Homemade Jockey Box?

[mlsuggs]

Anybody have plans for a homemade jockey box/draft box?

Seems the easiest way to make 5 gal. of kegged beer portable, and I'm looking into them as I ease into kegging, but after spending the $$$ on keg equipment, I'm not keen on spending almost the same amount on something to let me drink my beer at a picnic...

Yes, I'm aware of counter-pressure bottle fillers, and considering going that route as well. Heck, if I want to enter some of a kegged brew in a competition or somesuch, I'll have to... :)

Any info would be appreciated!

[danno]

why not just set a corny or two in a standard chest cooler and fill it with ice? you serve from the bottom, it would stay plenty cool even with half or more of your corny sticking out of the cooler...

[toneyc]

I followed the same route and used my bottling bucket. Stuck a corny in it, filled it with ice, and partied on.

Jockey box design does look pretty straightforward, though. A cooler with a stainless steel chiller coil at least 50' long with inlet and outlet connections. This page has some specifics:

http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/jockey-boxes/process.shtml

And this page has an entire discussion about it:

http://www.valhallabrewing.com/dboard/discus/messages/49/49.html

:)
Toney.

[mlsuggs]

Yeah, just putting the keg "on ice" in a cooler would work, but there's something almost magical about pulling a cold one from a pub-like tap, as opposed to a cobra-head tap. :D

Thanks, Toney, for the links... It does look pretty straightforward, all things considered.

If/when I get one built, I'll have to post pics...

[Payson]

I too was toying with the Jockey box route and wondered about just putting the beloved corney in a trashcan full of ice. What about force carbonation levels though? In other words, if I force carbonate while the keg is cold, allow it to get warm, cool it at the party or whatever, will the level be what it was initially carbonated at? Also, if I force carbonate while it's cold and allow it to get warm, will it reach dangerous levels of carbonation? I guess my basic question is : can I allow them to warm, cool, then warm and cool again? Needless to say, I'm new to kegging and fear losing a batch due to my ignorance.
Thanks and have a safe 4th!

[mlsuggs]

I'd been pondering the same sort of questions, Payson...

How does the warm keg/cold coils difference affect the carbonation level of the beer at the tap?

Is it a viable option to prime the beer and let it carbonate naturally in the keg at room temp (about 68 deg F in my basement), then just use the CO2 to dispense? Does dispensing it colder at the tap than in the keg affect CO2 levels?

These are the things that keep me up nights. :o <yawn>

Would anybody with experience in such matters care to enlighten? Thanks!!

[danno]

Payson, if your keg doesn't have any leaks, it's a closed system and cool/warm/cool temp variances won't have any affect on co2 levels. That said, co2 absorbs into liquid more at lower temperatures, so you won't want to vent your keg when it's warm, or you'll lose all your carbonation. (think about popping a warm soda...) Also, a crash cooling may not reabsorb co2 as fast as it cools... I don't have any science to back that feeling up, just a gut feeling...

mlsuggs, yes, it's perfectly acceptable to prime a keg with sugar and naturally carbonate. The plus side? Ask Richard English. The minus side? sediment, like your bottled beer, and lack of total control of carbonation levels. You make the call... :D

The main thing to remember if you go the jockey box route, there is a definite "hose diameter/hose length/keg pressure" relationship to work out. so if you go with a 50' stainless steel jockey box coil, you'll need to match your serving pressure pretty closely if you want a decent pour...

mlsuggs, if you want a pub pour directly from a corny, why not do something like this? Midwest pic (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/images/kegging/compact-chrome-facuet.jpg)

[mlsuggs]

Danno--

Actually, I'd been looking at those, too. Rather compact setup. :) I'm assuming that one uses the little 12-gram CO2 cartridges for that?

--Michael

[danno]

Yep, here (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/images/kegging/compact-CO2-injector.jpg) .

My dilemma is I can only get one brew toy every so often... Do I go with this setup for portability, or do I go for the digital temp controller.... (not that happy with my dial one...)

[mlsuggs]

OK, next silly question...

Could one use a "regular" CO2 tank (5lb, or whichever) to force-carbonate, then unhook the big tank, haul the keg off to a picnic, and attach the tap & 12-gram CO2 thingy for dispensing? I'm assuming a "yes"...

--Michael

[danno]

you'd just about have to, I don't even want to think how many of those little cartridges it would take to carbonate 5 gallons of beer... I've been told it takes 2-3 of those just to dispense a full corny...