Beer Forum

hey team - i have been waiting patiently to take the next step to kegging and have made everyone i know very aware that i am in the market for a chest freezer or a fridge. As it turns out, two may be coming available at the same time. Now most of you would say take both, so i have left that off my little poll. Just would like to know your thoughts/experiences with both.

thanks

Chest freezer all the way. The major negative is lifing the kegs in over the lip. I find that is offset by the lower electricity bill and the ease of moving kegs around once inside.

No doubt. If you've got room for the chest freezer, it's the way I'd go.

There are several reasons a chest freezer is preferrable to a fridge. The first is; when you open a fridge, all the cold air spills out. Not so with a chest freezer. In fact if it's not too warm out side, I can leave the lid of mine open for quite a long time before the unit kicks on (not that I make a habit of doing this, you understand.) Another reason is a chest freeze can hold more kegs, more easily than a comparably-sized refrigerator. The third reason is the chest freezer can be fitted with multiple faucets without actually altering the freezer itself. Not so with a fridge.

I also suspect that freezers are better insulated than refrigerators are, although I have no real evidence of this.

I voted without reading really, but I use an upright freezer.

I may invest in a chest freezer in the future, but I am working on a Jamil-esque brewshed, so probably may not need that.

The upright freezer works for me now, but I can agree with what Beerpal and others say after reading their posts and using common sense.

That said, a chest freezer may be your best deal. Make sure to measure it first though so you are sure Cornies will fit in there heightwise.

- joe

The big problem with an upright freezer is finding one without the coils in the shelves or with enough space between the shelves with coils so you can actually fit the kegs in there. Some people have reported success in carefully bending the coils out of the way, but many have reported not being able to do it without causing leaks. I went with a chest freezer for this and the other reasons listed above.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

BugeaterBrewing wrote:The big problem with an upright freezer is finding one without the coils in the shelves or with enough space between the shelves with coils so you can actually fit the kegs in there.

You basically need one that has auto-defrost. All of the manual defrost ones have the coils on the shelves. And I just took the shelves out of mine and replaced it with some whiteboard or showerboard or whatever you call it to get more room. Granted, I still needed a huge freezer for my needs (to fit a 15 gallon fermenter in there, and then kegs and CO2), but it worked out.

Granted, the chest freezer is still probably the best bet if your back can take it.

- joe

thanks well i'll keep you posted on what happens.