All mini-fridges have a hump inside them where the compressor and fan are located. This eats up some of the usable internal space. The shelves on the door further constrain the internal space. The lesson: going online to buy a fridge/freezer for use as keezer is a bad idea. Sometimes the product description will list internal dimensions, but that’s not enough to go on since the floor might be sloped or the shelves might be in the wrong spot.

The best thing to do is make cardboard cut outs representing the foot print of what you want to put in the fridge. Also note the heights of the containers, leaving room for airlock, hoses, couplers, etc. For example, a corny keg needs 27″ of vertical space to leave clearance for the couplings and is 8-1/2″ – 9″ diameter. Take the cutouts with you to the store and bring a tape measure. Then you can be sure what you are buying will work out.

The humps inside mini-fridges and chest freezers are a real drag. In my keezer, the CO2 tank sits on the hump along with a moisture absorption tray. One trick is to build a 4” collar around the top of the keezer. The hatch will have to be removed and then re-installed when the collar is in place. Often this is enough to take the hump out of the equation so 1 or 2 more corny kegs can be placed inside.

Towards the middle of my project todo list is a fermentation chamber. This is done by removing the door from a mini-fridge and building an insulated box that extends the conditioned space. With a temperature controller, a mini-fridge in this setup can be used for precise temperature control during fermentation. What I’m not sure about is how to safely heat the chamber, in the event it gets too cold in the shed (let’s say I want to keep it at 65F, but outside it is 40F). More on that when I get there.

Freezers are designed to operate below freezing. They naturally collect condensation on the interior walls. Normally the condensation freezes and builds up a thin layer of ice. When a freezer is hooked up to a temperature controller set between 34-50F, the moisture is kept inside the keezer. The higher temperature and humidity creates a breeding ground for bacteria and mold. When beer is spilled it gets even worse. Every drop of spilled beer can turn into a mini breeding colony in a matter of days. Do not try keeping a towel in the bottom, it will just trap moisture and make it worse.

My moisture problem eventually led me to completely clean out my keezer. I let it dry out for about a week after cleaning it. I caulked the interior joints where water would seep into. When the caulk was dry I used an exterior primer paint to coat the surfaces to hide scrapes and rust spots that had developed. Two coats did the trick. It looks brand new inside. With the damp rid bucket in the keezer, it is now completely dry when in operation. I’m not sure how long the bucket will last me. It cost about $10. I set the Damp Rid on the hump so it is not taking up valuable storage space for kegs.

There are other products out there besides DampRid. I looked into buying reusable crystals that you microwave when they change color. There are also electronic devices that you can plug-in every so often to purge moisture. After reading reviews I decided I didn’t want to spend the money for a large unit, and choose to ignore the cheapo units. The cheapo units would require plugging in every one or two weeks, and that would be a hassle. The smaller products are designed for gun safes or closets. An environment like a kezzer where moisture is constantly collecting requires a stronger solution. I also wanted a hands off solution, so the bucket did the trick.

For my setup, I am using a picnic tap to dispense beer from my corny kegs. It takes extra care to keep beer from spilling. I keep a rag inside the keezer to set the picnic tap on so it absorbs any beer left in the spout of the tap. The rag is also handy to wipe up spills.

It might be possible to purchase moisture absorbing crystals in bulk. I believe it is just Calcium Chloride. Maybe one of our readers knows more about this?

Kegerator = keg + refrigerator
Keezer = kegerator + freezer
Keezer = the place where my beer is kept cold and on tap

I prefer the Keezers, not to be confused with Geezers…

A kegerator or keezer can also double as a way to lager. I have used a standard fridge (kegerator) in the past. In the image above, the bucket on the right is a German lager bubbling away. In my opinion, the chest freezer setup (keezer) is much much better than a top/bottom fridge (kegerator). The keezer was cheaper to get setup, it holds more, and it is quieter. I think it also draws less power than a fridge.

Most setups will require a temperature controller. Freezers are designed to go below 32F, so to avoid freezing the beer, the temperature controller cuts power to the compressor when the desired temperature is hit. I keep mine around 40F, but raise it to 50F when doing my primary fermentation for lagers. You can just barely see in the bottom left corner where the senor probe is duct taped to the inside of the freezer.

The unit I went with is the Frigidaire 7.2 Cubic Ft. Chest Freezer from Lowe’s, Model #FFC0723GB. I paid $228 with free delivery! The top/bottom fridge I bought was $499.

Home Brew Talk has an awesome thread about the options here:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/sizing-your-chest-freezer-corny-kegs-75449/

You can choose between getting one that holds anywhere from 2-10 corny kegs!

The only down side I have found is it is a little harder to lift full buckets, carboys, and corny kegs into the unit.

The inside of chest freezers have a ‘hump’ where the motor is. Corny kegs are too tall to sit on top the hump because the lid would not close. The way around this is to build a collar extension that raises the height of the lid. Most people put their taps through the collar.

