wife is a sparkling wine drinker and I'm a fan of whiskey and diet ginger ale. She just asked me if there was a way to save a few bucks by setting this up in a home kegerator. I have brewed beer and wine, but never done kegging. So I have a few questions:

what's a beginner, CO2 based, 2 tap set up worth looking into?

anybody have an idea on how to find kegged but not carbonated champagne?

I already know I will need the whole system, to do a small freezer or kegerator, etc, but thinking this might be a fun idea to consider.

I plan on buying pre-made whiskey and diet soda syrup to make that side of things work.

We had wine and beer on tap at my previous employer.  Bar opened every day at 4:30.  So, yeah, it can be done.

Basically, you CAN keg anything... do you want to, might be a different story.  I've never kegged anything but beer, so take this fwiw.

Hardware:  If you want to make a chest freezer into a large kegerator for relatively cheap, you can get the chest freezer and then convert it into a "keezer" via instructions you find online; it is pretty simple and will house four or five, 5gal kegs/taps.
A regular size commercial kegerator designed for one standard half barrel keg will hold three five gallon kegs and up to three taps.

I bought (and still have) literally the cheapest kegerator I could find.  In terms of temp control, it's fine.  The taps and tower hardware that came with it were pure crap, so in the end I spent several hundred more to upgrade this to good stuff and it came out to about what I would have just spent on a better kegerator in the first place.  I've used Perlick and Intertap faucets.  I much prefer the Intertap.  Faucets and beverage line are not a place to cheap out.  Both are critical to having a positive experience.

Thoughts on champagne:  if you are talking about buying a keg of it already made, I would want it to be precarbed so you aren't having to spend your own time and CO2 getting it carbonated.  A quick google says the carb level in champagne is around 5-6 volumes, which is obviously a lot.  You are going to need a lot of line and probably a flow control faucet to have any chance of getting this into your glass without it being a foam bomb.

Whiskey (or anything else that isn't supposed to be carbonated) I'd keep in the bottle and not in the keg... the reason being that if it is under any kind of serving pressure, it is going to absorb Co2 and become carbonated to some level.  You could be extremely diligent about  purging the pressure when you were done pouring on it for the day/night, but even then, over time I think you're likely to get some carb level in it.

I have these things and would give them to you if you lived near.  Taps, handles, riser, hose, faucets, and 5 gallon kegs.  I put them on FB and Craigs at giveaway prices and could not move the stuff.

If you are buying new, you might consider the smaller kegs they are selling.  They would be more convenient for mixed drinks.  


I used a keg for fruit punch at a large gathering once, in case peeps were the DD.  Carbonated punch went over very well.  I have a tiny keg for bloody marys.

Soda syrup used to be hard to find, I hope you have a source.

A former member had old fashioneds on tap for an arf gathering. Totally doable.