How to transport kegged beer?

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Aleforge

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I have seen guys using a cooler setup to take and dispense their kegged homebrew, but I could not find what exactly those things are called? I am kegging my next two batches, but will be taking them along with me a festival this spring to give out. I would love to build one of those things but I don't know what they are called to look up how to do it.

Sorry for my ignorance!

Thanks
 
you mean a cooler with taps sticking out of the front with the kegs feeding lines into the back of it??

It's usually called a jockey box and you'll need a plate chiller to put inside.
 
Jockey Box! That was it, and why the plate chiller if you ice up the cooler? Maybe I am thinking of something different. I noticed another user had a cooler on wheels with a handle and it was tall enough to fit a couple of cornies in. I am guessing it was iced up however... Hmm anyone know what I am talking about?
 
well 3g cornies will fit nicely (tight) in an Igloo Ice Cube 70qt rolling cooler. I am currenty building one with 2 taps. The problem for most is that 3g cornies are expensive.
 
Jockey Box! That was it, and why the plate chiller if you ice up the cooler? Maybe I am thinking of something different. I noticed another user had a cooler on wheels with a handle and it was tall enough to fit a couple of cornies in. I am guessing it was iced up however... Hmm anyone know what I am talking about?

If you do a "jockey box" then you'll need some sort of heat exchanger to chill the beer before serving. The main benefit of a jockey box is that you can transport the kegs separately and you don't have to keep them cold. In order to do that, you would need either a chill plate or some folks use coils inside the cooler (same idea) that would chill the beer as it passes through.

If you're talking a "portable keezer"... that would hold the cornies inside, then yeah, there are a couple build threads on there where guys have made some pretty cool ones.
 
Take a look at Biermuncher's trash can kegorator build.

Thanks.

It's easier than you'd think. This was the hover-spot at a big party last summer.

Rolling_Kegger9999.jpg
 
I took a keg to a party last 4th before I started kegging. Got it from a local micro going out of business, 3 full kegs for the price of 20 per keg and got to keep the kegs. ANYWAY. I used my 25" IC inside a cooler filled with ice. Keg stayed outside the cooler and we just used a hand pump tap on the keg. The kegs were fitted with sanke taps. Running through 25ft of ice covered copper cooled it down perfectly before coming out the picnick tap.
 
Jockey Box! That was it, and why the plate chiller if you ice up the cooler? Maybe I am thinking of something different. I noticed another user had a cooler on wheels with a handle and it was tall enough to fit a couple of cornies in. I am guessing it was iced up however... Hmm anyone know what I am talking about?

Not having done it myself, take this with a grain of salt. But I think you can do it cheaper if you keep the keg on ice(in a garbage can or something), then run the lines to the "jockey box" and coil some extra line in the box and ice the jockey box up. You would need to keep the ice in the jockey box some what fresh, but it would do and be cheaper than a cold place. Or you could simply do what BierMuncher did... Same idea...
 
If I didn't have 2 3gallon cornies, I would definately go the trash can route. I guess I am having a hard time understanding why one would want to do the jockey box. I read in other threads that plate chillers work best when doing a jockey box, and if using the coils , you would want to keep kegs chilled. That's 2 things to chill? Seems like doing it all in the portable trash can would be easiest. I'm really surprised there aren't more DIY traveling keezers, I mean comon , historically kegs have been... toted all over the place. Just kind weird there arent more threads on this. I would think that the size of 5g cornies would lend themselves to travel.
 
You may want to look into getting a Keg Glove or two. That way you avoid the cost of taps/shanks, and you don't have to worry about ice.

A keg glove should keep your brew nice and cold for much longer than it will last at any sort of gathering.
 
The purpose of the jockey box is instant cooling, so when you kick a keg, you dont have to wait for the next one to chill and/or have cooler space for all your extra kegs. You just plug it in and go. My distributor friend told me so.
 
Thanks for all the replies!

I did see BM's trash can setup yesterday when looking around and I figured it would be the best idea and the most cost effective. I guess I was confused on what I had seen in the past and it was just a taller Jockey box.

Pole Creek that is an interesting idea, expecially if you want to keep the setup as compact as possible. I don't have a truck, only a small suv so I don't know if BM's trash can would fit upright in the back area or not.
 
I built one from barrels we get at work.
Lined a 55 gallon barrel with a smaller barrel and used packing peanuts topped of with spray foam insulation.

Holds 2 kegs and ice VERY well.

Tower is PVC as is the flange, used pipe insulation to insulate the beer lines.

IMG_0172.jpg



IMG_0167.jpg
 
Wow Babalu thats pretty awesome, we get the same type of barrels here at work also, although blue.

Seems pretty economic also, although once again the barrel standing I don't think will fit in my car... I need something not to much taller then the kegs.
 
can't you lay whatever you decide to take down in the SUV, then set up and put ice in when you get there?
 
Wow Babalu thats pretty awesome, we get the same type of barrels here at work also, although blue.

Seems pretty economic also, although once again the barrel standing I don't think will fit in my car... I need something not to much taller then the kegs.

I have and SUV also. The trasherator doesn't stand up in an SUV. I just transported everything in pieces and assembled it on site a few hours ahead of time.

Regardless of your transport and serving method, you'll want to give those kegs several hours at chilled temps to settle down.
 
Wow Babalu thats pretty awesome, we get the same type of barrels here at work also, although blue.

Mines blue too, painted it with that Krylon plastic paint.

Regardless of your transport and serving method, you'll want to give those kegs several hours at chilled temps to settle down.

Serving kegs
Keg to keg transfer = nice clean beer
 
can't you lay whatever you decide to take down in the SUV, then set up and put ice in when you get there?


I umm, well didn't think outside the box on this one! :mug:

Now I just need to decide on trashcan or barrel, trashcan has wheels / handle, barrel is free.
 
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