DIY: Kegerator and Fermentation Chamber (Part II: Construction and Assembly)

This post continues where I left off in Part I: Concept and Equipment. Read on for the steps to constructing and assembling the kegerator and fermentation chamber from parts and equipment discussed earlier.

If you’re in a pinch, you could also just skip right to the chase by reading on and grabbing the tools as you go.

Steps

Making the kegerator was one semi-difficult manual task followed by a lot of assembly and improvisation using duct tape.

Step 1: Make the hole for the faucet

Use the electric drill and 7/8″ hole saw to drill a hole in the door of the fridge. Drilling through the door allows you to be sure you won’t hit any coolant lines or electronics. The door is hollow, I promise. It’s also thinner than the sides and thus easier to punch through. After much consideration, I drilled the hole right in the middle about 4″ from the top for the sake of symmetry. Having the faucet near the top also means you won’t have to bend over as much to pour a beer.

To make the hole I just pressed really hard until the drill bit in the middle started to catch and the hole-sized saw followed soon after. I measured the same distance down on the inside of the fridge and punched a hole through the plastic to meet the one on the outside.

Note: Don’t touch any of the metal while you’re in the process of making the hole or you will burn yourself from the heat developed from drill bit friction (whoops!)

Step 2: Move the freezer unit

The U-shaped roll of metal you may have in your minifridge is the freezer. It is also the cooling unit and contains coils that circulate coolant. Unfortunately you’ll need to move the freezer to allow space for the faucet shank, tubes, and clearance for the fermenter and keg.

At the top you can see the bolts that hold the freezer to the top of the fridge. They are plastic bolts that serve to lock the unit in place, though it is not screwed in place.

The steps to move the freezer are as follows:

1. Carefully but firmly press the freezer backwards until it clicks out of the bolts.
2. Disconnect the clip-in thermometer probe (metal wire) and its casing from the underside of the freezer
3. Carefully bend the freezer to the back of the fridge and duct-tape it in place.

As noted, I later used duct tape to affix the freezer to the back of the fridge. It hasn’t moved since. This will give you plenty of space to work with for your fermentations without having to do something difficult like remove the door panel to make extra space.

Step 3: Attach the faucet and shank

As noted above, the Perlick faucet and shank can both be attached using the faucet wrench. It isn’t necessary to over-tighten this connection, just place the sheath between the faucet and the tighten it enough that the faucet doesn’t move on its own. This sheath may also be called a flange.

Once you’ve attached everything together, screw on the small black tap handle.

The photos above are the outside (tap) and inside (shank) of the kegerator’s beer faucet.

Step 4: Assemble the lines

Connecting all the various tubes, nuts, and bolts is a bit of a pain, but once you’ve done it once, you won’t have to take it apart for a long while. The next time you disassemble it should be for periodic cleaning in roughly every 2 months.

Beginning at the keg, here is the order in which the connections should be attached on the beer side:

• Three-pin keg post ->
• MFL Pin Lock liquid quick disconnect -> 1/4″ flare swivel nut ->
• 1/4″ barb -> 5 ft of 3/16″ ID x 7/16″ OD Thickwall PVC Beer line ->
• Hex nut -> 3/16″ tail piece -> gasket ->
• 7/8″ lock nut -> 7/8″ shank ->
• Flange -> Perlick 630SS flow control faucet

At either end of the tubing it is good practice to add a hose clamp. On the liquid side I used easy-turn 1/2″ clamps. On the gas tubing I used 5/8″ clamps.

Here is the order of connection for the gas side:

• Two-pin keg post ->
• MFL Pin Lock gas quick disconnect -> 1/4″ flare swivel nut ->
• 3/8″ barb -> 4 ft of 5/16″ ID x 9/16″ OD Thickwall PVC Gas line ->
• Regulator -> CO2 tank

For the regulator to tank connection, make sure you tighten it down using the adjustable wrench or gas will escape everywhere. Spoken from experience. This particular regulator has a built-in rubber gasket, as seen in the photo below, but some will require a gasket at that connection point.

Note: Care should be taken when connecting the parts because a slow gas leak can drain your tank. Tighten and check all gaskets and connections, even the ones on the keg itself, by spraying some Star-San or soapy water on them to see if they bubble.

Step 5: Disassemble, clean, reassemble keg

The graphic below from the American Homebrewers Association shows how all the parts fit together.

When you purchase a used keg, it’s likely to come complete with ancient liquid or residue, thus requiring cleanup via:

1. disassembly,
2. soaking in PBW for 30 minutes, and
3. sanitizing with Star San,
4. reassembly,
5. fitting keg into fridge.

PBW and Star San can both be reused to wash multiple items if they aren’t too dirty. Soak everything for at least 30 minutes the first time around and then soak in sanitizer. Star San sanitizer saved in a spray bottle is a great way to sanitize an area without having to submerge everything.

Most kegs are around 8.25-9″ in diameter, which was the exact depth of the floor area of my minifridge. Mine fit perfectly once I raised it up above the door lip using a styrofoam wedge.

If you’re extra lucky, you’ll find a fridge without a compressor bump, which would give you space for 2 kegs. If unlucky, you may have to remove the interior plastic on the door to capture an extra few inches of space. I was in between. Always measure before you buy your fridge.

See Cleaning and Sanitizer under Brewing 101: Building the Brewhouse (Equipment) for more.

Step 6: Fermenter and Temperature Control

I purchased the Ss Brewtech Mini Brew Bucket, which is really just a half-sized fancy version of the standard brew bucket. Luckily, it fits snugly into the fridge if you reinsert the bottom shelf. To hook up my temperature controller, I did the following:

1. threaded the temperature probe and cord through the space between the door and the body of the fridge on the hinge side;
2. duct taped a sock to the fermenter as insulation; and
3. slid the temperature probe under the sock to sit against the side of the fermenter;
4. plugged the fridge into the cooling socket of the controller and the controller to the wall.

Now the fridge turns on only when the liquid inside the fermenter warms up above the set point, which for my last brew was 64 F.

That’s it for the fermenter and kegerator. If you’re new to the brewing process, check out my Brewing 101 series from earlier this month.