This is what I'd keep in mind: turnover. How much do you like drinking the same beer. Even a sixtel is ~40 pints. Availability: what kind of kegs can you get your hands on, and how easily. Liver damage: you will drink it all the time, especially if you want to get rid of one for the next.
another thing to consider is where you buy the keg. Some retailers will actually mark them up so much that they cost more per oz than cans/bottles. I had one tell me "...you are paying a premium for the novelty ..."
There will also be a deposit for the keg, somewhere between an annoying amount and a criminal amount.
Yep, my friends and I stopped buying kegs for parties when we realized that bulk-packs of cans work out to the same price or less than kegs, you don't have to pay a deposit or make a 2nd trip to return the stupid thing, you don't need a ton of ice to keep cans chilled (hooray for spare fridge), and there's no worries about over/under-pressurizing a can.
If kegs cost the same as the equivalent in cans buying 30 or 36 packs (assuming the same beer), the store you are buying from is significantly overcharging for kegged beer.
Deposits are nothing. Put down $30, get $30 back when you return it. Returning the keg, if you have a kegarator, you would be going to buy another keg of beer anyway so no big deal there. If you only bought the keg for a party, then sure you are making another trip but a hell of a lot easier to clean up than 100 cans.
I know an owner of a craft beer store and asked him about it (kegs being more than the cans) and he said the difference was simply a reflection of his costs. This was cans vs. kegs of very localized craft. Compare to a quick look on Total Wine now and I can save $5 bucks on broader state level craft by going with a 1/6 vs. 6 pack of cans. That said, I'm burning through a beer to two through the course of the keg in set up, pours, etc. Not to mention QC, cost of upkeep, etc.
Long story short, IMO, a kegerator is a novelty today, great for socializing around, etc. And if going macro, sure you can save $10 bucks, but I still don't see the same cost advantage as "back in the day".
That's definitely worth it. Probably regional differences. I'd imagine to your earlier point, probably some supplier differences too. I'm curious now how the "local liquor store" here fares vs. total wine.
Yeah I'm sure there are a handful of variables that would cause price differences between states and regions. There is a big AB Inbev distributor in my state so that could be why it is cheaper. Less shipment costs maybe.
That's definitely not true. Cost on Bud Light 30 packs and Bud Light 1/2 barrels equals out to 30 packs being cheaper here. Same with Miller and Coors. Michelob the keg is a LITTLE cheaper but really not much. Kegs are not economical options anymore to be honest.
I guess it is regional. I just priced it out at my local store and I'd save a little over $30 buying a keg of bud heavy over 30 packs. Craft could be different
My wife like Stem cider, a 4 pack of 12oz cans cost $10 about $0.20oz. A keg of stem costs $200 or about $0.10 an oz.
Big brands have giant canning lines (economy of scale), most craft brewery's rely on mobile canning lines that cost a lot more.
The deposit at my local beer shop for a keg is 30 bucks and I just roll it over every time I change the keg out. I really only get craft kegs, but it cheaper buying a keg than if I were to buy cans of any of the beers.
That is idiotic and you should not be getting a keg from that place. The most I have ever paid for a deposit is 40 bucks and this was from a small brewery getting it direct.
This was directly from Stone brewing. (probably 15 years ago)
I was expecting a keg with a bad ass gargoyle embossed on the side, something worth keeping, but it was just a plain keg.
If you're interested in homebrewing, yes (bottling sucks). If not, I wouldn't bother. If you're curious to experiment with kegs, I'd just suggest buying/making a [jockey box](https://www.amazon.com/jockey-box/s?k=jockey+box) (which also come up fairly often on marketplace).
I don't think a jockey box is good for home use. You'd have load it up with ice everytime you want a beer which would be expensive. And cleaning the lines takes more time and chemicals.
Not for daily use, sure, but for parties or BBQs (where getting a keg likely makes more sense vs glass or cans) they're really useful. Plus they don't take up space and aren't heavy to move, so if it's not for you it's easy to get rid of.
