[RunDownHouse]

I've built a few and currently have a giant chest freezer with temp. regulator that's just waiting for me to buy enough corny kegs to fill it.

CSC,

In general, its a huge waste of money to buy one instead of build your own. If you're willing to put a week or two into finding a fridge (I've gotten all of my fridges for free off craigslist), then you can build your own in a couple hours for a fraction of the price of buying a manufactured one. If you've got a bunch of people chipping in, and nobody lives in the area or wants to put the time in, then I can understand just shelling out the money, but I'd never do it myself. Another thing to consider is that buying the CO2 tank to ship with the reset is often way more expensive than just going to a local welding supply place and buying it, because the tank, even empty, is heavy as [censored]. In any case, the tap, shank, regulator, hoses, and various other parts will definitely run under $200 even with a lot of options, not $250 as someone else said.

Lastly, the two tap configuration is going to be a waste unless the recipient is a homebrewer. You can't get two commercial kegs in a mini-fridge with the very rare exception of microbrewers who both keg cornies and let you buy them.

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How long does the beer last in these things?[ QUOTE ]

50 Days is the max.

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You have no idea what you're talking about. If it stays cold, it will stay "good" as in "Won't kill you" for practically forever. It will stay "good" as in "Not skunky" for 4-5 months or maybe longer. For those who have had skunky keg beer, either it went through temperature fluctuations or, far more likely, the lines were filthy. I clean all my lines either once a month or between kegs, whichever comes first. But I'm pretty anal about it and would bet that most people with kegs - including bars - don't do it nearly as often as they should. Without cleaning, you'll get beer stone, mold, bacteria, and all sorts of other nasty deposits built up in your lines, so you'll essentially be filtering your kegged beer through filth. Not tasty.