What seems to be the officer, problem? Beer content inside!

[DSM_OR_DIE]

I don't have a problem; I have a solution!

I have fulfilled a lifelong (?) dream of having taps at my house. I don't have all of the parts necessary to run the CO2 line like I want so I have put the cable management on hold for now, but I'm already super happy with the result!

Two remaining orders of business:

1. Get a drip tray for the fridge door
2. Figure out how to display the tap and beer/can list. Dry erase board mounted to the freezer door? TV/Raspberry Pi combo running some form of inventory / menu app? I haven't found anything for the latter just yet and all of my Pis are in use at the moment, but if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

FYI, left tap is Irish red and right tap is ginger beer. And if I can find the time, the kiwi hard lemonade has finished fermenting and is ready to be racked into the secondary tonight. No pictures of that because fermentation is ugly.

[AestheticsInMotion]

@DSM_OR_DIE kiwi hard Lemonade sounds incredible.

[EssExTee]

@DSM_OR_DIE you should get one of these

[davesaddiction]

@DSM_OR_DIE

A thing of beauty.

Wouldn't dry erase markers work directly on the surface of the fridge door?

The simplest solution is often the best.

[ShrimpHappens]

@DSM_OR_DIE That Sprecher root beer is good stuff

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@AestheticsInMotion I'm making it for a housewarming in July and it will be a significant struggle to not tap into it before then.

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@EssExTee I like the way you think. I don't know what I would put on a soda gun other than cranberry juice and Sprite, but if they were easier to clean I would probably already have one.

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@davesaddiction I have not tried and I suspect that they would, but because the door is textured, cleaning stuff off would be a pain. Although I guess now that I think about it, wet erase would be what I would want anyway. I'm still hoping to find a good app to run on a Pi for this. I've already got a display along this vein in the kitchen and the other Pi is always in use for network logging, so I'm no stranger to this kind of thing.

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@ShrimpHappens said in What seems to be the officer, problem? Beer content inside!:

@DSM_OR_DIE That Sprecher root beer is good stuff

Costco had it on sale for what was effectively a clearance price so I bought three 24 packs. My winter drink is whiskey root beer and I didn't even make it through one of the 24 packs this year, so it will definitely last me a while. I am shocked at how good it is. I've always considered it to be a Menards store brand but it seems that's not the case.

[HoustonRunner]

@DSM_OR_DIE I've got a dual tap kegerator as well. My challenge is that I go through cycles of drinking beer. For the last 6 months or so I've been on more mixed drinks / bourbon, so the last few beers out of the two 1/6 barrel kegs I have are old now. I need to remove and clean out the lines.

[ShrimpHappens]

@DSM_OR_DIE said in What seems to be the officer, problem? Beer content inside!:

whiskey root beer

Now that's something I've never considered. There's a place near me that sells Sprecher; I'm going to try this soon.

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@HoustonRunner you are not alone there. I always have at least one keg going but I will go maybe 3 months without drinking any of it. And my husband doesn't really drink much at all. But I don't drink beer so if his keg is old and oxidized, he never says anything. Fortunately my ciders and hard lemonades seem to take very well to aging and especially the holiday apple pie cider gets better the longer I have it.

But especially if I'm entertaining, a 5 gallon keg of homebrew lasts exactly as long as it takes for me to make another. For all of 2022 I was never not brewing something in a carboy.

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@ShrimpHappens said in What seems to be the officer, problem? Beer content inside!:

@DSM_OR_DIE said in What seems to be the officer, problem? Beer content inside!:

whiskey root beer

Now that's something I've never considered. There's a place near me that sells Sprecher; I'm going to try this soon.

Whiskey root beer seems to be very slept-on, but it always felt like the logical and ideal whiskey+mixer drink.

My favorite is whiskey apple cider, followed by whiskey root beer, and then whiskey lemonade. I would definitely recommend all three.

[Nicky Chagrin Janitor of SHIELD]

@DSM_OR_DIE said in What seems to be the officer, problem? Beer content inside!:

Figure out how to display the tap and beer/can list.

Colorful magnet alphabet letters!

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@Nicky-Chagrin-Janitor-of-SHIELD said in What seems to be the officer, problem? Beer content inside!:

@DSM_OR_DIE said in What seems to be the officer, problem? Beer content inside!:

Figure out how to display the tap and beer/can list.

Colorful magnet alphabet letters!

You know, that's a fun option! But I want to list the cans and bottles as well and I have 15-20 of those, so that's A LOT of magnets.

I'm giving this one a try. I'll have to take stock of my inventory when we get back from the store.
https://brewboard.app/

[Nicky Chagrin Janitor of SHIELD]

@DSM_OR_DIE You could do both. Magnets by each tap, digital sign listing cans and bottles. If you get really motivated maybe add logos or label images.

I'm boring and just do bottles with a little round handwritten sticker on the cap. I'm waiting until I figure out where I'm going to live next before I make the jump to kegs.

[ForSweden]

@EssExTee It would be cheaper to buy an actual gun instead of a soda gun

[Taylor Martin]

@DSM_OR_DIE You, the maker of some ridiculously good beer, didn't have your own taps?

That is shocking.

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@Taylor-Martin But I have my own taps NOW!

[zipfuel]

I feel like you need to buy a bulk of RFID tags for all those bottles and cans so whatever display solution you implement can list the real time fridge contents.
Also can you get a level sensor on the kegs with an E-F bar?
There's those silly convenience store fridges that display the contents on an LCD screen, you could do a visual tally like an HMI.

[i86hotdogs]

Man, I miss my DIY kegerator. Got rid of it when I moved to Ohio.

For your drip tray, mounted a small piece of wood on some L brackets. Found the bar mat on FB marketplace

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@zipfuel said in What seems to be the officer, problem? Beer content inside!:

I feel like you need to buy a bulk of RFID tags for all those bottles and cans so whatever display solution you implement can list the real time fridge contents.
Also can you get a level sensor on the kegs with an E-F bar?
There's those silly convenience store fridges that display the contents on an LCD screen, you could do a visual tally like an HMI.

Setting and attaching RFID tags to each can/bottle sounds like a hassle, but I am thinking about making a low profile load cell for the kegs. The problem is that I only have ~1/4" clearance between the top of the assembly and the fridge as-is. I have ordered low profile ball lock connectors and they will get here tomorrow, but clearance to add something under the keg is VERY tight.

In other news, I set this up last night just based on what I remember to be in the fridge. I need to go out there today and actually take stock.

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@i86hotdogs This is great! I'm looking at all of the available drip trays online and they're all set up like stainless cups that you remove and wash, and I was really just hoping for a metal tray with a removable rubber insert. I have a few bar runners already, so I may just have to pursue this option anyway. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Punkgoose17]

@DSM_OR_DIE Important question can you measure the level of the beer in the keg with a stud finder?

[DSM_OR_DIE]

@Punkgoose17 The kegs are steel so I doubt a stud finder would have enough resolution to penetrate the wall and detect the liquid behind, but I can try. The one I have struggles with plaster, so I have my doubts.

Leaving the fridge door open yesterday to install the taps and then checking the line of condensation showed that I have half of the ginger beer left and the Irish red is below the level of the rubber feet.

A thermal camera would also give a quick visual indication, but if I'm going to put money into this, I'd like for it to work with the door closed. I've now spent a fair of money on this fridge and it's already ancient and questionable.