I would say as far back as I became a beer drinker I wanted to have beer on tap. I became a homebrewer about 4 years ago. We would bottle the beer at first, then I came upon some free corny kegs. Since then we’ve been kegging the beer. We’ve been using a picnic tap, which is fine, but it’s still not the same as your own taps. Finally after a couple years of kegging beer, I’ve built a keezer so I can pour my own beer from the tap.
Above you’ll see my video of how I built the keezer. If you don’t brew your own beer, you can still buy kegs from the liquor store and connect it similarly. In this video I show how to hook up the 5 gallon corny kegs. Usually store bought kegs of beer will come in a half-barrel size, so you’ll need to buy different connectors to hook your air & beer lines to the keg.
Tools / items I used
- Temperature controller
- Stainless Beer Faucet
- Beer line
- Air line
- Ball Lock Keg Connectors
- Used Corny Kegs
- Stain
- Silcone
- 2×6 wood
- Chest Freezer
It’s very important to measure the top of the freezer. We want to make sure the collar that you make is the correct size. A 2×6 board has a width of 1 1/2″. So, make sure you are subtracting 3″ from the length of the side boards. Once drilling the collar together, you’ll be at the correct total length.
Drill the boards together, make sure their square and drill the holes for your taps. I also drilled a hole for my airline. You can actually keep your CO2 tank on the inside or outside of your keezer. I opted to put mine on the outside so I have extra room on the inside. I also drilled my holes for my taps to the right side, which is all personal preference. I figured I would add more taps later to the left.
I stained my collar by hanging it outside from my deck. This way none of the stain would end up on the floor and I can stain all sides and corners at once. I also let it dry for 12 hours.
Once the collar is dry, go back to the freezer and remove the lid by unscrewing the hinges on the back. On my freezer, it was 4 screws holding each hinge.
Next, go around the freezer with the silcone and place the collar on top.
Make sure the collar is straight. Now, put the lid on top (but don’t screw it in yet) and put some heavy objects on top to hold the collar / lid down. Let this sit over night until the silicone dries.
Once it’s dry you can screw the hinges of the lid to the back of the collar. You want to make sure this lines up with a perfect seal.
Next you’ll just be putting all the hardware together: The taps, the CO2 tank, air lines, beer lines, & keg(s). Once you’re all set you’ll be pouring your own beer in no time!
This is a simple build, but you can make this as personal as you want it to. You can get personalized tap handles or paint the freezer. It’s up to you.
Cheers!
+Greg