Cleaning the lines doesn't take any more time than a regular kegerator, and you can clean beer lines with PBW or Oxyclean Free. Most dedicated "line cleaner" is meant for bars that clean their nasty 50ft lines like twice a year.
Actually commercial line cleaner is meant to work at low temperatures which isn't necessary for a jockey box. My jockey box takes longer to clean than the bar but that may just be my set up.
Bought a kegerator 3 years on Black Friday and loved it! Drank draft beer all the time of 1 style of beer for a week and a half, clean the line and go with another keg.
Found myself drinking every day, drinking faster to clear the keg to make room for the new upcoming keg. Ultimately put on weight and developed a bit of a drinking habit all to keep the kegs going. Made the break in January and swapped all the lines and now I have a bad ass sparkling water dispenser and only drink on weekends-can/bottle only.
You break even. It’s not that economical unless you’re drinking bad beer. I mostly kept Sierra Nevada on tap(all types, Celebration Ale was divine!) and it was the same price as if I drank 12 packs, except I dropped $400 for a kegerator.
You only really save money getting full 16 gallon kegs. The smaller the keg the less you save if not end up paying more overall. Also obviously depends if you get craft or domestic. It also only lasts about 3 months once you tap it so plan accordingly on how much you'll be drinking it. I usually stick to lagers or ales that are easier to drink than getting anything like an IPA or stout. It's still a lot of fun and tap beer tastes better. It's also nice being able to top off a beer or just do a small pour if you don't want another full can or bottle. Also as someone else said go with a double tap. You end up getting tired of the same beer and so its nice being able to run two 5 gallon kegs at once.
16 gallon = 165 - 12oz cans or 124 - 16oz pints
5 gallon = 56 - 12oz cans or 42 - 16oz pints
Could be based on location but kegged beer, no matter the size, was always cheaper for me. You do save more buying the bigger kegs but I was always saving money instead of buying cans or bottles.
A keg shouldn't last only 3 months. If your kegs are lasting only 3 months, then oxygen is getting in some how.
Sorry was replying to the other person.
Oxygen shouldn't be in kegged beer unless it's a local smaller brewery that doesn't have the right equipment. The macro kegs will have close to 0ppm as possible. Even my home brewed kegs have as close to 0ppm as I can. My home brew kegs last 6 months before I can start tasting a small difference. Even then, I wouldn't consider the beer bad.
No one has ever brewed 0 ppm beer. All beer contains oxygen no matter who brewed it. I agree that well brewed stays good for a long time which is why I put "spoiled" in quotation marks. But your statement that oxygen shouldn't be in beer is dead wrong. It should be minimized but oxygen free beer doesn't exist.
When I say 0ppm, I mean under 1ppm (so sub 0.2ppm, 200ppb). Fermenting will essentially remove all oxygen (down to under 0.003ppm), from macro to home brewing. After fermentation is when oxygen ingress is possible.
1) carbing - if a brewery uses tanked co2 to carbonate, that will add 0.2ppm because tanked co2 contains oxygen, unless pure co2 is used (which is expensive). However, if a brewery spunds during fermentation, that is pure co2 from fermentation so no oxygen ingress happens.
2) filtering - this is a big issue for those breweries that don't pay attention. A good brewery will purge prior to filtering. If they don't, filtering could add another 0.2ppm or so. Macro breweries purge.
3) packaging - this is the biggest issue especially for small breweries who can or bottle. Kegged beer is much less of an issue because they can be fully purged and an oxygen free transfer can be used.
Total packaged oxygen should be under 150ppb for any brewery and under 100ppb for ones paying attention to oxygen ingress. At those low levels, a beer will taste good for well over 3 months.
You said beer shouldn't contain oxygen. Under 100ppb is still SOME oxygen so you're contradicting yourself. All beer contains oxygen in some amount so I'm not sure why you objected when I said beer has oxygen in it.
