Jockey Box

[johnsonbrew]

I would love to build a 2 tap jockey box and have seen all kinds of designs and materials. I want something "economical" but I also like to have my beer cold. I have seen a 1 pass cold plate on ebay for 25$ but really want a 2 pass. Does anyone have a good hook up or know where reasonably prices cold plates could be purchased.

I have seen DIY self designs made with beverage tubing but it sounds like the down side is that they don't seem to get the beer very cold.

Anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to build my jockey box?

Thanks

 

[eriktlupus]

just make sure that you use stainless steel tubing in the box if you go the diy route. metal of course conduct heat/cold better than plastic, the reason i say SS is that copper will leach in the presence of carbonated products creating a very toxic solution.

i'm not sure how much a 50' run of SS tubing is going for nowadays. but that should be plenty for a 2-3 tap jockeybox. wrap @15-20' of the tubing around a 2 liter size bottle per run. nestle both wrapped coils inside a 20qt cooler and fit with taps through the side.


if you don't care how your junk looks check out the trashcan kegorator.

i's in the project locator under trash-r-ator by biermuncher

 

[johnsonbrew]

If i were building a two tap jockey box, wouldnt I need 2 coils of ss hose. This is where the expense lies and I think I could get a two run cold plate for less than the price of 2 coils. Unless I am not understanding how the cold plat runs, I was assuming a two run plate will allow me to have two seperate kegs connected to the jockey box with 2 taps. I may be misunderstanding of how the whole system works.

 

[bucfanmike]

yes a 2 pass cold plate would run 2 separate beers and should do it cheaper than stainless coil. Just watch ebay for some good cold plate deals.

 

[cntryboy3120]

does it matter the size of the SS coil? like say 3/16 or 1/4 on the inside of the SS coiL,

 

[Malric]

I built a jockey box with a 5 pass cold plate that I bought for $80 in the classifieds section. I have seen a build that uses beer line coiled in ice.

 

[evandena]

I built a jockey box with a 5 pass cold plate that I bought for $80 in the classifieds section. I have seen a build that uses beer line coiled in ice.

View attachment 59654



View attachment 59655

Sorry for the hijack, but just a quick Q:
Do you insulate your kegs at all for use with a cold plate?

 

[Malric]

Nope, I left them sitting at about 70F. The cooler is an igloo extreme that I loaded with 20 LB of ice and kept pouring around 40-45F for about 2.5 days. I really was nervous about pouring multiple beers in line, but the cold plate worked great. I think a major factor was that I lifted the plate off the bottle by about 3 inches using packing foam. It kept the plate off the melt water for the most part. Some people complained that you had to keep packing down the ice, but I never had a problem. The only con was low flow rate.

 

[zman]

Nope, I left them sitting at about 70F. The cooler is an igloo extreme that I loaded with 20 LB of ice and kept pouring around 40-45F for about 2.5 days. I really was nervous about pouring multiple beers in line, but the cold plate worked great. I think a major factor was that I lifted the plate off the bottle by about 3 inches using packing foam. It kept the plate off the melt water for the most part. Some people complained that you had to keep packing down the ice, but I never had a problem. The only con was low flow rate.

why was your flow rate so low? what did you have your psi at? I am building a 4 tap box with a 7 pass plate and will be serving 4 beers at a time at wedding in August. I plan to refrigerate and ice down the kegs before hand

 

[Malric]

I wouldn't say 'so' low, but definately a little low. It didn't help that the kegs were a little under carbed too. I think they were around 10 psi at 70f. They flowed better when I jumped up the serving pressure, but I was worried about over carbing. Not bad for the first try. I would recommend that you test it to feel out the settings.

 

[jblizz]

why was your flow rate so low? what did you have your psi at? I am building a 4 tap box with a 7 pass plate and will be serving 4 beers at a time at wedding in August. I plan to refrigerate and ice down the kegs before hand

Unless it is extremely hot out you should have no problems with 3 of your beers as they can be jumpered for 2 passes each. Your last keg that is getting the single pass should be chilled.

Make sure you run beer through the plate before adding the ice to the box, otherwise you could freeze up any water in the passes creating excessive foam or poor/no flow...

 

[zman]

Unless it is extremely hot out you should have no problems with 3 of your beers as they can be jumpered for 2 passes each. Your last keg that is getting the single pass should be chilled.

Make sure you run beer through the plate before adding the ice to the box, otherwise you could freeze up any water in the passes creating excessive foam or poor/no flow...

I have seen this jumping method mentioned. I am assuming that it is as simple as jumping the ports in an in/out fashion, port 5 in to port 5 out with 6' or so of tubing?

 

[zman]

Sorry for the hijack, but just a quick Q:
Do you insulate your kegs at all for use with a cold plate?

Did you use anything to seal around the insulation where you drilled the holes? I am planning on using Aquarium Sealant

 

[Malric]

I drilled the holes fairly tight and then sealed with a general purpose silicone sealant.

 

[jblizz]

I have seen this jumping method mentioned. I am assuming that it is as simple as jumping the ports in an in/out fashion, port 5 in to port 5 out with 6' or so of tubing?

Yeah 5 or 6" should be enough to jumper them together, just make sure the tube doesn't kink too hard as that could create foam as well.

As for sealing the drilled holes I used shanks on both the back and the front, that way I could disconnect all hoses and keep them in the jockey box.

 

[zman]

Yeah 5 or 6" should be enough to jumper them together, just make sure the tube doesn't kink too hard as that could create foam as well.

As for sealing the drilled holes I used shanks on both the back and the front, that way I could disconnect all hoses and keep them in the jockey box.

I thought about pass through shanks for the back but @ $20/each I decided against them for now.

