Tips to make a DIY fridge full of beer are being offered by a Hawke's Bay company that was stuck without stock when Covid-19 hit.
WilliamsWarn managing director Sam Wood demonstrates ways to turn any fridge into a kegerator. Photo: RNZ
Beer brewing gear company WilliamsWarn struggled with empty shelves earlier this year, after Covid-19 stopped shipping.
Now the company is offering tips on how to transform any old fridge into a kegerator - a fridge designed to dispense kegs of beer.
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Many businesses had to transform due to the pandemic and WilliamsWarn managing director Sam Wood said his company was no exception.
Sam Wood at work on a DIY kegerator. Photo: RNZ
Covid-19 halted products, such as kegerators, from reaching New Zealand shores
"It's a bit of a pain for us, we don't have a lot of product right now, but we have a lot of product on ships, we're just waiting for it to turn up," Wood said.
Nothing was stopping people from turning a fridge into a beer dispenser, he said.
"This is a DIY solution to making your own kegerator and hopefully a few people get into that then realise the benefits of it as well, a bit cheaper and a bit more DIY, make it your own."
How to do it
Photo: RNZ
Key tools
Fridge, CO2 bottle, brew keg, brewing tap, drill, beer.
Method
Step 1 - Mount the beer tap.
Wood said the tap was the highest impact part of the design.
"It'll look quite cool and hopefully lowest risk, so I'll drill through from the inside then I'll close the door and drill back through from the outside."
Step 2 - Mount the beer tap through the front of the fridge.
Step 3 - Making sure you've turned off the fridge, drill a hole in the back of the unit for the CO2 line.
"If you're going to do this and you drill a hole through your fridge, particularly in the back of the fridge or away from the door, you really need to turn the fridge off, 'cause if you do run into a wire or something, we don't want anyone getting electrocuted, fingers crossed," Wood advised.
Step 4 - Once you've got the CO2 line in, connect it to your keg and the beer tap.
Step 5 - Mount a drip tray on the front below the tap.
Wood said the craft beer industry was about creating something unique, from making beer to the way it was delivered.
"You can customise it.
"We have a pretty broad range of New Zealand hops now, so that you can add and tweak every recipe until you get exactly what you like to drink and then you can also play around with things you might not like to drink or you haven't tried before, so it's pretty cool," he said.