Jockey box help pls

[Kblandfo]

I want to build a jockey box. Having trouble deciding between coils and cold plates.
Used for trips to the cottage, summer and winter.
The kegs won’t be cooled in the summer and they will be held outdoors.
In the winter they will be indoors.
Not sure if I should do cold plate or coils. I want at least two taps but no more than three. The cooler would limit me to no more than 2 taps but a cold plate would allow 3.
Help me to decide between coils and plates.
Thanks!

 

[beernutz]

http://www.micromatic.com/beer-questions/party-cooler-coil-cold-plate

I built a small DIY 1 tap jockey box using a cold plate about 15 years ago which still works great today. I disagree with the above article a bit as mine will take room temp beer down to below 38. That said, all the multi-tap jockey boxes used by our homebrew club for festivals use SS coils and they all work great.

You might want to check craigslist as I've seen jockey boxes for sale numerous times.

 

[Kblandfo]

Thanks ill give it a look!

 

[Kblandfo]

I guess part of what I wonder is, if the beer will cool if I am serving beer that is 80-90 in the keg. I'd have to really up the pressure on the beer in the kegs and hope the cold plate will restrict it enough to not shoot out of the tap to fast.

 

[jekeane]

Here is what I just built for a wedding a couple weeks ago. I found the cold plate at a random junk store for $25. The mini keg is the 1.6g slimline torpedo from morebeer. I serve 2 5g kegs out the back and sit the mini keg in the ice on top of the plate. My friend wanted something different as well as more non craft drinking friendly beers. I also keep the kegs outside of the box sitting in a similar size cooler with ice around them.

 

[Kblandfo]

that looks great thanks!

 

[BBBF]

I want to build a jockey box. Having trouble deciding between coils and cold plates.
Used for trips to the cottage, summer and winter.
The kegs won’t be cooled in the summer and they will be held outdoors.
In the winter they will be indoors.
Not sure if I should do cold plate or coils. I want at least two taps but no more than three. The cooler would limit me to no more than 2 taps but a cold plate would allow 3.
Help me to decide between coils and plates.
Thanks!

Coils chill better than plate. Especially if your keg is starting out at room temperature. If the keg is cold (like stored in some ice), it doesn't matter.

The advantage of a plate is that you can get one that serves multiple lines and once plate with multiple circuits is a lot cheaper than multiple coils.

 

[Homercidal]

Plates are good for size. You can fit more beer into a cooler with a plate(s) than coils. How well they chill is determined by how long the coils are.

We have a 5-pass plate in our club box and each pass was fine the other day on it's own. Of course it's not quite 80-90 out, but more like 60-70. If necessary, you can jump from one pass into another and get twice the chill effect, but that reduces the number of beers you can serve.

For me, the preference between coils and plates is up to the user. We went with a plate because one of our members had one and he donated it to the project. I think a jockey box can be smaller with a plate, simply because it's a smaller item than coils. Cost is similar between them.

I do recommend checking online for used units. You can find them often.