In the image above there is a rag to catch drips from the picnic tap. I have read that keezers can get gross inside if not taken care of. Once I spilled a bit of beer on some bottles and did not take care of it. A few weeks later mold started growing. It wasn’t too bad, but I’m glad I caught it early. To avoid any future mess I make sure any beer that goes astray is wiped up immediately. Sometimes the walls of the keezer have moisture on them so I wipe them off occasionally.

There are commercial CO2 bottling wands, guns, beer guns… but they are entirely too expensive and unnecessary to accomplish this simple task. There is no need to spend $50, $60, or $100 dollars to fill a bottle with beer effectively. Here is how:

1. You will need a 7′+ beer line with a picnic tap on the end Fig. 1
2. You will need a plastic bottling wand OR racking cane (this will fit into the picnic tap) Fig. 2
3. You will need a #2 drilled rubber stopper Fig. 3

Fig 1.

Fig 2.

Fig 3.

Assemble these components in this manner:

1. Cut a 45 degree angle on one end of the bottling wand/racking cane to allow the free flow of beer into the bottle
2. Slide the uncut end of the bottling wand/racking cane into the picnic tap
3. Slide the #2 stopper up onto the bottling wand/racking cane (this will seal the bottle while filling)
4. Attach the beer line to the keg itself.

See Fig 4.

Fig 4.

You are now ready to bottle beer, and there are some simple rules and procedures to follow to be successful.

1. Be sure that your beer line and bottles are cold, this will reduce foaming during bottling.
2. Shut off the gas to your keg, use the pressure relief valve to relieve excess pressure.
3. Turn your regulator down to 3-5 PSI and turn the gas back on to the keg, this will give you a gentle flow rate to reduce foaming.
4. Open the tap and run a small amount of beer out as waste, this will prime the bottle filler.
5. Place the bottle filler in the bottle and seal the bottle with the rubber stopper. Fig. 5
6. Open the picnic tap to LOCKED position, and as the flow slows due to pressure, squeeze the side of the stopper to relieve the pressure and fill bottle until beer flows out the top, not just foam.
7. Move to next bottle and repeat.
8. When finished, give all bottles a quick shot of beer to top them off (place the tip of the bottling wand about 1” below the level of the beer in the bottle and secure the stopper when accomplishing this step)
9. Place caps on all bottles.
10. One at a time, tip each bottle on its side and upright again while holding the cap on. When the beer foams over, lock the cap on, repeat with all bottles (purging CO2). Fig. 6

Fig 5.

Fig 6.

Remember when you are finished bottling, to again increase your regulator pressure to maintain the proper level of carbonation in your keg. Happy bottling!

Factors that play a role in the quality of your pour are the following:

Beer Temperature: This will affect how readily the beer absorbs CO2. Colder beer absorbs CO2 into solution more readily. The lower the temp. the lower the pressure required to obtain a given number of volumes of CO2.

Keg Pressure: Along with beer temperature, this will control the actual volumes of CO2 in solution.

Beer Line Inside Diameter: This provides resistance, keeping CO2 in solution by slowing the pour.

Beer Line Temperature: Warm beer lines will warm the beer as it travels from the keg to your glass, causing a release of CO2.

Beer Line Length: This provides resistance, keeping CO2 in solution by slowing the pour.

Beer Line Rise to Tap: The height of the tap from the center of the keg. This provides resistance, keeping CO2 in solution by slowing the pour.

There are some simple rules to follow as well as an equation to help you balance your beer line length to accommodate the pressure needed in the keg to sustain your desired CO2 volume.

1. Keep your beer lines cold. For some this is not an issue, but if you use a draft tower you need to take care to refrigerate those lines and insulate the tower to keep CO2 release to a minimum, thus reducing foam in the glass.
2. Beer line length MUST be balanced with the amount of pressure in the keg used for serving. The longer the line, the more resistance you have.
3. Beer line inside diameter MUST be included in the beer line length calculations to properly determine length. The narrower the line, the more resistance you have.
4. Beer line RISE from the keg to the tap MUST also be included in the beer line length calculations to properly determine length. The greater the rise, the more resistance you will have.

Numbers 2-3 all work together to provide a total amount of resistance between the keg and your glass. Too much resistance and you will have a slow pour, too little resistance and you will have nothing but foam in your glass.

Here is an example of how to determine the proper temperature, pressure and beer line length for a given scenario.

BEER STYLE CARBONATION GUIDE

Beer Temperature: 38F

Keg Pressure: 21.7 PSI

Volumes of CO2: 3.50

Beer Line ID: 3/16” inside diameter plastic beer line

Beer Line Temperature: COLD (ideal)

Beer Line length: 6′

Beer Line Rise to Tap: 24”

Beer Line Length Formula:

L = (P -(H x .5) – 1 ) / R

Where:
L = length of beer line in feet
P = pressure set of regulator
H = total height from center of keg to faucet in feet
R = resistance of the line from the following table
1 = residual pressure remaining at faucet (this can be increased to 2 if you need to increase pressure to increase dispense rate)

L = ( 21.7-(2 x .5)-1 ) / 2.7

L = 7.3 feet of beer line, or 7′ 4”

In this scenario the beer line length is too short, ideally one would have over 7′ of beer line to create enough resistance to counter the 21.7 PSI in the keg to obtain the volumes of CO2 for this German wheat beer. If you simply reduce the temperature of the beer to 33F and reduce the pressure to 18.3 PSI you will still achieve 3.50 volumes of CO2 in your beer, but the reduction in pressure will now not overwhelm the 6′ beer line that you have. Pressure and resistance are now balanced.

