Does anyone here have a Kegerator? You can buy them on Amazon or Compactappliance. They are by Edgestar. I would buy the CO2 converter to use the wide variety of ponies aka 1/2 kegs out there. Reviews were either love or hate. (total cost $200ish) I want to get one for DH for Christmas (Yes, I bought the razor first...never used them before!) I would love any advice! Thanks Patricia
Wow! First a razor, now a Kegerator... What can I say? Besides, "Marry me too!, PLEASE!" Unfortunately I don't have any experience from a Kegerator, apart from that I have seen many versions on the net. And that means refrigerator conversions, like this : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00076HUSC/?tag=thshde-20
I am currently doing a refrigerator conversion of a full size refrigerator. Not a fan of bottling homebrew.
My neighbor just finished out his basement. In one section is a huge bar area that is great for parties. 3 flatscreens, Golden Tee arcade, darts, Disco ball, lights. He parties a good bit and always his people over drinking beers. He loves the kegerator he put down there and I do too. I will get you the model and make. This thing is def worth the money for someone like him who parties and always has people over drinking.
See, if I were going to brew, I'd totally go kegerator too. I have a friend who did a refrigerator conversion and it was a fine thing. He had to install a custom made rack for the bottom for the keg to sit on, but otherwise it was pretty straight forward.
refrigerator conversion I thought the refrigerator would look bad. I did call one of the more popular home brew/beer selling companies in Indianapolis and they suggested a college mini fridge and upgrade it (which they would gladly help with ). They said you get what you pay for, so that is probably true. But I thought a "real" keg refrigerator would be more attractive. We don't drink a lot, which is why we would get the 1/2 kegs (aka ponies). We can also order those from the place I called. they hold about 10 12oz beers (who drinks 12 ounces? Our beer mugs--for hefes--are 16oz, and our Oktoberfest mugs are double that LOL). We don't home brew, but we do like good beer--Guinness, Stella Artois, almost any German hefeweizen and the like. (No, Guinness does not come in 1/2 kegs and I was bummed!) I was trying to keep the price down. We do have a basement with a large flat screen TV and surround sound, dart board, and ping-pong table. No wet bar yet, but I am working on that. I am hoping to trade out the ping pong table with a pool table (7ft, its a small area) or even a bumper pool (and lay a ping pong table on top, but this is all a work in progress). But, just so you gents know, this set up is MINE. DH did it all for me! LOL and I have a workshop to boot! LOL I will ask DH if I can marry someone else, but I don't think he will like it very much. Keep the suggestions coming. and thanks for the link! Patricia
Patricia, I think you might be a bit confused on the 1/4 keg. A 1/4 holds 7.75 gallons, or about 75 beers. You might be talking about those little countertop kegerators that hold the small 5 liter mini kegs. Most liquor stores sell the Heineken and Coors light. You won't get much of a selection for those, but if you like those beers, this may be a good way to go for you. If you want to convert a dorm fridge, make sure you check to make sure kegs will fit. The dorm fridges I wanted to mod wouldn't work because of the freezer section. The bottom of that little ice box has freon coils in it, so you can't easily or safely move it out of the way. There are a few models without this. Otherwise you could buy a "real kegerator" from someplace like Best Buy, or Lowes probably that is basically a pre-converted dorm fridge. If you don't drink much, that may not make much sense, but it would give more options down the road. You can put 1/2 barrels, 1/4, or 1/6 in most of them, and if you are handy, you could add another tap at some date if you wanted. Let me know if you have any questions on this stuff. I have been reading a lot about it trying to figure out exactly what I want.
I think I am talking about the countertop ones. You can get about 20 different kinds of beers for that (like the Heineken). the description for the Kegerator I was looking at called them 1/2 kegs or ponies. Obviously, that is not it. We need something small since we don't really have many people over and we would not drink it all in one day (no matter the size). We might be able to drink 2 a day, but the beer in a keg only lasts a few days anyway, right? Rodd, I am glad you are doing the research. I am going to pick your brain. If you have any less expensive ideas (such as the link below) or adapting a mini fridge (and I do know about the freezer issue, only because I want a mini fridge for the future bar for sodas and beers, but I don't want the freezer. Those are hard to find!). Please give me your two cents on the kegerators below. These are probably not what you are looking at but if you could give me better pros and cons based on your research, I would appreciate it. Here is what I was talking about http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001LTJSU2/?tag=thshde-20 see also http://www.kegerator.com/EdgeStar-Deluxe-Mini-Kegerator-TBC50S-Beer-Cooler/TBC50S,default,pd.html for reviews on the kegerator. These seem to get decent reviews. The biggest complaint was the damage done in shipping which did not cause any problems other than aesthetic. It does call it a 5 liter holder. You have to buy the CO2 adapter to drink anything but the Heineken. Patricia
One thing about having a kegerator with CO2 is that instead of pumping air into the keg like you do with a party pump, you are pumping in clean CO2. This creates a blanket over the beer in the keg, and it is like an unopened can. It will be fine for as long as a can of beer would be. Some say they are bad after a couple months, some say that some beers just keep getting better. You won't have to worry about finishing a keg in a night, or week. As far as initial investment, the ones you are looking at are cheapest. You can adapt a dorm fridge for about $180 including CO2 tank and regulator. Depending on what price you can get on your fridge, that may be a good way to go, but it may be worth checking your local craigslist. There are a few in my area going for about $200, and they have everything you need, if you don't mind used. Buy some beer line sanitizer and you are ready to go.
Duh, I hadn't even thought of Craigslist. We use it all the time too. Thanks for your input. Upgrading will have to wait until his birthday, if I want to do that...meaning a fridge with an adapter kit. Thanks for the help!
