Professional Jockey Box

[DeathBrewer]

I have now "sponsored beer" at a few events and would like a more professional setup for future endeavors. I was thinking of getting this guy:

Ace - Ace Tree: Outdoor Living: Coolers: Coolers: Living Accents Stainless Steel Cooler

I was going to outfit it with stainless lines, stainless taps, nice black and silver tap handles, a large drip tray, and raise the legs so that the taps would be higher.

Just to give you an idea:

Taps: Perlick Faucet Head - Stainless Steel | KegWorks

Tap Handles: Black Pub Style Tap Handle IronTap.com - Kegerators, neon bar signs, more

But looking at the reviews, this cooler is a piece of crap. $200 did sound too good to be true.

Has anyone seen any other reasonably priced stainless coolers on wheels? I'm going to start looking for restaurant supplies on craigslist, but it seems that a "medium sized" cooler is hard to come by.

Seeing as I'm going to be spending a great amount of money on all the stainless stuff and handles, I'd really like to keep the cost to a minimum when picking a cooler/cabinet.

I'd appreciate it if anyone would let me know if you see anything or if you have any ideas.

Thanks,
DB

 

[wildwest450]

Stainless Steel Party Cooler With Caster Wheels - Home / Hardware

No reviews, but if it's powder coated it shouldn't rust away.

 

[airmek]

Here is a similar item with better reviews

Stainless Steel Beverage Cooler : Target

 

[DeathBrewer]

Cool, those look like they would work better. It would be really nice if I could find something that would fit the kegs underneath. Of course, some modification may be in order no matter what.

Looks like I'm going to spend close to $400 just for the stainless lines alone.

 

[Brooklyn-Brewtality]

Cool, those look like they would work better. It would be really nice if I could find something that would fit the kegs underneath. Of course, some modification may be in order no matter what.

Looks like I'm going to spend close to $400 just for the stainless lines alone.

yea, i would look for something that would be easiest to weld in some extra space in the legs to fit the kegs under neath it

that third one looks like you make that mod the easiest

 

[DeathBrewer]

It's looking like a winner. However, I'm not sure about modding for the kegs. It seems kind of counterproductive to buy something with legs and then remove them to mod back on. I might as well just buy something without wheels.



I'm looking at a few local places tonight. My LHBS pointed me in a few directions. So far, however, the Target one is looking the best. Even if I can't fit the kegs, it'd be cool to shield the 3 sides with stainless sheets and just leave the back open, for storage of replacement and cleaning supplies.

 

[Brooklyn-Brewtality]

It's looking like a winner. However, I'm not sure about modding for the kegs. It seems kind of counterproductive to buy something with legs and then remove them to mod back on. I might as well just buy something without wheels.

that's true

I'm looking at a few local places tonight. My LHBS pointed me in a few directions. So far, however, the Target one is looking the best. Even if I can't fit the kegs, it'd be cool to shield the 3 sides with stainless sheets and just leave the back open, for storage of replacement and cleaning supplies.

that would be sick!

 

[airmek]

Dont know what your planning on spending, but this could be an option:

All Terrain Beverage Keg Cart

It should not be too difficult to convert it to 3 cornies. Everything is already there except the 2 other taps and lines.

Or if your the tinkering type, it would not be all that difficult to make one similar to it.

 

[wildwest450]

Go big or go home!
Draw Box for Portable Party Draft Beer

 

[DeathBrewer]

Dont know what your planning on spending, but this could be an option:

All Terrain Beverage Keg Cart

It should not be too difficult to convert it to 3 cornies. Everything is already there except the 2 other taps and lines.

Or if your the tinkering type, it would not be all that difficult to make one similar to it.

:cross:

That looks a little bulky and is far too expensive. If nothing else, I still have the option of building from scratch, so I really don't want to spend any more than $400 on the box.

Although it does look bad-ass for camping and whatnot.

Go big or go home!
Draw Box for Portable Party Draft Beer

A little big, a little cheesy, far too pricey and I want the taps to be self-serving.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Keep 'em coming...unless I find something perfect, I'm going to take my time with this. I don't absolutely need this item until July for my friend's wedding.

 

[airmek]

:cross:

That looks a little bulky and is far too expensive. If nothing else, I still have the option of building from scratch, so I really don't want to spend any more than $400 on the box.

Although it does look bad-ass for camping and whatnot.

Yeah, I figured that would be more than you were willing to spend...I wouldnt shell out that much for it. It is a neat idea though.

But I gotta believe that you can build a replica for at least less than half of what they want for theirs, and you could make it more functional to fit your needs.

 

[DeathBrewer]

So I made some runs around town. I guess the season hasn't started for ice boxes, because everywhere I went won't be getting any "until spring." I did see a black version (non-SS) of this guy at Sports Authority:

It's really tiny and I could see why it got bad reviews. If you took care of it, it would be OK, but I need something solid. I don't want to rebuild this thing in 2 years.

