1950's Ice Chest Jockey Box

[SexualCastles]

As per the title I have just finished my Jockey Box build, it uses a 1950's era Aluminium Ice Chest I got from ebay shipped from Illinois.

Cooling is handled by a 7 circuit cold plate I got from a bailiffs, 3 of the taps have a doubled up run for extra cooling and the 4th will have just a single run which I plan to use for stouts.

This is how I got the cooler:



After a bit of sanding and polishing I got it to the finish I was looking for:



Then I addressed the insulation, the old 50's stuff basically fell apart in my hands as I was removing it, dust from it went everywhere so hopefully it didn't contain any asbestos!!




I went and got some new R6 rated insulation board and trimmed to fit, almost cut off my hand in the process..



I then added some brackets to support the plate chiller and keep it elevated above any water from the melted ice as that will effect its efficiency:


And finally drilling holes for the taps and to run the lines into the box, I used a 9/16 drill bit for the lines in order to use correct sized rubber grommets and a 22mm bit for the taps:










Now all that is left to do is wait till Saturday for my double IPA to be fully carbed and pull a pint out of it!

 

[CountryGravy]

That is an incredible build! Seems like a lot of fun, and I love the retro look.

One of the things I admire most about the homebrew community is the DIY mentality and the creativity shown during the process.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Doctor_M]

I dig it!

 

[Hello]

That is really well done. Where do you keep your kegs?

 

[SexualCastles]

Thanks guys, I was originally looking at old steel belted Coleman coolers but the ones I found were all rusted out.. Then when browsing ebay I happened across this retro beauty (for $30 at that!!) and being aluminium is ideal as it will last forever and wont rust out.

They don't make em like the old days! No cheap plastic in sight

 

[SexualCastles]

Kegs just need to be kept within around 3ft of the cooler as that's how long the lines out of the box are. The plate chiller cools the beer so no need to keep them cold however I have keg jackets anyway so can chill the kegs wherever they sit..

Though people online report even room temp kegs give cold beer through a well set up jockey box

 

[Hello]

That is cool. I have no real need for a jockey box but I've wanted one for some silly reason.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Shouldn't the cold plate be in the water? I know that heat transfer through ice is more effective, but ice water shouldn't be getting above 32°F anyway, and it maximizes the surface contact. I've never used a cold plate, but I thought that was the general idea.

Otherwise, it looks awesome. I've looked at the steel belted Colemans as well, but could never justify the expense. $30 is a steal!

 

[SexualCastles]

Ok, so after a bit or research this is a comprehensive answer that may help people in the future.

The reason is… (drum roll please!) …Thermodynamics.

A lot of the articles linked at the bottom reference this but none explain it as I am about to. Basically the main property we need to be aware of is that heat radiates but cooling does not.

The transfer of cooling power depends almost entirely on contact, an irregularly shaped contact surface blocks the conductivity and makes it very difficult to extract heat.
A cold plate consists of stainless steel tubing embedded in a block of aluminum which provides complete contact to the beer excluding any bubbles. Passing the beer through the cold plate accomplishes a rapid, continuous heat transfer from the liquid to the ice known as “Flash Cooling”.
However, the cooling is dependent on a thermodynamic phase change occurring (solid-to-liquid). This phase-change substance (ice) must be in intimate thermal contact with the cold plate to cause rapid heat transfer.

If you simply refrigerate the cold plate (such as in an air cooled refrigerator or in a chilled water bath as MrFoodScientist suggested), then the thermal mass of the system immediately warms as the warm beer flows through and the temperature quickly rises.

Therefore putting a cold plate in a refrigerator or leaving it in chilled water will not cool the flow of beer to a frosty ice cold temperature. It is critical to have ice completely covering the cold plate and to drain the melted ice to maintain cold beer. Ice in a melting state maintains the cold plate at a temperature that will chill but not freeze the flow of beer.

It also helps to keep the kegs as cold as possible which helps maintain the cooling as mentioned previously.

And there we have it! Now I have an explanation for anyone in the future who asks why it is necessary to keep the plate out of the water.

This small article says that it should be continually drained to get rid of the water:
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/jockey-boxes-portfolio-cid-11.html

They also sell racks specifically for keeping the plate above the water:
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/jockey-boxes-pid-WRCP.html

This one again mentions efficiency by using a basket:
http://home.comcast.net/~midnighthomebrewers/jockey_box.htm

And this thread talks about it also:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f95/cold-plate-refrigerator-287745/

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Nice build. I will be interested to see what your results are on your first pour!

 

[SexualCastles]

Thanks sandy, I am hoping little to no foam and ice cold But I will be sure to post a picture on Saturday

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Wow, I'm thoroughly impressed by your research rather than "That's just what I've been told."

