nathanvonbeerenstein
Well-Known Member
just thought id chuck up a rundown of my go-to party rig that enables me to take my handy 9 litre keg and serve ice cold beer on tap at parties and the like. havn't come across anything like in in the threads yet, so enjoy! :beer:
low and behold: "The Keg Cube"
being a Uni student, im naturally super tight with my money and as a result have whipped up this nifty, cheap single tap party setup for taking my little 9 litre keg with me to parties, bbq's and the occasional beer pong tournament where bottles simply become a time-wasting inconvenience
this contraption is a step up from a bucket of ice and a picnic tap giving it a slightly less cheapo feel...
all it takes is a bag of ice stuffed in the wall and the keg and this single-tap setup will keep an already chilled 9L party keg cold for up to 6 hours from my experience and serve perfectly chilled liquid gold without foaming like a stray dog with rabies.
the body of this sophisticated piece of technology (a 20L HDPE cube) can be sourced from almost anywhere. you could buy them new from bunnings for almost $20, but since the beer will not actually be coming into contact withe the plastic, its perfectly acceptable, and encouraged, to source one of these from the back of your local chinese takeaway store as they'll often purchase their vinegar and dish washing detergent in bulk in these vessels and discard them once theyre empty. all thats required by you is to cut a hole in the top with a jigsaw to fit the width of your keg and drill or bore a hole for the tap to be mounted in.
while the pictures show a 2.6kg CO2 tank and dual guage regulator setup that is barely portable, a basic CO2 party charger and MFL ball lock QD available at most of the sponsor sites will do just fine when out and about. i personally use the Keg King version with a mini regulator so i dont have to fiddle with the charger's trigger all night or risk having a curious drunked pal try to adjust the serving speed himself. if timed correctly, you should be able to use the pressure thats already within your keg to serve the first two to three quarters of then connect the party charger and only use a single 16gm cartridge.
while im usually not too concerned with exact figures when it comes to serving with this setup, i usually try to keep the pressure at around 6-8psi to serve. but as in most cases, serving pressure differs with different setups as it depends on a variety of factors such as carbonation levels and line length etc
the contoured rope handle was sourced from old nylon rope i had laying around. just drill a hole in the center of each side of the plastic cube, tie knot stoppers on the end of each and away you go!
the plastic beer faucet was purchased from ebay for roughly $3 shipped from hong kong and has a 3/4" BSB thread to fit the standard tap/bung thread on cubes/fermentors and other containers found at hardware stores. they even feature a nifty little metal tip on the faucet that helps get a nice pour
the brass fitting were purchased from the plumbing and gas section at masters for next to nothing. i had to get two brass fittings; the barbed connection and the female to male reducer so that i could connect it to 7 foot long bunnings food grade vinyl beer line. the tubing was secured with ss stepless clamps and the threaded connection with teflon tape for a leak proof seal.
the beerline is wrapped around the keg and ends up being covered in ice when in use so warm lines are never a problem, the beer stays cold right up to the tap.
cheers,
Nathan
low and behold: "The Keg Cube"
being a Uni student, im naturally super tight with my money and as a result have whipped up this nifty, cheap single tap party setup for taking my little 9 litre keg with me to parties, bbq's and the occasional beer pong tournament where bottles simply become a time-wasting inconvenience
this contraption is a step up from a bucket of ice and a picnic tap giving it a slightly less cheapo feel...
all it takes is a bag of ice stuffed in the wall and the keg and this single-tap setup will keep an already chilled 9L party keg cold for up to 6 hours from my experience and serve perfectly chilled liquid gold without foaming like a stray dog with rabies.
(note the pot of heavenly goodness that is DrSmurtos's Landlord AG clone :icon_drool2: )
all the parts (with the exception of the CO2 and keg) can be sourced for free around the home or cheap from your local masters or bunnings for under $10!the body of this sophisticated piece of technology (a 20L HDPE cube) can be sourced from almost anywhere. you could buy them new from bunnings for almost $20, but since the beer will not actually be coming into contact withe the plastic, its perfectly acceptable, and encouraged, to source one of these from the back of your local chinese takeaway store as they'll often purchase their vinegar and dish washing detergent in bulk in these vessels and discard them once theyre empty. all thats required by you is to cut a hole in the top with a jigsaw to fit the width of your keg and drill or bore a hole for the tap to be mounted in.
while the pictures show a 2.6kg CO2 tank and dual guage regulator setup that is barely portable, a basic CO2 party charger and MFL ball lock QD available at most of the sponsor sites will do just fine when out and about. i personally use the Keg King version with a mini regulator so i dont have to fiddle with the charger's trigger all night or risk having a curious drunked pal try to adjust the serving speed himself. if timed correctly, you should be able to use the pressure thats already within your keg to serve the first two to three quarters of then connect the party charger and only use a single 16gm cartridge.
while im usually not too concerned with exact figures when it comes to serving with this setup, i usually try to keep the pressure at around 6-8psi to serve. but as in most cases, serving pressure differs with different setups as it depends on a variety of factors such as carbonation levels and line length etc
the contoured rope handle was sourced from old nylon rope i had laying around. just drill a hole in the center of each side of the plastic cube, tie knot stoppers on the end of each and away you go!
the plastic beer faucet was purchased from ebay for roughly $3 shipped from hong kong and has a 3/4" BSB thread to fit the standard tap/bung thread on cubes/fermentors and other containers found at hardware stores. they even feature a nifty little metal tip on the faucet that helps get a nice pour
the brass fitting were purchased from the plumbing and gas section at masters for next to nothing. i had to get two brass fittings; the barbed connection and the female to male reducer so that i could connect it to 7 foot long bunnings food grade vinyl beer line. the tubing was secured with ss stepless clamps and the threaded connection with teflon tape for a leak proof seal.
the beerline is wrapped around the keg and ends up being covered in ice when in use so warm lines are never a problem, the beer stays cold right up to the tap.
Nathan
