Beer Keg Smoker

I've seen some different things to do with an old beer keg on here; all except for the smoker.  Ive had this old beer keg sitting in my backyard for a while so I finally decided to do something with it.

This one is mainly adapted from one I found on google somewhere so I cant take full credit for it, but here are some more succinct instructions so you can make one of your own!

This is my first instructable so be gentle if I left something out or explained something unclearly.

Materials needed:
1 beer keg (oh yes, that is Natty Lite you see!)
1 top grate (the webber replacement grill for the 18" grill worked for me, its about 14" diameter)
1 bottom grate (I used some heavy chicken wire)
1x 10", 1x 12" 3/4"ID black iron pipe nipples 
1  3/4" elbow 
1 3/4" ID pipe bracket + hardware 
1 3/4” ball valve 
6 1.5” 5/16" bolts, w/ nuts and lock washers - used to hold up the top grate 
1 bag of hardwood lump charcoal
A few chunks of hardwood of your choice (Jack Daniels oak barrel wood chips is the way to go!)

Tools:
Shop rag
Angle grinder with cutting wheel (get some extras in case your cutting wheel breaks)
Flathead screw driver
Drill with bits
Safety glasses
A permanent marker
Hammer
Pocket knife (probably not completely necessary, but I always end up needing one)
Metal file
twine
JB Weld (for the chimney, and bottom seals, and where you accidentally cut where you shouldnt have)
Pliers


All of the materials (not including the keg) were around 40 bucks.

Step 1 Getting your keg

I used a "half keg" which is pretty much the biggest one you can buy from your local grocery store or liquor store.  I've seen people use the bigger 50 gallon drums which are said to work better, but I think having one made out of a beer keg is pretty cool.

Comments

[friger]

Cool idea, just a point of clarification, because I am numb sometimes, the section of pipe coming out the bottom with the ball cock on it, can I assume that is your air intake?

[vr6ators]

Yea thats used for temperature control - the more you open the ball valve, the more air let in for the coals, the hotter it is. I'm gonna install a thermometer in the top for my next step.

[friger]

One other cool thing you could do with this would be to use the smoke from the chimney, plumbed into another container or box as a cold smoker.