Taking homebrew on the road in RV

[spittybug]

I keg my beer. I hate the whole bottling process. We plan to do a lot of RVing around the country in the next few years since we are now pseudo empty nesters (one still in college). We have a nice big 38ft 5th wheel we tow. It has a residential refrigerator in it, but putting a keg in it wouldn't work (read as wife won't let me). I'd love to find a way to mount them in the basement and plumb the line(s) up to the kitchen. I see two challenges; keeping them cold and the constant shaking going down the road.

Has anyone done anything like this? Ideas?

Better solution may be those gallon keg/co2 combos I've seen out of England. Pricey though. http://www.growlerwerks.com/pages/ukeg-growlers

 

[Natdavis777]

Well, for your shaking issue, there is this http://www.clearbeerdraughtsystem.com/home.html Saw this at the NHC last year. Pretty neat. Would be ideal for kegs that get transferred/moved a bunch.

As for chilling, you could make a dedicated jockey box... I dont see setting it in a 5 gal bucket with ice working, as the clearbeer system pulls from the top and not the bottom.

 

[BlkWater_brewer]

I think your biggest issue with kegs will be the road vibration. Second, space is at a premium especially in the kitchen area. A 1 gal keg would be more trouble than it's worth. Arrange your travel by Craft Brewery and never run out.

Realistically the first thing you would have to do is filter your beer into your keg. Road vibration would never let it settle. Easiest thing for chilling would be a compact version of a jockey box with a multi-line plate chiller w/ice.

I have seen the storage space under the couch cushions modified to hold 2.5/3 gallon kegs and then the lines run under the chassis and up under the sink. Cooling was done with ice which is the only down side. We had a small 12/24 vdc pump for draining the melted water to refill with ice. This was done to a class A with multiple slide-outs so you have to factor this is when you run the under chassis lines. We used a SS braided line for exposed under chassis area. We did have to tip the kegs at an angle and adjust the bend in the pickup tube. Depends on how much you want it. Too bad we never saved any pics.

 

[ktblunden]

Wait...basement? That's a fancy RV y'all got there.

The float valve is a pretty great idea. If you have space to put 2 kegs somewhere, it might be worth seeing if you have space for a mini fridge to put them in. Otherwise, jockey box would be the best idea, but it might be annoying having to constantly supply it with ice.

 

[jrowland74]

Spittybug, what did you end up doing? I am getting ready to go full time in an rv and am trying to work this out. My current plan is to mount the kegs and co2 to a wall in the basement and use a jockey box.

 

[Photopilot]

Is there space to put the kegs upright in the basement? Also if you are RVing full time I think keeping the kegs full will be a difficult task.

I am looking forward to this evolving into the first RV keezer build thread.

 

[SlickTX]

Subscribed. We also plan to semi-full time it in our class A in a couple of years. This has been on my mind as well.

 

[Bobb25]

I RV too, in fact we snowbird for 3 months in far south Florida. I collected a bunch of those flip cap bottles, and bought a beer gun. Bottling from a keg using a beer gun is fast and easy. All of my brewing gear stays in Ohio, and I only transport the fruits of my labors. Last year I took most of 5 cases down with me, and the only problem I had was when the compartment where the beer was stored leaked during a torrential downpour in Kentucky in late December, and the cardboard cases fell apart. Beer wasn't hurt, a few labels got ruined, and the cases got replaced with plastic milk crates.

 

[Johow]

I'm planning a system to keg in 2.5 liter bottles and one of the reasons is to do stuff like this. Only 6bottles to a 5gallon batch and they can be easily stored in lots of places and then either put one in the fridge(they don't take nearly the room of a keg) or bury one in the ice chest. They will be naturally carbed so just hook one up and serve. The co2 is provided by a 20oz paintball cartridge that should last thru several 5 gallon batches.
Well, I haven't done it yet so it's all just an idea....

 

[jrowland74]

My plan is to bring 2 kegs with me and serve from a jockey box. I hope to refill them by meeting some fellow homebrewers around the country and brewing with them.

They will definitely stand up in the main pass through storage. There is an "outdoor kitchen" compartment with a tiny fridge and pull out camp stove. I might gut that and make it a beer hole. I need to see if the kegs will stand up in there if I take everything out

 

[PADave]

Wouldn't bottling be a whole lot easier?

 

[khannon]

Take a look at linder.cz they have a pretty nice dispensing system, think jockey box without the ice.. and they look pretty too, so it's easier to convince the wife to leave it in the open.

 

[jrowland74]

Wouldn't bottling be a whole lot easier?

Bottles would take up more space, and then I have to keep and clean bottles constantly.

 

[jrowland74]

Take a look at linder.cz they have a pretty nice dispensing system, think jockey box without the ice.. and they look pretty too, so it's easier to convince the wife to leave it in the open.

Not seeing it at linder.cz. Do you have a direct link, perhaps? Do you know what the system is called or know where they are sold in the US?

 

[khannon]

Sorry, it is www.lindr.cz. I know they do sell in the us, or at least you can buy and have shipped to the us. They are pretey slick, but all of the cleaning attachments ate propriatary.

 

[brewbama]

I like this: http://www.lindr.cz/chlazeni-na-pivo/vycepni-zarizeni-soudek-30

 

[jrowland74]

Those are very cool. More than I can swing right now, but I'll definitely keep it in mind for later on down the road

 

[spittybug]

I've solved the problem easily. I don't bring much with me! We find that we really enjoy going to local breweries with the dogs. At least in the South they are welcome much of the time. In fact, we keep a blog of the adventures: www.twobrewdogs.com

Since we try to hit one every other night on average, I don't really need to bring my own. We keep a couple of growlers in the truck in case we come across a really good one to bring back to the RV. By the time we get back from a multi week trip I'm ready to drink mine and make more. It conditions while we're away on the next trip.

I bring a little brew with me in converted 2 liter soda bottles. I installed schraeder valves in the lids so that I can pressurize them with the appropriate tire filling fitting on one of my CO2 lines before we leave. While I haven't done so yet, having a small CO2 cartridge on the road would allow me to keep them pressurized. Easy peazy. No glass.

We're travelers, not campers, so we don't end up making friends and having campfires at our stops. If we did, then I could see the advantage of bringing goodly quantities of my beer with us. I think a keg in the basement would be challenging though; lines, taps, CO2, cooling, constant shaking.... I think foam and sediment would be an issue. I think smaller is better in this case.