Thursday, July 11, 2013

2 Tap Kegerator - What will it cost?

This topic seems to come up a lot from my buddies in the neighborhood.  This is a good topic not to have with the wife.  Make sure to keep beers on tap that her and her friends like and she may ignore the cost.  Making beer is a hobby and not a cost saver.

I chose to use the bar style although my two brewing buddies both went with fridge styles.  I have made 2 fridge styles, 3 keezers (freezer as a kegerator) with collars, and now 2 cabinet/coffin keezers.  I like the look of the bar style keezer, but it does come with significant about of work and expense.  My 10 tapper that I am building will probably run me $1000 before I add the beer parts.  Fortunately, I have all of the beer parts that I am just moving over from previous kegerators.  In the process, I hope to recover $650+ from previous kegerators.  This leaves me with an upgrade that should keep me at about $350 additional cost for a way cooler kegerator.

Below is a good estimate of what you should expect to spend.  This should give you some baselines for evaluating the offers on craigslist.  The pre-assembled kegerators from refrigerators are typically pretty beat up and can only be scrapped for parts.  My buddies have purchased a number of beat up kegerators online to get some of the useful parts and then trashed the remaining items.  Most people bought cheap stuff and then didn’t maintain it.  The tanks are typically out of inspection and worthless, the beer line was never cleaned, the refrigerator doesn’t work, and who knows what else. 

Also, make sure that you know where you are going to put the kegerator.  The small fridge style units like the mini fridges struggle with temperature control, they cannot be put in a hot location.  They can also struggle indoors as they get older.

The lower estimate uses a number of cheaper parts with the second set of columns give an option for where prices can range for better parts.  Each of these are beginning prices.  If you go to a local homebrew store, you will pay a premium for each of the parts.  If you shop online, you will get hit with shipping.  Since some of these start to really increase the weight almost no one will give free shipping.

Start with a basic unit of one of the following and then add the parts from the table below.  The choice of drip trays changes depending on which style you use.
Item                                                                      Initial Cost                          Final Cost           
Converted Fridge                                             $ 200                                      $700-$900
Freezer with Collar                                          $ 200                                      $700-$900
Freezer with Cabinet and Coffin                $ 450-1100                           $850-$1,700

Qty
Price
(Low End)
Total Low
Price
(High End)
Total High
Description
12
$0.82
$     9.84
 $       1.00
 $   12.00
Gas Hose 5/16 Red Bevlex ($0.82 /ft)
20
$0.70
$   14.00
 $       1.00
 $   20.00
Beer Hose ($0.70 /ft)
2
$17.00
$   34.00
 $     22.00
 $   44.00
Shank 3 1/8” (each)
2
$15.00
$   30.00
 $     45.00
 $   90.00
Perlick $45 or $15.00  for cheaper faucet
2
$1.50
$     3.00
 $       1.75
 $     3.50
Beer Nut
2
$1.50
$     3.00
 $       2.50
 $     5.00
Tail Piece to connect shank to Beer Line
2
$0.19
$     0.38
 $       0.32
 $     0.64
Beer Shank Washer
2
$6.00
$   12.00
 $       6.00
 $   12.00
Barb Gas Ball Lock
2
$6.00
$   12.00
 $       6.00
 $   12.00
Barb Liquid Ball Lock
1
$70
 $   70.00
 $  120.00
 $ 120.00
Regulator (2 Guage w/Y splitter or 3 guage)
1
$70
 $   70.00
 $  160.00
 $ 160.00
CO2 Tank ($50-$170)
1
$90
 $   70.00
 $     90.00
 $   90.00
Temp Controller (Ranco or Johnson)
1
$26
 $   26.00
 $     32.00
 $   32.00
CO2 Tank Refill for first batch
1
$5
 $     5.00
 $       6.00
 $     6.00
Faucet Wrench
1
$8
 $     8.00
 $       0.40
 $     0.40
Clamps
2
$3
 $     5.00
 $       3.00
 $     6.00
Tap Handles Economy
Total
$      372.22
 $      613.54


Save with a kegerator

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