Small Jockey Box

[meschaefer]

I am providing ten gallons of a single beer to an event with a good number of people. After reading countless threads on the matter, I have decided on biding a small jockey box, single tap, with a 120 ft of SS coil. I want the coil large enough to be able to handle a near constant flow of beer, from a room temp keg.

I am intending to use a Perlick 525 faucet, and was thinking of using a small round igloo cooler. I have an extra 10 gallon, that I was going to use as a mashtun for 5 gallon batches, but since I never do 5 gallons I have never used it.

Instead of lugging around a 5lb CO2 tank, I see some using 20oz paintball tanks. Is there enough CO2 and pressure in those tanks to keep up with a good demand on two 5 gallon kegs? My understanding, is that I need a good amount of pressure to push beer through 120ft. of coil. These would be really nice, as they are a lot easier to lug around.

I am also looking for the best price I can on the SS Coil. The best price I can find is $168 from wholesaledraft.com, but not being familiar with them i am a little learly when everyone else is over $200 on the coil.

Any help would be appreciated.

matt

 

[IrregularPulse]

The easiest and cheapest would be to put the keg in ice and use these. The beer is always drawn from the bottom of the keg, so you really only need ice half way up max. Make sure the beer is carbed first with your 5 pounder. I dispense a 3G with just over 1 12 gram cartridge, and that was with way over bursting it the first time I needed it. I'd say 5-6 would easily dispense 10G. The only I bought came with a box of 12.

 

[meschaefer]

The easiest and cheapest would be to put the keg in ice and use these. The beer is always drawn from the bottom of the keg, so you really only need ice half way up max. Make sure the beer is carbed first with your 5 pounder. I dispense a 3G with just over 1 12 gram cartridge, and that was with way over bursting it the first time I needed it. I'd say 5-6 would easily dispense 10G. The only I bought came with a box of 12.

Thanks, but that's not going to work for this particular situation. Beer will be served by bartender, and the last thing I need is to have them is constantly changing the 12gram Co2 Cartridges. If the 20oz Cannisters are any good, I am willing to give them a go, but if there is any issue with them I will just fall back on my 5lb tank.

In regard to chilling the beer, I will not have the means or the opportunity to pre-chill the kegs. Nor will, throwing the kegs into an ice bath (my usual MO) really fly at this event.

 

[gnef]

Have you thought about using a cold plate instead of the stainless coil? It will be significantly cheaper.

If you are concerned about being able to pull from it constantly, what you can do is get a two-pass plate, and link the two passes in series so the beer flows through the plate twice. This should ensure that the beer chills down to the correct temperature.

I've never daisy chained my cold plates, and I've been fine in all my uses with them (I have 4 jockey boxes ranging from 2 taps to 11 taps). I do use ice blocks that I freeze rather than the reddi ice you get at the store, and that could contribute to the good heat exchange.

 

[meschaefer]

I have been looking into the cold plate idea as well, but everything I looked at seemed to point to me being better off with a coil. I figure I will need to be able to pull 2 in succession, every 5-10 minutes or so.

The other issue, I have with the cold plates are that they need ice and not ice water. I have seen a couple of places that recommend that the cooler continually drain to keep water out of it. Not only, would that be a problem in this particular instance but doesn't ice water allow for a better thermal exchange?

I am not completely scarred of the expense, but then again I have better things to spend it on if I can get something that will meet my needs for less.

I do notice that most of the places I normally by Kegging equipment from, sell cold plates and not coils, perhaps this should be telling me something?

How big is a two pass plate?

Have you thought about using a cold plate instead of the stainless coil? It will be significantly cheaper.

If you are concerned about being able to pull from it constantly, what you can do is get a two-pass plate, and link the two passes in series so the beer flows through the plate twice. This should ensure that the beer chills down to the correct temperature.

