Building a Keezer

Now that I have a kegging system I decided it was high time I built a unit that could both store and dispense my beer.  I reviewed the options of building a keggerator vs. a keezer and ultimately decided I'd go the keezer route.   Why build a keezer vs. a keggerator?

There are a few reasons I decided on the keezer:

• I really liked the look
• I liked the idea of having better temperature control
• I felt the cost would be lower, while potentially giving me more space
• It's all about the room - the particular space I was putting this in would better fit a lower to the ground form factor (it's not a very tall space).
• I would have the potential for cold storage for lagering.

I built my keezer the typical way as found here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHWy_Vlw3J4.

Materials

For my Keezer my wife bought me a kegging system off of amazon that came with all attachments for a ball lock corney keg, the tap, the CO2 canister, the regulator and a ball lock corney keg.
http://www.amazon.com/Kegco-Homebrew-Party-Kegerator-SHPCK-BALL5T/dp/B00485L32W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388184194&sr=8-2&keywords=kegging+system

As my garage is full with lots of things - work tools, music instruments, kids toys, outdoor freezer, etc...  I didn't have a lot of room for another large freezer, so I opted for a small one from OSH; it holds 2 corney kegs and the CO2 cylinder perfectly + I still have room on the shelf to fit a bucket fermenter for lagering.  This is great, as I only have 1 keg for now, it gives me room to grow into a 2nd keg later and/or keep a 2nd 5g keg from the store.
http://www.sears.com/kenmore-7.2-cu-ft-chest-freezer-white/p-04618702000P?sid=IDx01192011x000001&kpid=04618702000&kispla=04618702000P

After trying to modify the keezer to maintain the appropriate temp ~40f I finally broke down and bought a Johnston regulator, which works wonderfully.
http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Controls-A19AAT-2C-Temperature-Controller/dp/B0002EAL58/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1388184552&sr=8-3&keywords=johnston+regulator

With the basics at hand I had to build a collar, so for this I picked up some nice pieces of oak at Home Depot along with some good strong holding clear sealant (caulking) and a nice stain.

Cost - $460

• Keg System - $160
• Johnston Regulator - $51
• Freezer - $199
• wood, stain, caulking - $50

The build

First we start with our lovely freezer.

Next we hook it up to our Johnston regulator.

Here we are with all of our keg system and some beer being stored - not a keezer yet.

Here is our wood for the collar; cut and stained.

We've removed the lid, put on the collar frame and re-attached the lid - almost done.

Collar front facing added, holes drilled and tap inserted.

View of the inside - all done.

In the future for growth I'll add a splitter to the CO2 line so that it can feed 2 kegs.