Beer Forum

Today is a good day! My temp controller came from NB and I went and picked up my new 7.2 cu ft freezer! I have to go with the two picnic faucets that I have for now. I need to get a manifold and all of that stuff, too. I find that it is better(easier for me) to spread these purchases out into smaller purchases(makes the wife feel better about it!) I also need to put the collar on it so it can hold six kegs instead of four.
I want to check out the local beer distributor here (friend of mine went to HS with the owner and he is in the bars pretty often) and see if they have anything for me there.
I am just fuckin pumped on this one guys! It is truly the stuff that dreams are made of!

sweet!

I had been waiting for a good deal to appear on CL for a chest freezer, but none showed in my area so I finally bought a 9cf one from Lowes's 2 weeks ago.

I just hooked up my temp controller this Wednesday night.

I am just using a few picnic taps now as well. It looks like I will be able to fit up to 7 5-gal cornies once I build a collar, and 4 5-gal and 2 3-gal are fitting comfortably now without.

Congrats on the upgrade! Upgraded to a chest freezer tap setup last year myself. As with you, I generally try to make several "small" purchases over time instead of having to cover one large payment and typically figure out how to do it as cheaply as possible without compromising quality. One thought on keeping costs down would be to consider the number of taps that you eventually want. Even though you can fit 6 kegs in the freezer, you may only need three taps as long as you are brewing 10 gallon batches. That way you can have three different beers on tap, and will have a back-up keg if any one blows ... also no need to clean that serving line since it is the same beer. Once two blow, brew another batch and you will have the kegs available to be filled ... One more blows and you have a new beer on tap. Just a thought.

Thanks guys. I am going to be going with 4 taps. Pretty much going to make the one that was in BYO. Seems pretty darn easy. Just gotta get a collar on it and get my taps, manifold, connectors, and tubing and.........
I am brewing 5 gal batches at this point. I am just getting off of the stove, thank goodness.
I have brewed on and off for 12 years. Never very seriously, though. Just kits of coopers and the like. Recently got back into it. I brewed a batch last year and bought a nice two bucket, one carboy set up. I am now all grain and I have been snatching up pieces as I think of them and see them. I need to get a bigger pot and my buddy has a turkey fryer that he has used once for me. I have no problem spending the $ to get better things, but frugal as I am, I like to do it myself and I take pride in doing it on the cheap.