 

[AzironaZack]

A lot of the cheaper stainless steel coolers seem poorly built to me. I think it'd be great if you could find an old coleman steel side ice chest and mod it. Those things last forever! If you don't know what I'm talking about you can see one in this ebay auction: (no affiliation)

VINTAGE GREEN COLEMAN METAL COOLER DIAMOND LOGO MINTY - eBay (item 380108910839 end time Mar-16-09 19:08:00 PDT)

Those ice chests were built to last. Steel construction all around with steel handles and a plastic insert on the inside. You could make it stainless looking by slapping a sheet of stainless steel on the front, or just keep it it green (I like the green, personally).

Good luck. It sounds like a cool project.

Zack

 

[wildwest450]

VINTAGE GREEN COLEMAN METAL COOLER DIAMOND LOGO MINTY - eBay (item 380108910839 end time Mar-16-09 19:08:00 PDT)

I bet that would make a sweet mash tun!!

 

[McSwiggin']

Instead of a jockey box, have you thought of something that would hold the kegs inside? What size kegs are you using (5 gal cornies, 15 gal sankies)? For the money you are talking about spending to mod a jockey box, you could omit the stainless lines and just go with a bigger unit on wheels tha is insulated and holds the kegs inside.

Just a thought...

 

[DeathBrewer]

A bigger box would just result in more ice, more cleaning, more mess. I like the jockey box, the ones we have now work extremely well, and if you keep a keg each of different chemicals lying around, they are extremely easy to clean.

I definitely want something solid, but most of all it needs to look professional. I want people to assume I'm coming from a small commercial brewery.

 

[Matt Up North]

Hey Deathbrewer, I don't know what kind of events you have been sponsoring your beer at, but all of the beer events that I have gone to the breweries are using just a normal jockey box. If you are looking to continue sposoring more or less under the radar, I would keep it simple looking, just a cooler. Plus, Igloo knows exactly how to make a cooler that can keep stuff cool for a long freaking time.

Costco has a 150 qt cooler for $80

 

[DeathBrewer]

I'm mainly doing this for a wedding, but it will be for all events. I don't want a crappy old cooler. I don't care about the other breweries, I want something more "professional caterer" class. I want to be BETTER than the other breweries

If I did use a cooler, it would be this guy:

Ace - Ace Tree: Outdoor Living: Coolers: Coolers: Coleman® Stainless Steel Cooler (6155A707)

But I don't think I could fit 4 taps on that. It IS looking more like I need to get a nice, cooler, tho...and then just build a stand for it.

I dunno, I gotta see this guy in person:

I think that might just work...

 

[bendavanza]

Death
check out this page for some info on jockey boxes
Cold Plate Coolers vs. Coil Coolers
I used to have a 2 coil Jockey box, it takes a lot of pressure, 35-40 psi to dispense through a coil, it has a lot of resistance. It works well, though.
They sell coils and plates, you may find cheaper prices elsewhere.
What about a kegerator on wheels? Is there no where to plug in where you're going?

 

[DeathBrewer]

Death
check out this page for some info on jockey boxes
Cold Plate Coolers vs. Coil Coolers
I used to have a 2 coil Jockey box, it takes a lot of pressure, 35-40 psi to dispense through a coil, it has a lot of resistance. It works well, though.
They sell coils and plates, you may find cheaper prices elsewhere.
What about a kegerator on wheels? Is there no where to plug in where you're going?

I don't want something with the weight of a kegerator and I want to be able to take it anywhere, such as the middle of a stadium, without having to plug it in.

Thanks for the link on coils and plates. I actually have both, but would need to buy two additional coils to complete an all-coil 4-tap setup. Sounds like the plate probably won't work for me during the summer, as most of the kegs will be sitting at 65-70°F.

 

[bendavanza]

wow they also sell a Beirmuncher style rolling dispenser-
Portable Beer Bar
How about a stainless storage cabinet, with the cooler inside, having only taps show on the outside?

 

[DeathBrewer]

Ha! We actually made a 3-tap system recently out of a garbage can that looks alot like those. It works great, but doesn't look very pro

 

[bendavanza]

Death
The coils DO work at warmer temps, the beer is exposed to cold way longer than a plate.
I turned my old jockey box coils into immersion chillers.

 

[bendavanza]

No kidding, see this post https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/biermunchers-rolling-kegerator-byo-published-71719/

 

[DeathBrewer]

Wow. I've never seen that thread. My buddy got the idea from another website. Crazy. Biermuncher's always got cool **** going on.

EDIT: Actually, he probably got it from BYO. How funny...I'll have to tell him it came from here.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Death
The coils DO work at warmer temps, the beer is exposed to cold way longer than a plate.
I turned my old jockey box coils into immersion chillers.

I meant to say plate. Post edited.