Bringing kegs to the cottage. How to transport and serve?

[darkrabbit]

Hey all, I am bringing 2 kegs to the cottage in May. Cornies. How do you guys manage to keep beer 'servable' for a 2-3 day period without a keezer / kegerator?

This is what I considered:

Jockeyboxes: Seemed like a good idea but the more I read the more I realize they aren't great solutions for more than a few hours of serving. The kegs need to be kept cold even with the jockey box if you're serving for a whole day otherwise you get massive foam, so kind of a waste of money.

Dropping the kegs in the lake: The lake doesn't exceed 50-60F in May according to the lake stats from last year, but it would mean keeping the kegs at the dock and I don't really want to do that. Plus not a great solution for trips later in the year as the lake warms, and the picnic tap pipes would get warm possibly causing foam... not great.

Big ass garbage can: Drop the 2 kegs into the garbage can, dump a ton of ice / water in it. Problem is the massive quantity of ice needed, but this seems like the more interesting solution so far.

Something creative: Maybe insulating the inside of the garbage can somehow so the loss of ice isn't as significant? Would dry ice be useful, so long as it doesn't touch the keg (and instantly freeze the beer)?

I am sure many people do this, and have some great solutions. I am not against building something, and I have the time between now and then to do it. There just doesn't seem to be much out there for some reason...

Also, transportation, I don't own a pickup truck but I might rent one for that weekend. If I don't, is it okay to transport kegs on their side? I don't see why it would be an issue but who knows..

Thanks in advance!

 

[PADave]

I saw a thread on here showing how a guy used two 10 gal igloo coolers to make one keg cooler. Was a pretty nice setup.

 

[bigdawg86]

Here you go...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/jockey-box-alternative.632957/#post-8069205

 

[cegan09]

I'm not saying it's the greatest idea out there, but I've brought my kegorator "camping" before. camping being defined as a drive up site that has electrical hookups. Big group of us in a large combined site. Plunk the kegorator near the power and under an easy up and have at it.

I went through the same process deciding how to bring kegs. Was originally going to just go the trashcan + ice route and then said screw it, bring the whole thing. It's just a dorm fridge with a two tap tower on top. Obviously if you don't have the space in the car, or place for it where you're going, not going to work.

one bit of warning, the first year I did this was rather warm and the fridge STRUGGLED to get down to temp and hold. I eventually popped the breaker in the fridge. Second year I threw 10lbs of ice inside against the kegs and it held perfect the whole time. After 3 days the ice hadn't even fully melted.


That cooler mod that was linked looks like a great option however.

 

[darkrabbit]

I'm not saying it's the greatest idea out there, but I've brought my kegorator "camping" before. camping being defined as a drive up site that has electrical hookups. Big group of us in a large combined site. Plunk the kegorator near the power and under an easy up and have at it.

I went through the same process deciding how to bring kegs. Was originally going to just go the trashcan + ice route and then said screw it, bring the whole thing. It's just a dorm fridge with a two tap tower on top. Obviously if you don't have the space in the car, or place for it where you're going, not going to work.

one bit of warning, the first year I did this was rather warm and the fridge STRUGGLED to get down to temp and hold. I eventually popped the breaker in the fridge. Second year I threw 10lbs of ice inside against the kegs and it held perfect the whole time. After 3 days the ice hadn't even fully melted.

That cooler mod that was linked looks like a great option however.

If I was up there for a week maybe.. My biggest issue with my setup is that it's sort of 'stuck' where it is. I have a quad regulator setup on my wall for my keezer, and it's in my basement so bringing it up the curved stairs is a challenge as I live with a slender Indian woman and a 2 yr old.

If this was my cottage I'd already have a keezer there... let's be real, I'd already have brewing gear there

Here you go...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/jockey-box-alternative.632957/#post-8069205

This is excellent! The cooler idea is good but coolers can get expensive. I like the idea for multiple kegs in a garbage can lol. I really like it. I'd even pull taps from my keezer so I am not dropping $150 on taps for it. I don't know why that thread didn't show up in my search.. thanks!

 

[waldoar15]

I have another kegerator at my cabin. I usually will jump the beer into a clean keg before transporting so it doesn't get murky from the 300 ride in the back of my truck.

 

[FunkedOut]

2 year old under the fridge,
slender Indian woman above it on the stairs,
you get at the bottom of the stairs.
make a family event out of it!

for real:
I’m thinking the cooler with a hole in the lid is it.
I was in the trash can camp until I saw that.

 

[jcav]

This is what I did and here is the post I made awhile back. It works great!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/portable-5-gallon-keg-cooler.637650/


John

 

[darkrabbit]

This is what I did and here is the post I made awhile back. It works great!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/portable-5-gallon-keg-cooler.637650/


John

That's awesome... those coolers are expensive here but it might be worth it if I can keep kegs cool for a few days without having to worry about ice swapping. I'll have to give that some thought. Thanks!

 

[Horseflesh]

Before I had a kegerator I'd drop a keg into a single 10 gal cooler. Yeah, it pokes out the top, but continuing to add ice to the inefficient open cooler may be easier and cheaper than building the tall cooler.