 

[CidahMastah]

subed

been considering build a jockey box but I plan on going stainless coils or bevseal beer line. Sometime soon I am hoping to try it with the bevseal line on a corny, because it would obviously be really cheap to go that route. Weather it works or not...

Still trying to decide if I want to go cheap and use a cobra tap, or get a chrome faucet (since it won't get used a lot).

 

[zman]

subed

been considering build a jockey box but I plan on going stainless coils or bevseal beer line. Sometime soon I am hoping to try it with the bevseal line on a corny, because it would obviously be really cheap to go that route. Weather it works or not...

Still trying to decide if I want to go cheap and use a cobra tap, or get a chrome faucet (since it won't get used a lot).

I like the SS Coils also but I was not willing to pay $500+ for coils nor did I want to get a boat cooler for 4 taps. The upside is that you can fill the box with Ice water and not have to pre chill the kegs

 

[jblizz]

I thought about pass through shanks for the back but @ $20/each I decided against them for now.

$20 seems kinda steep unless you are supporting your local home brew store... I only paid about $10 each for mine from BeverageFactory's ebay store...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kegco-Beer-...722?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6d9a83da

 

[CidahMastah]

I like the SS Coils also but I was not willing to pay $500+ for coils nor did I want to get a boat cooler for 4 taps. The upside is that you can fill the box with Ice water and not have to pre chill the kegs

Where are you buying your stainless coils??



I am not sure what size coil I would use for this, but I can get 1/2'' 304 stainless in a 50ft coil for $85. That would give me enough for 2-3 taps. I am assuming that stepping down in coil diameter would give a cheaper or at least similar price.

That said I assume that the cooler would have to be larger pending on the size of the coils. But I am not looking to make a 4 tap either, because it would take a ton of ice. I have also heard you need to drain the coolers when you have a chill plate, and not let water build up (so you need more ice)

 

[CidahMastah]

for example:

http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Coiled-to-customers-request-035-304304L-Coiled-Tubing_p_30.html

3/8'' OD x 10'' coil @ 50 ft = $59.49

Cut that in half and you have 2 coils at 25' each for two taps

 

[zman]

for example:

http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Coiled-to-customers-request-035-304304L-Coiled-Tubing_p_30.html

3/8'' OD x 10'' coil @ 50 ft = $59.49

Cut that in half and you have 2 coils at 25' each for two taps

I thought that 50' was the required minimum if using coil? That is a good deal but you have to get the additional parts and fittings to make it work for a Jockey box. Personally I am happy using the cold plate option

 

[CidahMastah]

I thought that 50' was the required minimum if using coil? That is a good deal but you have to get the additional parts and fittings to make it work for a Jockey box. Personally I am happy using the cold plate option

it very well might be. I haven't fully searched out all the parts (or found really good build specs on one yet). This is on a "definite maybe" list for me this summer. Part of me want to just go the trasherator route.

There seem to be 1000 ways to build them too. If you want to buy all the fancy hardware, or go the route of oversized tubing and hose clamps etc.

I have these 30Gallon poly containers that cost around $40 or so and they would be perfect for putting a single corney in and taping the wall. Lots to consider! I would thing the trasherators are certainly less portable.

 

[zman]

it very well might be. I haven't fully searched out all the parts (or found really good build specs on one yet). This is on a "definite maybe" list for me this summer. Part of me want to just go the trasherator route.

There seem to be 1000 ways to build them too. If you want to buy all the fancy hardware, or go the route of oversized tubing and hose clamps etc.

I have these 30Gallon poly containers that cost around $40 or so and they would be perfect for putting a single corney in and taping the wall. Lots to consider! I would thing the trasherators are certainly less portable.

I have quite a few events that I am catering the beer for this year so I decided that a jockey box build was in order. I got a really good deal on a 7 product plate and presently my build has 4 taps but I could expand to 6 or 7 at some point. There are tons of ways to construct them and I have been reading just about all of them. My main issue now is whether I was do add pass through shanks to the back or just drill holes for the "Beer In". 4 shanks are $80 so it looks like I might just go with the former.

I did not go all that fancy. I got 50' of 3/16 bev tubing from micromatic and will be using it throughout. I am going with the Red 5/16 tubing for the gas lines.

 

[bucfanmike]

zman, here is how i passed my hoses through, i didnt spend the money on bulkheads.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-new-jockey-box-302897/

 

[Malric]

Very nice bucfanmike! I opted to seal them with silicone to reduce temperature change. It should be simple to remove them when needed. When I have to redo it, I'll probably put in disconnects.

 

[johnsonbrew]

I have a question about ice and the cold plate. I have seen where people suggest keeping the plate out of the melted wather by setting it on something. I was wondering if I could rest the cold plate on a block of ice and then use crushed ice around the block and the cold plate. Would this work?

 

[homebrewbeliever]

I have a question about ice and the cold plate. I have seen where people suggest keeping the plate out of the melted water by setting it on something. I was wondering if I could rest the cold plate on a block of ice and then use crushed ice around the block and the cold plate. Would this work?

I'd like to bump this thread and know the answer to this... has anyone tried it???

 

[Malric]

You probably could. I used temporary styrofoam blocks to lift the cold plate and poured 20lb of ice over the top. By the end of the weekend, the cold plate was sitting in water, with ice still on top. I didn't notice any loss of cooling.

 

[homebrewbeliever]

You probably could. I used temporary styrofoam blocks to lift the cold plate and poured 20lb of ice over the top. By the end of the weekend, the cold plate was sitting in water, with ice still on top. I didn't notice any loss of cooling.

Sounds good... if your chill plate was sitting in water and it worked fine, why do people say that you should leave the chill plate with just ice on it and let the water drain off?