Recommendations For Under Counter Kegerators...

Sherardp

I don't drink much beer, but your bar looks awesome. Is this going to be a dedicated theater/media room?

mrbiron

My wife bought me a Danby keggerator for christmas. Nice quality and good prrice

I looked at the Danby's up and down but ended up settling on a Summit. As long at it keeps your beer flowing, nothing else matters! Did you get a stand alone or an undermount? Got any neat handles?
The funny thing is, all I wanted was a couple cabinets on the wall with a sink and fridge but the little lady tells me "NO! If we are going to make a Movie/Sports room plus have the beverage area, you are going to build something big."...OK DEAR! It's 8' long (9'-6" from wall to end of granite), bar top at 43". Enough room to put 6 bar chairs comfortably.

Is this going to be a dedicated theater/media room?

In the pic that shows the room under construction is a 12x14 room which i wired for 5.1, built in bookshelf in the attempt to hold all of my movies, nice size sectional and a 60" plasma will be going up on the wall. I'll start a new thread once all trim is complete.

I just installed 4 new windows to replace the 30+ year old leakers that were previously installed. It wasn't too bad except that the temps were in the area of 25 degrees plus add in the 15mph wind chill. It got cold! This deserves a beer. :razz:


I should start a new thread to see if anyone else around here as a bar-ish type space!!

WagnerRC

I got the danby standalone and it looks just like the link you posted. We bought is direct from Albert Lee Appliance and delivery was free.

We just bought our dream house and I will be doing the same project as yours. I get the whole bottom floor for my office and theatre room.

I have all the equipment. What gauge wire did you run for the 5.1 system?

Thanks

WagnerRC

here is a view from our deck where I plan to enjoy the brew.

steveinaz

Sa-weeeet.

mrbiron

What gauge wire did you run for the 5.1 system?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2817&seq=1&format=2

Holy HELL!!...that's some nice piece of property you have there. Damn deer :cheesygrin:

WagnerRC

Yes plenty of deer. 3 eagles and several redtail hawks. There is a pod of whales that come through the sound here too. We are very happy.

Thank you for the link.

evhudsons

I just saw your thread. I had a danby before but was not happy with the temperature. I did some online research and saw that the entry level kegerators did not cool beer enough for some people. Other people were fine.
The solution was to either get an expensive commercial one, or do after market upgrades. On micromatic they have an external thermometer, but at the time it was too expensive for me. I wound up putting a resistor in line with the thermometer. That worked great, got my beer cold as heck, and I was fine. I got the resistor as a 5 pack for under $2 at ratshack. There are sites online to show you how to do it and it was super easy.
My Kegerator finally stopped last year, but it was already about 15 years old. Now I'm saving my $ to get a True Kegerator. From what I have heard from other home brewers is that True works great and lasts a very long time, and the temperature is easy to regulate.
I have to admit though, having keg beer around and some large frosty mugs makes life great, as well as my midsection. I've lost a few pounds from getting home, forgetting that I don't have beer, then not feeling like going out again just to get beer. I'm not saying that is a good thing to not have beer, but a kegerator will increase the chance of drinking more. When I get my new kegerator I will have to adjust my exercise and calorie intake to accommodate my delicious cold beer.

So those deer just hang out like that? I thought it was a rabbit at first. Nice view!

mrbiron

I did not run a sub cable through the walls as i don't know where i want to put it yet. I figured a DSW550 will fit the bill and give me the option of moving as i see fit.

I definitely looked at the True but couldn't afford it. Danby got ok reviews but nothing that fit the bill for me so i went middle of the road with Summit. So far, it's keeping my singles nice and cold set between off and norm. Didn't want to go overboard with temps yet. I have a thermometer on the way that i will mount to the inside of kegerator so i can monitor/adjust temps as needed.

I thought they were dogs at first but didn't recognize the species. Deer is a dog right?

evhudsons

Here in the Florida Keys we have deer but they are miniature, about the size of 50 pound dogs. We can't hunt them as they are endangered, but the laws which are set to protect them really tick people off. They can't build fences on Big Pine Key where most of them live, and they are constantly eating peoples trees and bushes. Every once in a while someone puts in the classifieds a spoof ad for key deer hunting licenses, and some guys run around town with a stuffed toy deer on the front of the car, and a popular eater is the Key Deer barbeque restaurant. Of course they don't serve deer.

I can't afford the True either, which is why I don't have one but am saving up for one. I'm just a little halfway there though. The one you got is actually well regarded for sure, but it may have some of the same temp issues. What I found interesting is that none of them should have issues. The compressors are fine. When I put in my resistor it got cold right away. So my question for Danby and other kegerator manufactuarers would be, "why don't you spend the extra twenty cents and get the kegerator working the way it should be?" It's baffling to me.

I wish I could have the undercounter like yours, it's just too cool.

Y'all up north have such good selections of beer. We are limited here but we do have some good ones. But, none is better than my homebrew so far! That's not because I'm so good at it, it's that it's fresher.

mrbiron

Looks like you need to go on a road trip for beer.

We've been dabbling in homebrew but are currently stuck on kits due to not having enough knowledge in the beer making department, only the drinking department.

evhudsons

Kits are perfect! Now that you have a kegerator you will only have one bottle to clean. The kits are really good and make the same great beer. If you have to really work at it, malting the barley, scrubbing bottles then you may not continue. That's why I like the kits and the cornelius keg, same keg as cocacola and such. You can get them cheap. Brewing beer is easy as heck with the kegerator, cornelius keg, and the kits. You get to spend more time drinking, and you can still experiment and put essentially what you want in there. Beer is one beverage where you don't have to lie to people or be fos about what is in it. I like wine, but I don't like the bs descriptions like "reminiscent of black juniper berries spicily dancing along your vanilla hinted tongues of lark aspic". What is in beer is what is in beer, you don't have to make up stuff to describe it.

Kits are cool. You can add wine, other fresh hops, home made maple syrup, anything you like even herbs!

evhudsons

My first batch of home brew was made in college, and it had herbs in it. well, maybe just one.

I am not giving my support to that, but I am just saying.....

WagnerRC

Those are deer not dogs.

mrbiron

Wagner, this is a deer.

What you have in the backyard are dogs.....maybe kangaroos at best :biggrin:

That's why I like the kits and the cornelius keg

My brother just picked up 3 cornelius kegs 2 weeks ago. He also has a kegerator so we can make kit kegs and further our Jedi-beer skills.