I've also served from a keg on its side in an ice chest. You have to prop it up at an angle to keep the dip tube submerged, and the lid is open a crack to let the gas line in... It's lame, but it does work in a pinch. (helps if the clear beer is freshly transfered from its original keg, or... Serve a hefeweizen.)

Hmm. If you have access to a spare sleeping bag, wrapping a garbage can full of Cornies and ice may get you through a couple of days.

 

[jcav]

That's awesome... those coolers are expensive here but it might be worth it if I can keep kegs cool for a few days without having to worry about ice swapping. I'll have to give that some thought. Thanks!

No problem, if you decide to build one and have any questions don't hesitate to ask away or pm me!

John

 

[redllama]

This is my solution when I want to travel with kegs. Took some excess plywood I had laying around and built an enclosure. Painted the inside with "liquid rubber" (a cheaper flexseal). I later added an insulation panel. If I were to to do it all over again I would make it a touch bigger as once I added the insulation there was less room for ice. I have handles for it but have been too lazy to install them as I haven't had to use it in a while.

Kegs

• redllama
• Feb 23, 2018

keg box

 

[jmcquesten]

I wouldn't rule out the option of just bottling the 2 kegs worth of beer, if you have the ability to bottle from kegs. While this doesn't answer your question, it's still a good option and would be easier to deal with for a short stay. Transporting kegs will shake them up quite a bit causing foam and kicking up any sediment that might have settled, giving you cloudy beer for a couple days while it settles back out (not a huge deal).

Of course the bottles are a hassle, and sometimes you can't have glass bottles (beach, boat, pool, etc), so it's not always a good option.

 

[beerlover77]

What about making a cooler out of this:
https://www.rona.ca/en/plastispan-0510002--1
you could add a drain valve in the bottom and drill small holes for the gas in/liquid out

 

[TheHopfather]

We go back country camping a fair bit in the summer time, my family also has a cabin on a lake, I like to bring homebrew to both of those activities. I've settled on a jockey box setup. I've got a 2 tap jockey box with 75' stainless coils on each tap. This setup pours nice cold beer even when it is really hot outside.

The only downside that I'm not super thrilled with with this setup has to do with serving pressures. With such a long run for the beer from keg to tap you have to really dial up the CO2 pressure to get a good pour. My jockey box pours best set at 25 psi. Considering the beer was carbed at 10~12 psi or so this is a pretty big jump. Not a huge deal if you're going to be crushing a keg in 1 day, but over multiple days you can run into problems. I've ended up with overcarbed beer over a 3 day period, to combat that I've tried shutting off the gas and venting the headspace at night, but you are purging all that delicious aroma in your hoppy beers doing so.

Jockey box isn't a perfect setup, but it sure is nice having multiple kegs of beer out at the lake.

 

[darkrabbit]

Lots of good suggestions. Thanks all.

This is my solution when I want to travel with kegs. Took some excess plywood I had laying around and built an enclosure. Painted the inside with "liquid rubber" (a cheaper flexseal). I later added an insulation panel. If I were to to do it all over again I would make it a touch bigger as once I added the insulation there was less room for ice. I have handles for it but have been too lazy to install them as I haven't had to use it in a while.

Kegs

• redllama
• Feb 23, 2018

keg box

This is one of the things I had considered. I have excess plywood and if I can use the thin stuff it shouldn't be too heavy. I have liquid rubber too, I used it for waterproofing the concrete around my shed.

For something like this I'd even consider leaving it out at the cottage.

What about making a cooler out of this:
https://www.rona.ca/en/plastispan-0510002--1
you could add a drain valve in the bottom and drill small holes for the gas in/liquid out

I'll head to HD or Rona and have a look at the stuff. I have never worked with it so I'll have to see how I could fasten it together and make the joints strong enough to take the weight / pressure of the ice and water.

We go back country camping a fair bit in the summer time, my family also has a cabin on a lake, I like to bring homebrew to both of those activities. I've settled on a jockey box setup. I've got a 2 tap jockey box with 75' stainless coils on each tap. This setup pours nice cold beer even when it is really hot outside.

The only downside that I'm not super thrilled with with this setup has to do with serving pressures. With such a long run for the beer from keg to tap you have to really dial up the CO2 pressure to get a good pour. My jockey box pours best set at 25 psi. Considering the beer was carbed at 10~12 psi or so this is a pretty big jump. Not a huge deal if you're going to be crushing a keg in 1 day, but over multiple days you can run into problems. I've ended up with overcarbed beer over a 3 day period, to combat that I've tried shutting off the gas and venting the headspace at night, but you are purging all that delicious aroma in your hoppy beers doing so.

Jockey box isn't a perfect setup, but it sure is nice having multiple kegs of beer out at the lake.