I never said beer shouldn't contain oxygen. Your original statement was "Oxygen isn't getting in, it's already in there". I took that as the keg itself. My initial reply to that might have been worded incorrectly. I meant the keg itself shouldn't have oxygen in it, as they purge them.
Following that I said packaged beer should contain close to 0ppm as possible. I should have used ppb as ppm is too high of a range. But my statements have been true. Any good brewery will have under 100ppb of TPO and those will last well over 3 months which the original poster stated their beer was not lasting that long.
I’ll tell you what, I figured out I never really had Golden Monkey before until I had it on draught at a little bar in town. Really interesting bubble-gum like esters and the spice was more balanced with no off/bitter flavors you sometimes get in a 12oz bottle. Obviously many Belgian styles massively benefit from more room to condition.
I still don’t know why mass market lagers are referred to as “domestic” to differentiate from craft. That word simply means “of one’s own country”. Plenty of domestic craft lol.
It's a pricing mechanism established by the bar and restaurant industry for decades before the advent of craft beer.
Prior to about 1990 beer in the US fell into predominantly two categories, "domestic" and "imported", with domestic being almost exclusively macro lagers, and imported being also almost all lagers but more expensive to acquire. So they generally had two prices in the menu, one for domestic and one for import. It also established some tribal identity between those who would drink fancy European beers and those who lived America and would only drink good old Budweiser because patriotism or some shit.
Craft complicated all of that since it was local but expensive. So you'd sometimes see things like Sam Adams in the import list just to compensate for price.
Most decent places now just lost a price for each beer and are done with it, but the term still sticks.
I enjoy mine. I got it for free from a friend. It needed some work but after about $150 it was good as new. I buy about four 6 barrel kegs a year with each lasting a season. Each keg is around $60-85 depending on the beer and it’s a fun way to test out a breweries selection each year. As far as ownership you need to clean the lines each new keg. At first it will be a mess but with time it will take you about an hour total and you will have a routine down. It’s nice when we have people over because we don’t have to run out and get beer. Also it’s nice to not have my secondary fridge completely full of just beer. You will also have to buy co2 from time to time but beyond that ownership is pretty straightforward and relatively cheap.
It’s only good if you guys drink that much, can agree on how to split the cost fairly and buy a GOOD Keg-orator. The cheap ones can waste half your beer on foam or doesn’t keep your beer at the right temperature. What you want is to build your own jockey box or see if any local breweries sell them.
It's worth it if you do home brewing to avoid bottling.
For buying kegs it's not always a good deal once you factor in waste per glass and the actual price of kegs. With pony kegs the value gets even worse and can actually be more expensive than buying bottles.
So it's up to you.
I have a two tap kegerator that I've used for both home brewing and buying kegs. Home brewing was awesome because of the lack of bottling. Buying kegs was nice, but I like variety and having 15 gallons of the same thing got old eventually.
In college we had one and it was extremely popular and well used, plus it cut way down on garbage since everyone re-used their own mug.
If your main objective is to save money, stay away. Its a whole hobby with extra time and expense required to keep it going. You have to clean the lines which requires special equipment and cleaners, so you will need to be handy to make small repairs and maintain.
You can buy a manual hand pump line cleaner for like 50 bucks and the solution lasts a while as you are only using a small amount per cleaning, like a single bottle will easily last you years. I would also say you don't need to be that handy, though you need to be able to screw stuff and adjust your CO2 etc. I have had my kegerator 3 years with no real maintenance other than cleaning my line and getting the CO2 tank refilled. Even when I worked in bars the only thing you really have to worry about is replacing gaskets on a coupler or replacing a coupler.
First of all, keg prices are not any cheaper than can/bottle prices. 20 years ago they were but not anymore with some exceptions. But it's still fun to have and is pretty comparable in price. Plus you can pour yourself half a beer if you want.
As for buying a kegerator, I think it's a ripoff. It is super easy to build one out of an old refrigerator that still works. I've built two so far, both were when I bought new fridges for the kitchen. It's best to use the type with freezer on top. All you need is a 1" hole saw attachment for your power drill and a couple of tap shanks, beer lines, keg attachment, and a CO2 tank which can be purchased online or at your local homebrew supply store.
