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
|