Well done.

 

[SexualCastles]

Thanks, after you asked the question I myself wondered why I added the brackets to the box without researching if I actually needed to and what the point of keeping it out of the water was.

Sort of reminds me of an old Simpsons episode:

Homer: Well, there's not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol is sure doing its job.
Lisa: That's specious reasoning, Dad.
Homer: Thank you, sweetie.
Lisa: Dad, what if I were to tell you that this rock keeps away tigers.
Homer: Uh-huh, and how does it work?
Lisa: It doesn't work. It's just a stupid rock.
Homer: I see.
Lisa: But you don't see any tigers around, do you?
Homer: Lisa, I'd like to buy your rock

 

[SexualCastles]

Jockey Box was tested Saturday/Sunday, had some initial teething issues. I originally thought it may be due to the doubled up pass through in the chill plate so rearranged it for one pass through but the same issue remained...

I then did a quick Google search and read about a faulty dip tube post on a keg which was allowing CO2 to bubble into the beer due to a loose rubber washer. I swapped the gas and beer lines and tilted the keg and it poured with no foaming and ice cold!!

Success!!

 

[SexualCastles]

Here's one of the pours, couldn't resist drinking a bit before I took a picture. its dry hopped so a little cloudy but tastes damn good for a first attempt!

 

[davekippen]

So awesome! I bought all the stuff for a 2 tap SS Coil jockey box the other weekend, except for the cooler. Need to troll Ebay or Craigslist for the perfect retro cooler. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[SexualCastles]

No problem Dave, if you search ebay for 'ice chest' and 'old cooler' you seem to get better results as the sellers just want to get rid of them as opposed to making a few $ on a 'Cool Retro Cooler'

 

[SexualCastles]

So I believe my theory was correct, I transferred the beer into another keg and re-connected the double pass on the cold plate and am getting perfect ice cold pours with room temperature kegs! (Lost a little carbonation in the process from the leaky keg however)

 

[Spellman]

So I believe my theory was correct, I transferred the beer into another keg and re-connected the double pass on the cold plate and am getting perfect ice cold pours with room temperature kegs! (Lost a little carbonation in the process from the leaky keg however)

I'm doing this myself with doubling over lines. That way when I make a beer for a party or event I don't need to have it take up space in my fridge. I just carb them at about 22-24 psi in my basement (they seem to fully carb up in about a week) then take them wherever and pour. The added bonus for this measure is that to get good pour speeds I need to push at about that same pressure, so it is all even in the end. I'm filling six 15.5g sanke kegs for my wedding in August and plan to serve them this way (I'd hate to find fridge space for six of those!). Right now I have a cheap $20 cooler that I am using, but plan to someday do what you have done with a nicer looking one. I have been keeping my eyes open for one, but most of them are rather large. I like the size of mine right now, its fairly small and compact. When I do it again I think I will also make room for the seventh pass to do another tap as you have done. Nice work and a great looking box! You will find that you use that thing a lot more than you ever thought you would!

 

[SexualCastles]

Thanks Spellman,

I can't wait for summer to come. We have a cottage on a lake and have previously been stuck with taking up bottles..

Now we can take kegs! I plan on getting a Sankey coupler so we even have the choice of picking up a commercial keg on the way too.

 

[chezhed]

Thanks for all that info....I'm refurbishing this one...guessing it's 30's vintage...and this info will help. Thinking of a cold plate but for now, i'm using a converted immersion chiller that replaced the one in there that I tried to clean but it had pinholes. Works pretty good so far...on one test

 

[SexualCastles]

Dont use copper (I am assuming it is as it was an immersion chiller):

FDA/CFSAN FDA 1997 Food Code - Annex 3: Public Health Reasons/Administrative Guidelines

Quote:
4-101.14 Copper, Use Limitation.*

High concentrations of copper are poisonous and have caused foodborne illness. When copper and copper alloy surfaces contact acidic foods, copper may be leached into the food. Carbon dioxide may be released into a water supply because of an ineffective or nonexistent backflow prevention device between a carbonator and copper plumbing components. The acid that results from mixing water and carbon dioxide leaches copper from the plumbing components and the leachate is then transferred to beverages, causing copper poisoning. Backflow prevention devices constructed of copper and copper alloys can cause, and have resulted in, the leaching of both copper and lead into carbonated beverages.

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc and contains lead which is used to combine the two elements. Historically, brass has been used for items such as pumps, pipe fitting, and goblets. All 3 constituents are subject to leaching when they contact acidic foods, and food poisoning has resulted from such contact.

