I should probably apologize in advance, but this post is going to be fairly picture intensive. If you don't like that, kill yourself.

"Beer, it's your best friend, you drink a lot."

I like beer, it makes me a jolly good fellow. I like brewing beer just as much as drinking it. I can brew a product that is superior to commercial brews in every way, and at a cheaper price. Since I started brewing years ago, I have always bottled my beer. This can be a little meticulous. Also, bottling is unforgiving in the fact that it can be inconsistent, and if you over or under carbonate, its done, you can't really do anything to correct it. So what's the workaround? Kegging! Whoa, hold on there Johnny, kegging sounds all hard and time consuming, plus, I don't know how. Alright, calm down asshole, kegging is quick and easy, and beats the shit out of bottling. Let's take a look. First of all you need some kegs. Cornelius kegs, like the kind used for fountain drinks.





Next, you need a place to put the kegs and deliver the beer. Solution: Kegerator! Huh? You don't have one? OK, fine, let's throw one together. First things first, you need a cheap small refrigerator. I went with a small Danby from Walmart. 4.4 cubic feet, just enough room to hold all the pieces.



Take all the racks out of the fridge, then remove the molded door drink holder insert thingy.

If you don't take that piece out, then everything won't fit and allow the door to shut. So you need to cover the exposed foam on the door now, so find something gnarly to put there. A lot of people use dry erase board, or cardboard, or whatever will fit. I happened to have a piece of plexiglass leftover from a previous project, so I decided to use that, and stick something cool behind it.

OK, so now how do you get the beer out of the kegs? You need a tap, a CO2 tank, and a regulator.

Wait, how are we gunna mount that tap tower on top of the fridge? Drill a hole.



I put aluminum tape around the hole for good measure, to make sure moisture didn't collect and cause problems.

I crafted a custom support brace to mount inside the fridge under the tap to add stability. I made it out of an old plastic cutting board. It is not perfect, but it is functional.



So, now stick the tank with the regulator attached inside the unit.



The next step I will not go into details on because it could be a month long conversation, so I will sum it up in two words: brew beer. Then put the beer in the kegs, and put the kegs in the fridge. Attach the gas lines from the regulator(s) to 'in' port on the kegs, and the beer lines to the 'out' ports. Set the regulator to the desired pressure. Allow the beer to sit at pressure for a while then drink it. If there is too much carbonation, back off on the pressure. If its under, turn it up.

So, there you have it. I have a fully functional kegerator, and you don't, so I am better than you. It was quick and easy, and it is so much better than bottling. My first dual 5 gallon batches were excellent. The only bummer was that I tore through all 10 gallons in 3 weekends by myself. I brewed up another 10 gallons this past weekend though, so no worries.