I've never daisy chained my cold plates, and I've been fine in all my uses with them (I have 4 jockey boxes ranging from 2 taps to 11 taps). I do use ice blocks that I freeze rather than the reddi ice you get at the store, and that could contribute to the good heat exchange.

 

[gnef]

You can get cold plates in any size, just about. The cheapest ones are 8x10, I believe. If you want better cooling efficiency, you can go for a 10x14 plate, or even larger if they are available.

The ones designed for constant cooling of multiple lines are very wide and long, but for a two-pass, you don't need to go that extreme.

The reason why ice only and not ice water is a better thermal exchange is due to the temperature differential being the main driving force to the cooling efficiency. The ice you normally use is significantly colder than OC, but ice water is by definition only able to be 0C. By having only ice (especially a block of ice with full surface area in contact), you increase the temperature differential which increases the rate at which heat is exchanged.

I only use ice blocks for my jockey box setups, if that is any indication of what my experience says of that. I use my jockey boxes on average once a month, usually serving 5 beverages to roughly 80-100 people.

I also have done weddings, for myself last year, and for friends. At my wedding I had 25 faucets flowing, all through jockey boxes (I had to borrow two in order to get up to 25). I have done other weddings, with just 5, all the way to 13. I have never had issues with keeping the beers cold through the cold plates when using ice blocks.

I keep my ice blocks cheap - I just use 8x10 baking pans, and keep a ready supply. I also use the ice blocks for when I whirlpool immersion chill (usually takes about 3 blocks to go from the 80s down to mid 60s for a 10 gallon batch).

 

[akthor]

You could build a rolling trashcan kegerator that will hold 3 - 5 gallon kegs for a lot less money than you plan on spending for the jockey box setup and the trash can kegerator would be wayyyyyyy cooler

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/trashcan-kegerator-180350/

 

[bendavanza]

Pushing beer through a jockey box coil at any decent rate takes much higher pressure than through a normal beer line or through a straight connected faucet. Like 3-4 times the pressure. I found the jockey box to be a PITA, personally. But if you really want a coil I have a nice SS appx 50' 5/16 OD I'd sell you for less than what you've been looking at.

 

[meschaefer]

I think you may have talked me down from the SS Coil, and into cold plate. This will also alleviate the concern of having to use an insane pressure to push the beer. While I expect to go through the kegs in an afternoon for this event, during Thanksgiving I usually have the beer on tap for a few days and such a large pressure would screw with carbonation levels.

A quick look at micromatic, has them in a number of sizes. I think I will pick up a larger one than I need (one product) so that I can build a larger box if the mood hits me. I usually bring two types of beer when I travel, although I am bringing only one this time.

I will look around this weekend for the perfect cooler, and get the biggest plate I can fit in it.

You can get cold plates in any size, just about. The cheapest ones are 8x10, I believe. If you want better cooling efficiency, you can go for a 10x14 plate, or even larger if they are available.

The ones designed for constant cooling of multiple lines are very wide and long, but for a two-pass, you don't need to go that extreme.

The reason why ice only and not ice water is a better thermal exchange is due to the temperature differential being the main driving force to the cooling efficiency. The ice you normally use is significantly colder than OC, but ice water is by definition only able to be 0C. By having only ice (especially a block of ice with full surface area in contact), you increase the temperature differential which increases the rate at which heat is exchanged.

I only use ice blocks for my jockey box setups, if that is any indication of what my experience says of that. I use my jockey boxes on average once a month, usually serving 5 beverages to roughly 80-100 people.

I also have done weddings, for myself last year, and for friends. At my wedding I had 25 faucets flowing, all through jockey boxes (I had to borrow two in order to get up to 25). I have done other weddings, with just 5, all the way to 13. I have never had issues with keeping the beers cold through the cold plates when using ice blocks.

I keep my ice blocks cheap - I just use 8x10 baking pans, and keep a ready supply. I also use the ice blocks for when I whirlpool immersion chill (usually takes about 3 blocks to go from the 80s down to mid 60s for a 10 gallon batch).