Why use a jockey box?

I gotta be missing something here. I am looking to serve my beer out of a 5g corny keg. Why wouldn't I just put the keg in a tub of ice instead of serving in a jockey box?

Wouldn't I need the keg cold as well as the box to use a jockey box. Please 'splain.

They work good for a quick easy set-up, like at parties and etc.

and the beer gets pretty cold and doesn't really take that much ice. Cooling the whole keg down can take alot of ice to keep it cold.

no additional ice needed for the kegs, just in the box. I like my jockeybox because it can run 6 beers at a time, and it looks great doing it.

Personally, I prefer to keep the beer itself cold... of course, I am in a locale where it can easily be triple-digit temps and even for a short time I don't think it's good for the beer! I was using a 32 gallon Rubermaid trashcan with a bunch of holes drilled in the bottom to let melting ice drain away... picnic faucets... yeah, didn't look great, but it worked for parties

I want to build one of those trashcan kegerators I have seen people making here. Best of both worlds, IMO

A jockey box is nice when you are camping or anywhere where ice is at a premium. I also think it looks quite a bit nicer.

So I can just leave my keg at 80+ degrees and ice the jockey box? Doesn't the psi in the keg jump with the heat?

Kayos said:

So I can just leave my keg at 80+ degrees and ice the jockey box? Doesn't the psi in the keg jump with the heat?

Click to expand...

Jason...I can tell you are a thinking man!! From my experience the CO2 WILL come out of solution as the beer warms. I usually put my kegs in a water bath to lessen the effect. I usually have to turn up my regulator to keep the CO2 in solution. I think you could use the same temp/psi calculator for carbing for estimating what to set your regulator at. For example if your beer is at 60 F. you need to set your regulator at 25 psi for 2.5 volumes. Of course then you will have a very fast pour but at least it won't be a foamy mess.

Thanks, Al! I am ramping up to serve out of a keg for get togethers, but not sure the best way yet. Is the jockey box the way to go? I have an old copper wort chiller I could recondition for just this purpose.

Check this thing out
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/biermunchers-rolling-kegerator-byo-published-71719/

I would recommend against using copper in a jockey box ... The carbonated beer will dissolve copper, *could* cause some illness ... I'm sure some have done it, though ...