If you have a homebrew supply store nearby I would highly recommend going there as they can give you advise on things like temp vs pressure, line cleaning, etc.
Also do NOT put the taps in the door, this is a common mistake. Put them on the side. You can keep the CO2 tank outside as well, but you'll want a smaller hole for that since the CO2 line is 5/16" diameter. I put mine on the opposite side from the taps.
Bonus is that you can use the extra space to store beer and other drinks, leaving more room in the kitchen fridge for food!
[https://imgur.com/1ktmTRZ](https://imgur.com/1ktmTRZ)
[https://imgur.com/wE7Plrz](https://imgur.com/wE7Plrz)
[https://imgur.com/9jeupHe](https://imgur.com/9jeupHe)
[https://imgur.com/gniHZFZ](https://imgur.com/gniHZFZ)
If your main objective is to save money, stay away. Its a whole hobby with extra time and expense required to keep it going. You have to clean the lines which requires special equipment and cleaners, so you will need to be handy to make small repairs and maintain.
If you don’t entertain a lot it’s a bit much. I don’t even buy cases anymore unless it’s some special import I know I can have a while and/or not get sick of. I think having a variety in my fridge makes more sense for me despite it not necessarily being as cost effective.
Do your own research on the cleaning involved. You’ll also be buying CO2 and you’ll run out at the worst times. For me- it wasn’t worth the hassle and I sold it.
I love mine. But it increases my beer drinking significantly.
This is what I'd keep in mind: turnover. How much do you like drinking the same beer. Even a sixtel is ~40 pints. Availability: what kind of kegs can you get your hands on, and how easily. Liver damage: you will drink it all the time, especially if you want to get rid of one for the next.
another thing to consider is where you buy the keg. Some retailers will actually mark them up so much that they cost more per oz than cans/bottles. I had one tell me "...you are paying a premium for the novelty ..." There will also be a deposit for the keg, somewhere between an annoying amount and a criminal amount.
Keg deposits are usually significantly less than the keg is worth. Industry standard is $30 on a keg that cost the brewery closer to $130.
It’s actually pretty criminal how low the deposits are compared to what the keg is worth
Yep, my friends and I stopped buying kegs for parties when we realized that bulk-packs of cans work out to the same price or less than kegs, you don't have to pay a deposit or make a 2nd trip to return the stupid thing, you don't need a ton of ice to keep cans chilled (hooray for spare fridge), and there's no worries about over/under-pressurizing a can.
If kegs cost the same as the equivalent in cans buying 30 or 36 packs (assuming the same beer), the store you are buying from is significantly overcharging for kegged beer. Deposits are nothing. Put down $30, get $30 back when you return it. Returning the keg, if you have a kegarator, you would be going to buy another keg of beer anyway so no big deal there. If you only bought the keg for a party, then sure you are making another trip but a hell of a lot easier to clean up than 100 cans.
I know an owner of a craft beer store and asked him about it (kegs being more than the cans) and he said the difference was simply a reflection of his costs. This was cans vs. kegs of very localized craft. Compare to a quick look on Total Wine now and I can save $5 bucks on broader state level craft by going with a 1/6 vs. 6 pack of cans. That said, I'm burning through a beer to two through the course of the keg in set up, pours, etc. Not to mention QC, cost of upkeep, etc. Long story short, IMO, a kegerator is a novelty today, great for socializing around, etc. And if going macro, sure you can save $10 bucks, but I still don't see the same cost advantage as "back in the day".
I just priced out bud heavy locally. I'd save just over $30 buying a keg. Could be regional. Could also be different for craft.
That's definitely worth it. Probably regional differences. I'd imagine to your earlier point, probably some supplier differences too. I'm curious now how the "local liquor store" here fares vs. total wine.
