Multiple picnic tap serving at party..

[mike_57401]

Hello,

I need to serve 3 kegs at an upcoming office party. I will be using picnic taps, and allowing guests to serve themselves. The kegs and cylinder will go under a large folding table, obscured by a tablecloth.

Has anyone done similar before? I was thinking of using a wooden stand, maybe part of a sheet of plywood, with Cobra taps mounted thru holes in the wood, each screwed to the wood for stability. The stand would have a flange to clamp to the tabletop, and maybe chalkboard paint for beer names.

Anyone have thoughts or pics with how to do this?

 

[IslandLizard]

I think that would work.

You're keeping the kegs cold, like in a tub with ice?
Perhaps put some insulation around the beer lines to keep them colder too.

Many people are confused how to use picnic taps, yeah, strange enough. Maybe have someone there to help or show how when needed.

 

[mike_57401]

Thanks for the thoughts. I wound up using a simple setup made with 2, 2 ft pieces of 1x12, with three plastic drip bowls. Picnic taps and serving lines just draped over the slots. Labels were taped to the board, just below the slots. I kept kegs in a large tub with 20 lbs of ice, as well as the cylinder under the table.

It worked well, although if serving outdoors I'd prefer a large cooler instead of a tub, and cover the kegs with blankets. Also, I'd use polyurethane on the board if planning to use more than once.

 

[IslandLizard]

Perfect, a really nice, good looking setup!

All 3 kegs kicked?

 

[NickTheGreat]

I was curious to see how this worked. Any assembled pics? I'd think the picnics would be kinda cockamamie.

The few parties I've served at we just laid the picnic taps on top of the kegs. But it was a pretty informal affair.

We served homebrew at our wedding and just kept the kegs in the fridge with picnic taps. But we had "bartenders" there too.

 

[mike_57401]

Thanks island lizard.

So I shot a photo to give you some idea of the taps. They are staged here, not connected to the kegs. Last night when connected, they were centered in the slots, and each one was pointed left, which bothered me slightly. However, I was dispensing at low pressure, such that it took about 20 seconds for a fill. No beer was spilled, people adapted fairly well (when there's beer involved, people figure it out). Also, since the taps weren't mounted, people could pull a little hose and point downward into the glass.

I could have mounted the taps to the board with a machine screw thru the tab as I've seen elsewhere on this site but didn't have the time get that done.

Oh, and the beers were a basic IPA (centennial, Simcoe, and citra), chocolate stout (similar to Young's), and centennial blonde. We didn't run out, but were close to empty on the blonde and stout.