For sure it's a good setup. My issue is the foaming that could occur due to line temp differences (does this happen?) and jockey boxes are very expensive to make or buy. The copper tubing is killer. For 2 kegs, 150 ft of 1/4 tubing will be $200+ CDN easy. That's not including the fittings. And I still have to find a way over 3 days to keep the kegs cold. JB's are great for 1 day keg crushing for sure, I have BBQ's in the summer that this would be perfect for, but over 3 days it would be tough. What I do like about them is the portability. If I make a big box, it'll be unpleasant to transport. A JB is a cooler plus the kegs. That's it. Easy to move in almost anything with a trunk.

The pressure difference, well, I can deal with bleeding the pressure in the keg at the end of the day, then cranking it back up the next morning. I might lose some aroma but it shouldn't be too bad?

To keep the kegs cool, really, all I need is a garbage can and lake water. That's pretty easy.

I think I may have to actively price out a JB solution in addition to the other options and see where I land.

 

[beerlover77]

I'll head to HD or Rona and have a look at the stuff. I have never worked with it so I'll have to see how I could fasten it together and make the joints strong enough to take the weight / pressure of the ice and water.

They make tubes of adhesive special for this purpose apparently that loads in a caulking gun (I haven't actually used it) and it should be sold right in the same area of the store.

 

[TheHopfather]

For sure it's a good setup. My issue is the foaming that could occur due to line temp differences (does this happen?) and jockey boxes are very expensive to make or buy. The copper tubing is killer. For 2 kegs, 150 ft of 1/4 tubing will be $200+ CDN easy. That's not including the fittings. And I still have to find a way over 3 days to keep the kegs cold. JB's are great for 1 day keg crushing for sure, I have BBQ's in the summer that this would be perfect for, but over 3 days it would be tough. What I do like about them is the portability. If I make a big box, it'll be unpleasant to transport. A JB is a cooler plus the kegs. That's it. Easy to move in almost anything with a trunk.

The pressure difference, well, I can deal with bleeding the pressure in the keg at the end of the day, then cranking it back up the next morning. I might lose some aroma but it shouldn't be too bad?

To keep the kegs cool, really, all I need is a garbage can and lake water. That's pretty easy.

A jockey box doesn't really work like you are picturing. The whole idea of the unit is that you cool the warm beer in the coils inside the cooler. You can leave your beer kegs out in ambient temps and by the time the beer travels through the coils and comes out the taps, it's cold.

I leave my kegs sitting out in the open with nothing to cool them at all, the beer coming out of the taps is ice cold. The biggest challenge with the jockey box over multiple days is keeping the ice from melting inside the cooler. I started with a cheapo cooler and since upgraded it to a 5 day Coleman cooler. The Coleman keeps the ice as ice for at least 3 days, I've never pushed it past that to test how long it will last.

I'm in Canada as well and I priced everything out on my own, and your right, the coils are the killer with a JB. I ended up buying mine completely built, off of eBay, for less than the cost of the coils alone. Here is the link, this particular auction is expired but I'm sure another will pop up soon enough.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Beer-Jocke...ets-2-x70-High-Efficiency-Coils-/191222284513

 

[beerlover77]

A jockey box doesn't really work like you are picturing. The whole idea of the unit is that you cool the warm beer in the coils inside the cooler. You can leave your beer kegs out in ambient temps and by the time the beer travels through the coils and comes out the taps, it's cold.

I leave my kegs sitting out in the open with nothing to cool them at all, the beer coming out of the taps is ice cold. The biggest challenge with the jockey box over multiple days is keeping the ice from melting inside the cooler. I started with a cheapo cooler and since upgraded it to a 5 day Coleman cooler. The Coleman keeps the ice as ice for at least 3 days, I've never pushed it past that to test how long it will last.

I'm in Canada as well and I priced everything out on my own, and your right, the coils are the killer with a JB. I ended up buying mine completely built, off of eBay, for less than the cost of the coils alone. Here is the link, this particular auction is expired but I'm sure another will pop up soon enough.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Beer-Jocke...ets-2-x70-High-Efficiency-Coils-/191222284513

Do you have to crank the pressure on the kegs too due them being warm? If it sits for a couple days that would over carb them no? Excuse my ignorance, I have never used a jockey box.

 

[TheHopfather]

Do you have to crank the pressure on the kegs too due them being warm? If it sits for a couple days that would over carb them no? Excuse my ignorance, I have never used a jockey box.

The beer in the kegs is already carbonated, the increase in pressure has nothing to do with the beer being warm. You have to crank the pressure to serve so that you get a nice pour. It seems counter-intuitive, but with a jockey box you need more pressure to stop a foamy pour at the tap. Most people get a foamy pour with the pressure set at ~12psi and turn the pressure down to try to correct this, when it only makes it worse, then conclude jockey boxes don't work.

My particular jockey box has 2 x 75' stainless steel coils inside plus I run a 6' beer line from the keg to the jockey box, so it is an 81' line the beer is traveling. I get the best pours from my unit when it is set to 25 psi. As I mentioned earlier in the thread this can lead to an overcarbed beer when you leave it set to 25 psi over multiple days. To combat this I turn off the gas at night and vent the headspace, which kind of sucks when you're venting an IPA with all of its delicious aroma.

 

[beerlover77]

Here is a link to my Styrofoam build:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...ortable-travel-kegerator-cooler.338722/page-3