The classic axiom for bottling home-brewed beer is ¾ cup of dextrose / corn sugar (or 1 cup of malt extract, or ½ cup of honey) for a 5 gallon batch, leaving 1-2” of air at the top of the bottle, regardless of size. Home brewers are strongly urged not to exceed that amount of sugar, as too much sugar leads to excess pressure and potentially exploding bottles. This one-size-fits-all approach will work for novice and intermediate home brewers, but for more exotic beers, or for more advanced brewers, there is room for more variation.

First, consider the style of beer. Most European Lagers and American Ales have the same carbonation levels, but there are exceptions. Porters & Stouts, along with British ales, tend to traditionally have lower carbonation levels, with Belgian ales lying between the Porter/Stout and the American/European beers. A few beer styles, such as fruit Lambics and German wheat beer, have very high carbonation traditionally.

Next, consider the bottling temperature of the “green” (uncarbonated) beer. A colder bottling temperature means more CO2 is dissolved in the beer. A “green” Lager kept at 40 degrees F will have almost 50% more CO2 already dissolved than a “green” Ale kept at 60 degrees F, which goes a long way towards explaining why a finished Lager often has more foam than a finished Ale.

Finally, consider carefully modifying the type amount of bottling sugar. Because even small changes can result in a big difference, consider using dried malt extract, or even liquid malt extract instead of sucrose, as these types of sugars are less efficient for the yeast, and gives you the brewer a little more room to work within. Since few home brewers attempt Lambic-style beers, mostly you’ll be reducing the amount of bottling sugar for your Belgians, Porters, Stouts, and British Ales by a few teaspoons, down to an absolute floor of ¼ cup of dry malt extract for a 5 gallon batch.

There is another way to modify the amount of CO2 in bottled, home brewed beer. Leaving less air in each bottle causes pressure to build up more quickly; increased pressure results in reduced yeast activity, and thus less CO2. Conversely, leaving more air in the bottle will cause faster fermentation and more CO2, but more pressure inside the bottle means more risk of exploding bottles, and safety has to be a priority in this case.

There’s something here even for the non-brewers: what temperature is best to serve beer at? Remember, the temperature of the beer determines how much CO2 is dissolved, and how much foaming will occur. Beer styles with less CO2 can be served at a higher temperature, because there’s less CO2 dissolved in the beer; serving these beers at a colder temperature means more of the CO2 is dissolved, and less will be available to provide effervescence and foam. A Stout served at near-freezing temperatures will fail to produce a solid head, and may even taste flat. Conversely, a Lambic served at room temperature will bubble & foam like champagne or worse. This is why many of the English bitters are served at ‘cellar’ temperature (55F), which is warmer than fridge temperatures.

Natural conditioning:
Siphon the beer into the keg then stir in priming sugar. Seal keg, and attach CO2 line. At this point oxygen is bad for the beer. By purging the head space in the keg, the beer will stay fresh longer. Clear out the head space by venting the keg and replacing with CO2. This venting procedure only needs to be done when the beer is first packaged.

The procedure: turn on gas to pressurize keg, leave for a few minutes, shut off gas, then open release valve on the top of the keg to vent it. Repeat this step a few times to get all the oxygen out of the head space.

The pressure relief valve on the top of a corny keg.

When the head space is purged, shut off the CO2, disconnect the hose, and store the beer for at least ten days. A couple weeks may be necessary. Natural conditioning takes more time but conserves CO2.

Forced carbonation:
Follow the same steps as under ‘natural conditioning’ above, except do not add priming sugar. Put the keg into the fridge to cool it down. After four to eight hours, hook up CO2 again, set regulator to the desired level of carbonation, and open the gas line. Rock the keg for several minutes until no more swishing is audible. It is helpful to orient the keg on its side to maximize surface area the gas can dissolve into. When you no longer detect any swishing or noise coming from the regulator you are almost there. Continue for a few more minutes. Now the beer is saturated with CO2 at the desired level. Shut off the CO2, disconnect the hoses, and store the beer for three days. After that time it is ready to serve. Force carbonating takes less time but uses up more CO2.

A note about light lagers:
I have found that adding priming sugar to light lagers throws off the delicate flavor by adding additional sweetness that takes a long time to subside. There is little active yeast left in a lager given it has fermented longer at colder temperatures. Force carbonation of light lagers yielded better tasting results sooner.

Enjoy your draft beer! Caution – be careful when working with pressurized gases, take care to read instruction manuals and follow directions. Do not drink beer before or during any of these procedures. After you are done, then crack or ‘tap’ a home brew

The beer being fermented is a Munich Helles!