The steps in beer brewing include malting, mashing, fermentation, separation of the alcoholic beverage from the mash, and rectification. During mashing, it is essential to lower the pH from its normal 5.8 in order to optimize enzymatic activity. The pH is commonly lowered to 5.1-5.2, but may be adjusted to as low as 3.2. The soluble extract of the mash (wort) is boiled with hops for 1 to 2½ hours or more. After boiling, the wort is cooled, inoculated with brewers yeast, and fermented. The use of copper equipment during the prefermentation and fermentation steps typically result in some leaching of copper.

Because copper is an essential nutrient for yeast growth, low levels of copper are metabolized by the yeast during fermentation. However, studies have shown that copper levels above 0.2 mg/L are toxic or lethal to the yeast. In addition, copper levels as low as 3.5 mg/L have been reported to cause symptoms of copper poisoning in humans. Therefore, the levels of copper necessary for successful beer fermentation (i.e., below 0.2 mg/L) do not reach a level that would be toxic to humans.

Today, domestic beer brewers typically endeavor to use only stainless steel or stainless steel-lined copper equipment (piping, fermenters, filters, holding tanks, bottling machines, keys, etc.) in contact with beer following the hot brewing steps in the beer making process. Some also use pitch-coated oak vats or glass-lined steel vats following the hot brewing steps. Where copper equipment is not used in beer brewing, it is common practice to add copper (along with zinc) to provide the nutrients essential to the yeast for successful fermentation.

I stole that from another thread that I remembered reading when I was looking at building my box.

BTW that is a cool box, probably from prohibition era. I looked at one on ebay but wanted more than one tap

 

[NickTheGreat]

Hey that looks pretty darn good. I don't really need a jockey box, but I am intrigued by something like this . . .

 

[chezhed]

It's copper...I'll go with it....I will probably use this thing once or twice a year at some public fund raisers we do.....5 gallons goes in a couple hours and I'll be cleaning it well after use.

So all that beer I drank that was fermented in copper kettles in some little microbrewery years ago is killing me?????

woohoo...now I know that it isn't age

 

[SexualCastles]

Cheers Nick, basically think of it as a mobile kegerator/keezer!

Chez
No your fine, think of all the moonshine copper stills. I think its only once its fermented and carbonated that the copper leaches. What penalty would there be in Mission if you gave a load of the public copper poisoning?!

 

[krazydave]

FWIW I use a more modern ice chest as a jockey box with a cold plate.

I read the whole shpeal of having to elevate the cold plate and drain the water and promptly ignored it as my ice chest has no drain.

So, after using it several times for weekends camping with temps in the 90's and kegs just under the table wrapped in a moving blanket, I have to say, the whole draining thing is way over-thought. Doing tests where I had an ice chest of 80% water with a little ice floating at the top and my plate submerged at least 8" under that, I was still getting ice cold pours @ 36 degrees. Then I drained it and replaced the ice, waited 15 minutes and tried again. Thermometer read 1 degree colder...

So, at this point I just ice and replace/drain as needed. I found no need to worry about keeping the plate out if the water.

The problem I do have however is that you generally have to crank up the psi on the keg to serve through the jockey box and over a weekend if I don't kill the keg and end up bringing it back home, I end up with some over-carbed beer when I drop it back in the kegerator.

Working on setting up a 75/25 nitro co2 rig for this purpose (and serving stouts from the kegerator) though, so I'm hoping that will help with the over carbing issue.

 

[chezhed]

Working on setting up a 75/25 nitro co2 rig for this purpose (and serving stouts from the kegerator) though, so I'm hoping that will help with the over carbing issue.

I want to see that when you have it done !!!

 

[krazydave]

I want to see that when you have it done !!!

It's nothing spectacular really. That gas mix is what they consider beergas. The only difference really between it and a normal co2 setup is the higher tank pressure.

And since nitrogen doesn't absorb into your beer, it shouldn't over-carb at higher serving pressures.

 

[SexualCastles]

Krazydave,

To be honest I think the only time it would be a worry is if it were an event, all of the lines in a cold plate were running almost non stop (I could run 7 different lines if I wished), all of the beers were warm and commercial/larger sized kegs were used so there was a higher output of liquid (greater than 5gal cornies).. only then would it matter.

I currently have only run one tap in a basement and didn't really see the need for it to be elevated/drained. Mine is also raised at least 2 inches so that's a lot of melted ice before I would need to drain as per the 'constantly drain and replace ice' quotes I kept finding.

You cant argue with the science of it but whether or not it is needed on a small set up.. probably not.

 

[SexualCastles]

Also.. with regard the over carbonation, I don't have a kegerator so my kegs are stored in a cool (17-19c) cupboard meaning the carbonation and serving pressures are the same so no risk of extra fizz.

I will have to watch out for that when I do eventually get a kegerator though