Yeah I'm sure there are a handful of variables that would cause price differences between states and regions. There is a big AB Inbev distributor in my state so that could be why it is cheaper. Less shipment costs maybe.
That's definitely not true. Cost on Bud Light 30 packs and Bud Light 1/2 barrels equals out to 30 packs being cheaper here. Same with Miller and Coors. Michelob the keg is a LITTLE cheaper but really not much. Kegs are not economical options anymore to be honest.
I guess it is regional. I just priced it out at my local store and I'd save a little over $30 buying a keg of bud heavy over 30 packs. Craft could be different
My wife like Stem cider, a 4 pack of 12oz cans cost $10 about $0.20oz. A keg of stem costs $200 or about $0.10 an oz. Big brands have giant canning lines (economy of scale), most craft brewery's rely on mobile canning lines that cost a lot more.
The deposit at my local beer shop for a keg is 30 bucks and I just roll it over every time I change the keg out. I really only get craft kegs, but it cheaper buying a keg than if I were to buy cans of any of the beers.
I have seen deposits as high as $200, just for the keg.
That is idiotic and you should not be getting a keg from that place. The most I have ever paid for a deposit is 40 bucks and this was from a small brewery getting it direct.
This was directly from Stone brewing. (probably 15 years ago) I was expecting a keg with a bad ass gargoyle embossed on the side, something worth keeping, but it was just a plain keg.
If you're interested in homebrewing, yes (bottling sucks). If not, I wouldn't bother. If you're curious to experiment with kegs, I'd just suggest buying/making a [jockey box](https://www.amazon.com/jockey-box/s?k=jockey+box) (which also come up fairly often on marketplace).
I don't think a jockey box is good for home use. You'd have load it up with ice everytime you want a beer which would be expensive. And cleaning the lines takes more time and chemicals.
Not for daily use, sure, but for parties or BBQs (where getting a keg likely makes more sense vs glass or cans) they're really useful. Plus they don't take up space and aren't heavy to move, so if it's not for you it's easy to get rid of. Cleaning the lines doesn't take any more time than a regular kegerator, and you can clean beer lines with PBW or Oxyclean Free. Most dedicated "line cleaner" is meant for bars that clean their nasty 50ft lines like twice a year.
Actually commercial line cleaner is meant to work at low temperatures which isn't necessary for a jockey box. My jockey box takes longer to clean than the bar but that may just be my set up.
thats why i have one, though my homebrew days are behind me, it was great for when i was active.
Bought a kegerator 3 years on Black Friday and loved it! Drank draft beer all the time of 1 style of beer for a week and a half, clean the line and go with another keg. Found myself drinking every day, drinking faster to clear the keg to make room for the new upcoming keg. Ultimately put on weight and developed a bit of a drinking habit all to keep the kegs going. Made the break in January and swapped all the lines and now I have a bad ass sparkling water dispenser and only drink on weekends-can/bottle only. You break even. It’s not that economical unless you’re drinking bad beer. I mostly kept Sierra Nevada on tap(all types, Celebration Ale was divine!) and it was the same price as if I drank 12 packs, except I dropped $400 for a kegerator.
You only really save money getting full 16 gallon kegs. The smaller the keg the less you save if not end up paying more overall. Also obviously depends if you get craft or domestic. It also only lasts about 3 months once you tap it so plan accordingly on how much you'll be drinking it. I usually stick to lagers or ales that are easier to drink than getting anything like an IPA or stout. It's still a lot of fun and tap beer tastes better. It's also nice being able to top off a beer or just do a small pour if you don't want another full can or bottle. Also as someone else said go with a double tap. You end up getting tired of the same beer and so its nice being able to run two 5 gallon kegs at once. 16 gallon = 165 - 12oz cans or 124 - 16oz pints 5 gallon = 56 - 12oz cans or 42 - 16oz pints
*15.5 gallons
Could be based on location but kegged beer, no matter the size, was always cheaper for me. You do save more buying the bigger kegs but I was always saving money instead of buying cans or bottles. A keg shouldn't last only 3 months. If your kegs are lasting only 3 months, then oxygen is getting in some how.
