Three years ago, I was talking to my uncle about how I wanted to start kegging beer, but the supplies were so expensive. Soda kegs, a CO2 can, a regulator, etc.
Tony: What do you mean, soda kegs?
Angelos: You know, soda. The kegs soda syrup comes in, then you run them through the soda gun with water and CO2 and you have soda at the bar. (He's been in the food business most of his life).
Tony: That's what I thought you meant. Jesus Christ, I have 15 of those fucking things in my basement [of the restaurant he just bought], I keep calling Pepsi to fucking pick them up, but they don't want them anymore because they use the fucking bags now, so they're just fucking sitting there collecting dust.
Angelos: {jaw hits floor} I'll be down next weekend.
So yeah, I got 15 free kegs (retail: $40 used to $75 fully refurbished), and a CO2 canister. All I needed was a regulator and I was off and running. That wasn't cheap, but it was still a fraction of the overall initial cost of kegging.
The kegs were disgusting, all of them containing remnants of whatever syrup they carried. A lot of mold, a lot of sticky disgusting shitiness, but nothing some elbow grease and a few gallons of hot water and bleach didn't cure.
After a little googling, I found a good supply store online and ordered replacement parts (the difference between a used and a refurbished keg). Gaskets and poppets, primarily. While I was at it, I bought 3 taps and plenty of hose and tubing and hose clamps and lions and tigers and bears. I didn't have a fridge, mind you, but I could dream a little.
Where to find a fridge? For a couple years I'd browse Craigslist and local circulars looking for a cheap used fridge, but nothing appealing came up, and even the most basic cheap fridge was $400+ new. Because of this, I've been limited to kegging from October through March when the garage was cool-to-cold, and I would brew my keg beers based on the expected garage temperature.
Finally, in summer of '07, we redid the kitchen, including new appliances.
I have a fridge!!!!
Then we decide we're going to sell the house and move to an apartment. Fuck. We won't have room for a keg fridge in an apartment. Once again, I put the project off because I'd be better off selling the fridge used. Here it is, though, late November, and we got no action on the house, so we're committed to being here through the winter and trying again in the spring.
Damn it all, I said to myself a few weeks ago, I'm making a keg fridge. When I stop working 60-70 hours a week.
Today was the day. And here we go:
This thing will hold a CO2 canister and three kegs, and I can still get a couple of the door shelves and regular shelves in there for bottled beer.
I am a happy boy.
