Another kegerator post

I named the post thusly since a search for "kegerator collar" yields about every shred of information possible about this topic, including lots of good pictures. The Sarasota Beer Geek columnist gave me the collar idea. Thanks, Alan.

So there are a lot of homemade kegerators out there, but this one is mine. I started with a small 5 cubic foot freezer (as opposed to a large 5 cubic foot) which can fit two cornelius kegs and a 5 lb CO2 tank, as well as a few bottles on the little shelf. A larger freezer would have been nice, but this one was a gift and, well, do I really need more than two kinds of beer available at once? One actually, since I am starting out with only one faucet.



Speaking of the faucet, I ordered the Perlick forward-sealing kind. It just seemed easier to maintain, and the reviews have all been good. I got mine, and the other needed hardware (shank, tailpiece, beer line, ball lock liquid disconnect) from Austin Homebrew Supply. I might also need to get one of their OG/FG T-shirts!

So this appliance had spent a few years of its life keeping food frozen at my parents' house, but they didn't need it anymore. So it came to my house for its rebirth. Here's what I did:

Removed the lid, hinges and all

Built a "collar" out of untreated 2x4, screwing it together, that exactly fit the square top of the freezer

Attached 1x6 plates to the outside of the collar, top edges flush with the top edges of the 2x4 collar, to create a kind of "skirt" that would hug the outside of the freezer. I screwed the plates to the 2x4 collar with drywall screws from the inside, to keep the outside of the collar attractive and screw-hole free. I mitered the 2x6 plates with a table saw to create nice corner seams, and cut the plate in the back to accommodate the hinges





Stained/treated the whole thing with some cherry wood preservative that I had lying around

Let it dry

Reattached the lid to the new collar by the hinges, using wood screws

Stuck low-compression foam weatherstripping to the bottom edge of the 2x4 collar, so it forms a tight seal where it rests on the top edge of the freezer

Stuck high-compression (softer) foam weatherstripping to the top edge were the lid comes to rest (it now closes with a good, solid thump)

Drilled a hole with a 7/8" hole saw in the front plate, all the way through the 2x4 collar as well, for the faucet shank



Installed faucet shank, tailpiece and Perlick faucet (if you get a faucet, MAKE SURE to get a faucet ("spanner") wrench as well -- I didn't have one and had to wrap a strip of leather around the faucet ring so I could screw it on with some vise-grips without marring it) I also left room to install a second faucet at a later date

Ran the probe of my temperature controller into the freezer itself, letting the wire pass through a seam in the top weatherstripping. Set temp control for about 38 degrees

Put in my 5 lb. CO2 tank, a 5 gal. keg of Three-Hearted Ale, hooked everything up

Came home from work and drew a pint of cold Three-Hearted Ale, which is the subject for another post. Oh wow!

Caribou Slobber

Northern Brewer got me with their "last day to get 10 percent off your order!" e-mail, I hate to admit. So I got this version of Moose Drool, which I have never had but have heard much about:

Fermentables

* 9 lbs. Rahr 2-row
* .75 lbs. Briess Caramel 60L
* .5 lbs. Briess Caramel 80L
* .25 lbs. Fawcett Pale Chocolate
* .125 lbs. Black Malt

Boil Additions

* 1 oz. US Goldings (60 min)
* 1 oz. Liberty (30 min)
* 1 oz. Willamette (15 min)


Brewed it on April 24th, and the only mishap was accidentally shooting about a cup or two of coolish water into the mash tun after I had perfectly reached strike temperature. I just pulled back and didn't panic, since the temperature didn't plunge.

Instead I went and cleaned the chicken house (great thing to do while you are trying to maintain sanitary conditions) and when I came back 40 minutes later my mash temp had fallen into the high forties. And it was still falling.

I read somewhere that most of your starch-to-sugar conversion happens in the first 15 minutes of the mash, so again I did not panic. I was definitely going to have a lot of fermentables and a higher ABV with these temperatures.

Also, with the way my system works, I was able to route the wort through the boiling hot water tank while I was circulating and clarifying it. (I did wash my hands first.) So I just circulated it for 15 minutes or so at 153 degrees or so.

Target gravity for the recipe is 1.052. I got 1.057!

I didn't buy any yeast for it. I had saved the Wyeast slurry (American Ale 1056) from my Three-Hearted Ale, sealed in bottles and stored in the fridge, and pitched that. Bubbling nicely within only a few hours.

Happy hydrometer

I just tested a sample of the 10 gallons of Northern Brewer's Three-Hearted Ale that I brewed last month. It has now been in secondary for over two weeks. In the plastic fermenter is an ounce of Challenger pellets in a hop bag and another ounce of homegrown Chinook leaf hops. In the glass carboy is (also) a bag of Challenger, and an ounce of homegrown Cascade.

The gravity has plunged to about 1.008! Yesss! This again shows how a ho-hum (about 1.018 in this case) or disappointing gravity reading after a week in primary can change drastically in secondary.

Then I tested the sample in an equally important way. Oh wow. This stuff tastes great. And it is warm and flat. And there's a lot of cold, golden pints for warm mountain nights in those two containers.

Soon I will attack the project of renovating my new (used) chest freezer (thanks Mom) into a kegerator, possibly adding a collar so I don't have to drill holes in the metal.

Early start for the hops

The hops vines got an early start this year, their fourth. They have gotten a slow start in life here in the relatively poor soil on the western slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but this year looks good.

Their first year they piddled along and made about 10 cones. The second, maybe enough for a batch of beer. The third, enough for about three batches.

If you are growing hops, the one piece of advice I would give is: Cover each mound in a small pile of manure for the first winter. Of course, follow the other instructions for hops: well-drained soil, south-facing location, twine to climb on, pruning back to about four or five strong bines.



The top image is my Cascade vine; the lower one is Chinook. I also have a Crystal, which always lags behind the other two.