Portable Camping/Tailgating Keg Setups ??

I want to take a keg on some camping and boating trips this spring.

I'm hoping I can use a keg and a picnic tap that I already have in spare parts and get an inexpensive 20oz CO2 tank, and just put the keg in a cooler with some ice instead of building or buying a jockey box.

Is that idea practical ?

I guess what I'm getting at is can I get by without a cold plate and a jockey box and all that, and just get a new smaller CO2 tank and work with what I've already got ?

Just want something small and portable for fishing, skiing, and camping.

Yes, I just bought the stuff to do this. You will need to get a different regulator for the paintball tank(they sell one at kegconnection) and for cooling the keg I would go with a keg glove with ice blanket(cheapest one I can find is at midwestsupplies). I also ordered a faucet attached to a qd because I thought the beer in the line for the picnic tap might get warm.

Here are a couple of links with some other peoples input:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/best-portable-dispenser-97813/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/going-outdoors-81971/

I guess it all depends on how long you want to keep the beer cold for. I've used a couple of corny kegs in a cooler before and then filled around the kegs with ice. This kept the beer pretty cold for an evening, but by the next morning, all the ice had melted and the beer was getting pretty warm. Now this was inside an air conditioned room. If you are using this outdoors I imagine the process would be much quicker.

I have 3 friends that use 5 gallon Cornies in coolers.. they use the 20oz CO2 tanks, 2 have the picnic taps and the othe rguy has a standup cooler with a kegger tap on top.. the all work great!

I have a 3 gallon cornie that fits perfectly in a IceChest Cube with ice. I use a picnic tap and co2 charger. I have transported it for Thanksgiving and New Years, both times i poured beer right after arriving and it worked great. The key is to only charge the keg with very little pressure.

Now this summer I want to try to take it on our Pontoon boat. Has anyone had any success on a boat?

biermuncher used the portable power systems from lowes to serve from his garbage can kegorator https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/biermunchers-rolling-kegerator-byo-published-71719/

and u can buy an adapter for the paintball tanks from midwest supplies or morebeer

Mine is a 2.5# cylinder with single gauge reg and 3' line to a QD, no need for adapters, etc for paintball tank. I took a cobra tap with me that had 5' of line. Had no problem dumping ice in twice a day for a week to keep it cool. Worked out great. The little bit of beer in the line can be dumped before you pull the first pint if you don't want to make a dedicated QD/tap.

I took EdWorts idea and ran with it...this is his picture


I made this same setup but I added the Kobalt 20oz O2 bottle and regulator that Lowes had on sale around Christmas. I've also seen a picture where someone shoehorned (2) 3 gallons kegs in a cooler like this so thats my new project before spring comes.

I took this to a tailgating party and it was the biggest hit of the day. We blew thru 3 gallons in no time so I want to be prepared for next time.

I went cheap. I got a LME container from the LHBS for free then cut the top off. Then cut two holes 180* from each other near the top for handles. Drop the keg in and fill with ice. Picnic tap and borrow the 5 lb CO2 tank from the keezer which will fit in the LME container too. Total cost= 1 gas connect, 1 beverage connect, 1 picnic tap, a few feet of tubing. 5 gallons don't last long enough to need ice refills. Tip, start with the keg cold.