Building a Keezer: Part 1 - The leap of faith to start and why

Over the past few weeks I have been busy. This time it was not with work. I have been designing, building, and troubleshooting my very own handmade keezer. If you have heard of a kegerator then think more taps and in my opinion a more attractive and tasteful option. Put that into chest freezer and you have a keezer.

Over the next few posts I will be telling you about the why, how, what I spent, and most importantly tips and things to keep in mind while building yours.

There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.

-Henry Ford

As Henry said and I had failed to realize that the joy of doing something for yourself is an intense high and I had no idea what I could accomplish with my hands nor the emotions that it could elicit. Two years ago I would never have thought I could be proud of something I built with my own hands. I never fancied myself a handy man nor capable of fashioning an aesthetically pleasing project.

There are four main reasons why I decided to make a keezer and two conditions that allowed me to do it.

First the conditions. First I knew it could be done and as long as I did my research, planned, and stuck with it, I would be able to drink beer on tap in my own house! Second, I had the support of C. In fact she encouraged me to do it! Without that support and knowledge, I would never had the guts to do this.

As for the reasons spurring me into action.

1. Beer tastes so much better on tap than out of a bottle!
• I don't know exactly why, but this is something I can research as I drink beer that is on tap in my basement!
2. Financial Support
• I had a few gift cards from family and work in recognition of hard work, dedication, and birthdays.
• I had saved up some money to take care of any amount the keezer would take on top of that.
3. Opportunity and approval
• We had space in basement that would permit me to have a keezer
• C was and is fully on board for the keezer
• I know this was also a condition but when you have this kind of support you have to act as quickly as possible, because the mind can change on a whim.
4. Bottling
• As home brewer, the bane of my existence is hand capping every bottle that I fill.
• This labor intensive portion is tedious action sometimes ending in broken bottles, frustration, and worst of all wasted beer!
• With a kegging system I no longer have to bottle my beer!
5. Awesome factor
• When you hear man cave, you think sports memorabilia, TVs, and maybe a bar top with a refrigerator. 
• I now have a four tap system that could hold up to 20 gallons of beer!
• Beer tastes so much better on tap!
• How many other people do you know that have beer on tap in their house? Maybe 1 or 2? 

This is why I built a keezer in my basement. Next time I am going to tell how I did it from start to finish!