October 27, 2004
Kegerator update: copper top rocks!
I sucessfully installed the copper cover on my kegerator today. Looks very cool, and the look will only get better as the copper ages. Basically I bought a roll of copper flashing (8" wide x 20' long roll) at Home Depot for about $12. I trimmed the edges of each strip using a metal straightedge, and then attached them to the plywood kegerator top using double-sided carpet tape. With the copper folded carefully around the edges of the top it looks dead sexy.
Check it out:
Posted by Kevin Railsback at 11:53 PM
| TrackBack
October 25, 2004
The making of a kegerator
I built my kegerator using a Sanyo 4910M mini-fridge. This model is perfect for
adding a draft tower to since it does not have a freezer compartment, and is sized perfectly to fit two 5 gallon cornelius (soda) kegs. I used these instructions and Chad Dickerson's excellent photo how-to guide.
I decided to make my conversion a little more involved than just drilling a hole and installing a tower. I replaced the plastic top that comes with the fridge with a 2'x2' piece of 1/2" plywood. I'm going to use copper flashing (used for valley areas in roofing) to cover the plywood, hopefully making a nice looking small bar top. Later on when I add a larger bar the fridge will already have a nice looking top and I won't need to change that. As the copper ages it will look very cool. Anyhow, on to the pictures:
I installed 1/4" strips to bring the plywood up to the same level as the metal hinge plate that sits at the front of the top of the fridge.
After drilling two very shallow holes where the hinge pin is (and where the hinge pin will go if I ever change the fridge door to open the other way), the plywood sits perfectly level on top of the fridge, with a 1/4" gap between the wood and the metal fridge top.
Here's the copper flashing that will be installed at a later date, once I figure out the best process for either soldering it at the edges, or using Denise's idea of folding then hammering the seams flat.
The 1/4" spacers are glued to the plywood with normal wood glue. I also went ahead and drilled the 3" hole in the wood out in the garage, to minimize the mess in the dining room.
After clamping the edges to make sure the plywood doesn't move, I drilled through the metal top of the fridge and checked for hot-side coils . There is one about 1" to the rear of where I drilled. The coil tubing runs across the top of the fridge 8" from the back edge, connecting the left- and right-side coils. If you turn the fridge on with the plastic top removed you can easily feel this hot-side coil. I centered my hole 9 3/4" from the rear of the fridge to miss it by 1/4". All clear so I drilled on through to the inside of the fridge.
Hmm... a clear tower would show off the light shining through the hole, if I could figure out a way of bypassing the door switch. Maybe connect that to the faucet handles, so it lights up when you pour a glass? Or use a motion detector so it lights up when you get close to the fridge? A project for another day, since my tower is chrome anyway. =)
Plywood top and tower installed. The plywood is connected to the fridge using the screw holes along the front of the hinge plate, as well as the four machine screws that hold the tower down. Next step will be to move my regulator outside of the fridge, by drilling holes for the gas lines through the drip trough in the back bottom of the fridge.
The chrome tower and copper flashing should look really good together once it is installed. The copper will tarnish over time, and the dings and stains it gets
will really give it a great character.
Finished! Time to find a nice looking drip tray next....
Posted by Kevin Railsback at 12:12 AM | TrackBack
July 31, 2004
Homebrewblog.com
Chad Dickerson, a fellow home brewer, and InfoWorld's CTO, has started a new weblog all about home brewing.
I'm going to be contributing as well, so check it out: http://www.homebrewblog.com or grab the RSS feed: 
.
Posted by Kevin Railsback at 11:45 PM | TrackBack
July 27, 2004
Ancient brewery discovered on mountaintop in Peru
Cool!
Archaeologists working in southern Peru found an ancient brewery more than 1,000 years old. Remains of the brewing facility were uncovered on Cerro Baúl, a mountaintop city over 8,000 feet above sea level, which was home to elite members of the Wari Empire from AD 600-1000. Predating the Inca Empire... [Science Blog]
Posted by Kevin Railsback at 11:57 PM | TrackBack
June 11, 2004
Cool homebrewing calculators
While looking for the appropriate carbonation level for the Bock I kegged this evening, I found this site: www.tastybrew.com. They have an excellent Carbonation Calculator as well as a number of other useful homebrewing calculators.
Their Forum and Recipes look like a very good resource as well. I'm adding them to my homebrewing research toolbox, along with www.northernbrewer.com, www.morebeer.com, and www.homebrew.com.
Posted by Kevin Railsback at 12:35 AM | TrackBack
Bock is now kegged...
Well, that was a MUCH more fun and easy experience than washing and sanitizing 2 cases of bottles then filling them.
My Kegging System from Beer Beer and More Beer arrived yesterday. I went and got the CO2 tank filled at a local welding supply shop, and kegged it this evening.
This is the batch of American Bock that I started back on May 5th. It fermented for a few weeks and has been lagering in the fridge since then. Should be ready for tasting by Sunday.
Next project: Add a draft tower to the kegerator. Something like this:
Posted by Kevin Railsback at 12:28 AM | TrackBack
June 08, 2004
How full is that keg?
Well, I'm getting ready to keg my first batch of homebrew. After bottling my first 5 batches, I can't wait to keg it and avoid washing all those darn bottles.
The next question then becomes... once it's kegged how do I know when I'm running low? This site provides the answer. Just weigh the keg and use this simple chart to estimate how much brew is remaining.
An empty Cornelius keg (soda keg) weighs about 11 lbs. When filled with 5 gallons of beer it weighs about 53 lbs.
Posted by Kevin Railsback at 09:55 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 05, 2004
A new batch o' homebrew
Cooked up a batch of American Bock and it's in the fermentor now. I'm shooting for something Shiner Bock-ish in character.
Last brew was an Irish Red (O'Mathis) that turned out well. A bit strong, somewhere between Red and Stout, but very tasty.
Billygoat American Bock:
7lb Pale 2-Row (Cargill)
1lb Crystal 120 (Crisp)
Liberty hops (Bittering)
Willamette hops (Finishing)
Whitelabs Pilsen Lager liquid yeast
Mmmm... bock....