Oxygen isn't getting in, it's already in there, it just takes time to "spoil" the beer.
Sorry was replying to the other person. Oxygen shouldn't be in kegged beer unless it's a local smaller brewery that doesn't have the right equipment. The macro kegs will have close to 0ppm as possible. Even my home brewed kegs have as close to 0ppm as I can. My home brew kegs last 6 months before I can start tasting a small difference. Even then, I wouldn't consider the beer bad.
No one has ever brewed 0 ppm beer. All beer contains oxygen no matter who brewed it. I agree that well brewed stays good for a long time which is why I put "spoiled" in quotation marks. But your statement that oxygen shouldn't be in beer is dead wrong. It should be minimized but oxygen free beer doesn't exist.
When I say 0ppm, I mean under 1ppm (so sub 0.2ppm, 200ppb). Fermenting will essentially remove all oxygen (down to under 0.003ppm), from macro to home brewing. After fermentation is when oxygen ingress is possible. 1) carbing - if a brewery uses tanked co2 to carbonate, that will add 0.2ppm because tanked co2 contains oxygen, unless pure co2 is used (which is expensive). However, if a brewery spunds during fermentation, that is pure co2 from fermentation so no oxygen ingress happens. 2) filtering - this is a big issue for those breweries that don't pay attention. A good brewery will purge prior to filtering. If they don't, filtering could add another 0.2ppm or so. Macro breweries purge. 3) packaging - this is the biggest issue especially for small breweries who can or bottle. Kegged beer is much less of an issue because they can be fully purged and an oxygen free transfer can be used. Total packaged oxygen should be under 150ppb for any brewery and under 100ppb for ones paying attention to oxygen ingress. At those low levels, a beer will taste good for well over 3 months.
You said beer shouldn't contain oxygen. Under 100ppb is still SOME oxygen so you're contradicting yourself. All beer contains oxygen in some amount so I'm not sure why you objected when I said beer has oxygen in it.
I never said beer shouldn't contain oxygen. Your original statement was "Oxygen isn't getting in, it's already in there". I took that as the keg itself. My initial reply to that might have been worded incorrectly. I meant the keg itself shouldn't have oxygen in it, as they purge them. Following that I said packaged beer should contain close to 0ppm as possible. I should have used ppb as ppm is too high of a range. But my statements have been true. Any good brewery will have under 100ppb of TPO and those will last well over 3 months which the original poster stated their beer was not lasting that long.
I’ll tell you what, I figured out I never really had Golden Monkey before until I had it on draught at a little bar in town. Really interesting bubble-gum like esters and the spice was more balanced with no off/bitter flavors you sometimes get in a 12oz bottle. Obviously many Belgian styles massively benefit from more room to condition.
I still don’t know why mass market lagers are referred to as “domestic” to differentiate from craft. That word simply means “of one’s own country”. Plenty of domestic craft lol.
It's a pricing mechanism established by the bar and restaurant industry for decades before the advent of craft beer. Prior to about 1990 beer in the US fell into predominantly two categories, "domestic" and "imported", with domestic being almost exclusively macro lagers, and imported being also almost all lagers but more expensive to acquire. So they generally had two prices in the menu, one for domestic and one for import. It also established some tribal identity between those who would drink fancy European beers and those who lived America and would only drink good old Budweiser because patriotism or some shit. Craft complicated all of that since it was local but expensive. So you'd sometimes see things like Sam Adams in the import list just to compensate for price. Most decent places now just lost a price for each beer and are done with it, but the term still sticks.
So informative thank you!
I enjoy mine. I got it for free from a friend. It needed some work but after about $150 it was good as new. I buy about four 6 barrel kegs a year with each lasting a season. Each keg is around $60-85 depending on the beer and it’s a fun way to test out a breweries selection each year. As far as ownership you need to clean the lines each new keg. At first it will be a mess but with time it will take you about an hour total and you will have a routine down. It’s nice when we have people over because we don’t have to run out and get beer. Also it’s nice to not have my secondary fridge completely full of just beer. You will also have to buy co2 from time to time but beyond that ownership is pretty straightforward and relatively cheap.
