Ben Farhner

Category: Brewery

  • Keezer Build, Part 2

    Keezer Build, Part 2

    After building the collar for my keezer and adding a few features in part 1, it was time to add the taps and run beer lines. I decided to go with DuoTight fittings and Evabarrier line due to their price, ease of setup, and positive reviews.

    I started with four taps, with plans to expand to six or more down the road. Since I’m doing 10 gallon batches, that’s 2 kegs per beer, and if I don’t put any kegs on the compressor hump, that’s 8 kegs or 4 beers in the keezer. But I could mix and match and squeeze a couple more in there, so there’s room to grow.

    I opted to keep the CO2 tank outside the keezer to save space, and I plumbed the gas in using a bulkhead fitting. The DuoTight fittings make it easy to run a separate sub-regulator for each beer, so I was able to set my CO2 tank to a higher pressure, then dial it down depending on the beer style. I also have a dedicated keg of water that I run at a higher pressure, so this flexible system works well for my needs.

    For my water keg, I plumbed in a dedicated water line with another bulkhead. This connects to an ice maker line on the outside, and runs through a regulator on the inside to reduce the water pressure. I’m using a continuous carbonator lid on my water keg, so being able to control both the incoming water pressure and the incoming gas pressure is important for it to function correctly.

    The tap were easy to install, just drill through the collar and tighten down. Due to the length of shanks, I actually ended up drilling a larger hole in the insulation, and tightening the taps against the wood itself.

    With all these changes, the keezer is now fully functional, but it’s not complete! I still plan to cover the 2×10 boards with trim, probably paint the freezer, expand the number of taps, and add a drip tray. Stay tuned for part 3!

  • Keezer Build, Part 1

    Keezer Build, Part 1

    I built a keezer last year when I ran out of room for kegs between the garage fridge and two smaller kegerators. I was previously still using picnic taps except for one proper tap on one of the kegerators, and was itching to up my game for a better beer pouring experience. Plus, I had beer that needed to stay cold! So I shopped around for a freezer that would fit my Corny kegs, and landed on the Kenmore KLFC015MWD, a 14.8 cubit foot garage-ready chest freezer. At this size, with a collar, I can fit a full ten Corny kegs if I need to.

    My first priority was to just get the beer in the freezer and keep it cold, so I whipped up a collar out of 2×10 boards. This is a rather tall collar for a keezer, but it means 2 kegs can fit on the compressor hump. I assembled the collar with pocket screws and ran weatherstripping on both the top and the bottom of it. Then I just set the collar in place on the freezer after removing the lid. It’s actually not secured to the freezer directly, just creating a seal with its weight (those 2x10s are not light). I relocated the freezer lid to the collar, and at this point have a fully sealed freezer again.

    Inside, I ran 1-inch rigid foam insulation around the inside of the collar. It’s temporarily secured with foil tape but will eventually be glued and caulked in place.

    There were a few specific features I wanted for the keezer: a light that comes on when I open the lid, fans to recirculate the cold air to avoid stratification, and, of course, temperature control.

    For the light, I installed a waterproof LED strip with adhesive backing to the inside of the lid. This is connected to a magnetic reed switch so it turns on when the lid is opened.

    For the fans, I used 2 old computer fans that I had on hand, and installed them in the corners of the freezer with angle brackets to draw cold air up from the bottom. These are connected to the same magnetic reed switch, but wired so they are on when the lid is closed, and turn off when it’s opened to avoid blowing all the cold air out of the freezer.

    On the back of the collar, I mounted the 12-volt power supply that powers both the LED strip and the computer fans, a terminal block that handles power distribution, and a relay that is wired into the magnetic reed switch for switching power to the LED strip and computer fans.

    For temperature control, I actually just reused the temperature controller that I had previously built. This was a super easy plug-and-play solution, as all I had to do was plug the freezer into the controller, plug the controller into the wall, and run the temperature probe into the freezer into a jar of Star San.

    But this still isn’t a proper keezer without taps! Stay tuned for part 2 to see how I plumbed all the beer lines.

  • Brewery Build, Part 1: Framing & Utilities

    Brewery Build, Part 1: Framing & Utilities

    Last year, we began an extensive remodel on our house. I’d been brewing in the garage, but the remodel called for building out the garage, and then adding on a new garage. With our architect at my command, I prescribed a dedicated brewery & taproom space at the back of the new garage, and thus began the (rather long) process of my latest brewery build.

    Unfortunately, building out the existing garage meant packing up my brewing equipment, so I haven’t made a batch of beer in quite some time as this project has crawled along.

    New garage slab poured with drain lines roughed in. If you squint, you can see the trench drain.

    The brewery has a trench drain, which is probably the feature I’m most excited about. Being able to rinse things down and not having to worry about mopping up will make things so much easier on brew day.

    The brewery framed out. The trench drain can be seen in the bottom left.

    It’s not a huge space—less than 300 square feet—but that includes a storage closet and a restroom. Plenty of room to set up my brewing system, glycol chiller, keezer, and utility sink, plus space for a table and seating.

    The brewery after HVAC, plumbing, and electrical rough-in, plus insulation.

    I had ducting installed for the exhaust fan: I sized up from the last fan I had and went with 8″ ducting for a 739 CFM fan. This gives me plenty of room to upgrade if I want to go with a bigger system. There’s also a fresh air intake with a damper to avoid any airflow issues with such a big fan.

    The pocket door to the brewery restroom.

    I wired a 50 amp circuit for the control panel, even though my system is built for 30 amps, in case I want to either size up to bigger batches or be able to run back-to-back batches. It’s so much easier to future-proof at this stage than to try to retrofit later.

    I also put in plenty of lighting, ran a few Ethernet drops, and pre-wired for speakers both inside and outside. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I might want to use this space and tried to plan for a lot of potential future uses.

    The brewery from another angle. My new home office is in the background—easy to keep an eye on my beers!

    The brewery has double doors leading into the backyard, where there will eventually be a patio, extending the space for beer enjoyment during the warmer months.

    It’s been much too long since I’ve last brewed (almost a year at this point!), but I’m very excited to have a dedicated area for brewing. Stay tuned for more updates as this project continues!