Bar-Sized Kegerator

Equipment

Bar-Sized Kegerator

THE PROBLEM

When I started brewing a year ago, there were nearly a half dozen 5 gallon kegs needed to keep cold and also for me to use to dispense.  I bought a chest freezer with a thermocouple to keep it above freezing.  I was able to fit about 6-5 gallon kegs max - though it was very tight.  I dispensed from one of them from a tap directly on the the active keg.  It dripped as you can imagine.  I lined the floor with a towel that I changed monthly too.

I planned to put a tower on the top but realized that if I opened it too far (or someone else), it would hit the window.  So I just dispensed directly from a keg tap and moved the tap to another brew if I wanted a new flavor.

Over time mold hit.  I cleaned it all out with bleach solution.  But every-time the mold came back stronger coating everything in a few days.  It's a freezer and the freeze/thaw cycle from being on the thermocouple to keep it above freezing would just capture condensate inside...perpetual moistness on top of small amounts of beer spillage equaled mold.

I had to do something out of necessity.

THE SOLUTION

Craigslist has become a favorite of mine the past year.  I was able to find a 69" long bar kegerator with two towers and drip trays already installed.  The price ended up being great as I got lot's of bonus stuff.  This thing would easily hold nearly 10-12 5 gallon kegs.   I won't tell you how heavy the compressor side was (I had it!).   I cleaned it up, polished the SS with steel wool and plugged it in.  After fixing some compressor noise, it worked perfectly.  Though the brew room is starting to get a little tight!

TEMPERATURE

Initially I tried to get the temp to the industry standard 38 deg F.  After drinking the beer, it was waaaay to cold.  This temperature is most suited for the American mass-produced beers from mega breweries that we are so against (tastewise).  The industry is calibrated to serve beer at the temps for THOSE beers.  It's too cold for a good micro.  I now have the cooler at 45 deg and the beer (wheat and pale ale) taste a lot better with more flavor.

CARBONATION

After some research, I turned the dispensing CO2 up to 12 psi...on the old system I ran a low 4-5 psi.  I am trying to approximate the pour time at real bars.  It actually worked well.  I figured I would have only beer foam.  It dispensed great beer with perfect head and balance with the carbonation I started with (20psi).

EXPERIMENTATION

Now, instead of needing this out of necessity, it will be part of an experiment to replicate a working bar system to get the perfect match of CO2, dispensing speed and temperature per beer style.  I want to eventually have a 'brewpub' - so this is important research.  This will also serve to see how well the beer ages at certain dispensing temps.

NEXT?

I plan to get at least 4 taps working so I can have 4 beers on tap.  With 4, it won't get emptied none to quick, but will serve to see how it ages.