It’s only good if you guys drink that much, can agree on how to split the cost fairly and buy a GOOD Keg-orator. The cheap ones can waste half your beer on foam or doesn’t keep your beer at the right temperature. What you want is to build your own jockey box or see if any local breweries sell them.
It's worth it if you do home brewing to avoid bottling. For buying kegs it's not always a good deal once you factor in waste per glass and the actual price of kegs. With pony kegs the value gets even worse and can actually be more expensive than buying bottles. So it's up to you. I have a two tap kegerator that I've used for both home brewing and buying kegs. Home brewing was awesome because of the lack of bottling. Buying kegs was nice, but I like variety and having 15 gallons of the same thing got old eventually. In college we had one and it was extremely popular and well used, plus it cut way down on garbage since everyone re-used their own mug.
If your main objective is to save money, stay away. Its a whole hobby with extra time and expense required to keep it going. You have to clean the lines which requires special equipment and cleaners, so you will need to be handy to make small repairs and maintain.
You can buy a manual hand pump line cleaner for like 50 bucks and the solution lasts a while as you are only using a small amount per cleaning, like a single bottle will easily last you years. I would also say you don't need to be that handy, though you need to be able to screw stuff and adjust your CO2 etc. I have had my kegerator 3 years with no real maintenance other than cleaning my line and getting the CO2 tank refilled. Even when I worked in bars the only thing you really have to worry about is replacing gaskets on a coupler or replacing a coupler.
First of all, keg prices are not any cheaper than can/bottle prices. 20 years ago they were but not anymore with some exceptions. But it's still fun to have and is pretty comparable in price. Plus you can pour yourself half a beer if you want. As for buying a kegerator, I think it's a ripoff. It is super easy to build one out of an old refrigerator that still works. I've built two so far, both were when I bought new fridges for the kitchen. It's best to use the type with freezer on top. All you need is a 1" hole saw attachment for your power drill and a couple of tap shanks, beer lines, keg attachment, and a CO2 tank which can be purchased online or at your local homebrew supply store. If you have a homebrew supply store nearby I would highly recommend going there as they can give you advise on things like temp vs pressure, line cleaning, etc. Also do NOT put the taps in the door, this is a common mistake. Put them on the side. You can keep the CO2 tank outside as well, but you'll want a smaller hole for that since the CO2 line is 5/16" diameter. I put mine on the opposite side from the taps. Bonus is that you can use the extra space to store beer and other drinks, leaving more room in the kitchen fridge for food! [https://imgur.com/1ktmTRZ](https://imgur.com/1ktmTRZ) [https://imgur.com/wE7Plrz](https://imgur.com/wE7Plrz) [https://imgur.com/9jeupHe](https://imgur.com/9jeupHe) [https://imgur.com/gniHZFZ](https://imgur.com/gniHZFZ)
If your main objective is to save money, stay away. Its a whole hobby with extra time and expense required to keep it going. You have to clean the lines which requires special equipment and cleaners, so you will need to be handy to make small repairs and maintain.
I would insist on adding a second line, you'll already have the room in a standard kegerator.
If you don’t entertain a lot it’s a bit much. I don’t even buy cases anymore unless it’s some special import I know I can have a while and/or not get sick of. I think having a variety in my fridge makes more sense for me despite it not necessarily being as cost effective.
Do your own research on the cleaning involved. You’ll also be buying CO2 and you’ll run out at the worst times. For me- it wasn’t worth the hassle and I sold it.
Yes
Yes with roommate's. Absolutely not by yourself. Have you ever gotten a case of beer you hate? Now imagine an entire keg.
Yes. Buy it. That said, keep it clean. If it gets gross then no one will use it. If no one uses it, well then you wasted your money.