neodimium magnets online that did the trick once Krazy glued on to the tray. 

We've got room for any combination of three 5 gal. Corney Kegs or commercial 1/6th barrel kegs.  Right now it is a keg of Big Al's Abbey Wheat, we finished the Irish Red, until I keg my first batch of homebrew!