Keeping A Keg Cold?

[mandaloril]

Hey any thought as to how one would keep a keg full of tasty brew cold enough to drink? Keep in mind I don't have a refrigerator or funds or space to put one... I was thinking insulated box with ice (in soda bottles) to keep it cool but I don't know how effective this would be. any advice hints or experience gladly welcomed

 

[tonydav]

Or a wonder box. Then you don't have to worry about the temp of the keg. You can make one your self with copper tubing and would just need a gun and some discos (and a keg of course.

Or get 11L kegs and use an esky.

Or make your own "esky" out of a 44gal drum.

S'pose it really depends on how much work you want to go to, and how handy you are at building things. Personally I'd bit the bullet and pick up a little fridge.

tony

 

[Lufah]

check here. http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/hsh/
You might be able to find something real cheap.

Travis

 

[sluggerdog]

I bought a bin from bunnings that was a perfect size for the 18litre kegs, with 2 bags of ice around it, kept cold all night at a party in the middle of summer...


Not a standard bin, it was a little taller and thinner, about $15-20 from memory

 

[Snow]

If it's just for temporary use, then I would suggest a simple solution. I took 2 kegs to a mate's 40th birthday party the other day and just put them both in an esky, standing up, with 2 bags of ice around them. A soda straem bottle for the gas and a pluto gun for the beer, and everyone enjoyed cold beer all night, until both kegs were finished. As the beer is drawn up from the bottom, the beer has time to cool between pints. Bear in mind that both kegs were chilled in a fridge before I took them to the party, but it went for 12 hours and they were cold to the last pint. If you were starting off with hot kegs, you'd want more ice.

- Snow

 

[mandaloril]

Well this is definitly long term, I need something to keep them cool indefinitly. I was hoping somone had the knowhow to modify either an existing little fridge with the cooling element as the freezer type or an air-conditioner. I'm pretty good at building things but I'd like at least an idea of what i'm going to encounter along the way.

 

[Lufah]

Take a look at this. It's a 4MB powerpoint on doing a small fridge.
ftp://eop:[email protected]/Kegerator.ppt

More links....
http://www.laughingass.com/photos/Build%20...%20Patient.html
http://www.chaddickerson.com/gallery/kegerator
http://mikebillings.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_album.php
http://photos.yahoo.com/robertsperry

Or make a Son of Ferm Chiller
http://home.elp.rr.com/brewbeer/chiller/chiller.PDF

I've never made one, but from what I've read they work great.

Travis

 

[ozbrewer]

if your a clever little fella, you can make your self a little fridge quite easy all you need is a insulated box, some copper pipe, a pump and a fan..

Basically you run some copper pipe through the inside of the box, run through a pump, pump pushes cold water around the copper, fan is used for air flow....the draw back is you need to somehow keep the water cold enough......

The easy option is to look in the trading post, local paper for a old fridge/freezer.

 

[kwikkwaka]

Hi, um excuse my ignorance but why do u have to get the keg cold? Couldnt you run the line from the keg to the gun/tap through an ice bath and cool the beer that way? I have never tried this but it might be a cheap solution to your problem unless ofcourse someone knows a reason why it cant be done. Anyway good luck with it.

Cheers

 

[mandaloril]

I've never tried that either, and was wondering how that affects the head on the beer, and how it effects carbonation of the beer if I can't get the keg cold while carbonating?

 

[Lufah]

Hi, um excuse my ignorance but why do u have to get the keg cold? Couldnt you run the line from the keg to the gun/tap through an ice bath and cool the beer that way? I have never tried this but it might be a cheap solution to your problem unless ofcourse someone knows a reason why it cant be done. Anyway good luck with it.

Cheers

[post="67554"][/post]​

Something like this?

http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16404
:beer:

Travis