The Kegerator

All of the homebrewers I talked to thought I had it ass-backwards, building a kegerator before learning to homebrew. But to me it makes perfect sense, why go through the hassle of bottling when a much simpler and cleaner solution is available? With a lot of help from some generous friends who had already built theirs (thanks Shawn and Darin), I had a good head start on what to buy and how to put it together. I thought I'd share some of this info with whomever is interested.

Here's the parts list:
















Now you can buy a kegerator at Best Buy for around $900, and I've seen smaller versions that will hold a half barrel for $600, but 1) they are 1 tap systems, 2) they do not use high quality taps/components and stainless materials and 3) it's cheaper to build you own 4) you can build it the way you want it. From my numbers above you can see that the dual tap system approaches $600. I calculated that the cost of a single tap system with these high quality components would be about $354. Compare that to the cheapest single tap kegerator I could find at $600, and you're saving $246.

Some of the components on the list:

Y Adaptor - also know as the Wye, you can get these a lot of places, here's a link. The thing to keep in mind with these is that it is a machined piece of brass with 3 female 1/4 NPT ports. Make sure when you get yours that it comes with a 1/4 NPT male to 3/8 NPT male adapter with it so you can attach it directly to your regulator.


Shutoff Valves (for CO2) - Pretty self explanatory. These will screw into the Y adaptor above so you need to have the with one side 1/4 Male NPT and the other 1/4 (or what ever ID your gas line is) barbed. You can find them at the same page as the Y adaptor.

Drip Tray - to catch your party fouls. Go 6" or 7". Find it here.


Ventmatic Forward Seal Faucets - From what I understand, and experience show, these forward sealing faucets that prevent sticking are the only way to go. Going on two years now and they've never stuck. I got mine here.


Finally, the fridge is a very special refrigerator, it can not have the compressor on the floor of the mini-fridge such that it creates a step in the back. This will not give you enough room for your kegs. The one I bought was from Best Buy, the model is a Sanyo 4912. Just google Sanyo kegerator fridge and you will find a ton of sites telling you have to do it. Have fun!