Setting Up A Campsite Keg System

[SJW]

So, when we go away camping I want to take a 19L keg with me. I have a C02 charger and a little plastic tap but my question is, whats the best way to keep the keg cold? I could stand the keg in a bucket of ice but that will be a pain filling with ice every day. I figure I only need to keep the bottom 1/3 cold as thats where the beer is drawn from, but I dont want it to get too warm as the co2 will start to come out of solution.
What about using a little dry ice and insulating the keg so it does not freeze the beer?
Any ideas would be great.

Steve

 

[Phoney]

Only way I can think of is to get a techni ice esky big enough to fit the keg laying down, once it's iced up and cool, take it out, put a keg parka on, slide in some ice bricks between the parka and the keg and stick it in the shade. unless it's a stinking hot day it should keep cold for the rest of the day.


I have a 50L waeco fridge in the back of my van, fits 9L kegs in perfectly. My car has beer on tap :beerbang:

 

[black_labb]

What about a flexible esky bag type thing similar to those 100 can coolers. If you get some cheap enough you could use one for the bottom with the ice and one upside down over the top with holes cut in it for the tap and co2. attach them together with some stick on velcro or just duct tape. They won't keep as cool as a proper esky but they'll work.

What about getting ahold of some polypin containers for some cask ale while camping. they should fit into a normal esky.


another tip while camping is to freeze some food for your last days and use the frozen food as ice bricks so by the time the last days have come around they have defrosted. Saves space in the esky an saves buying ice.

 

[kymba]

too easy...

 

[donburke]

What about a flexible esky bag type thing similar to those 100 can coolers. If you get some cheap enough you could use one for the bottom with the ice and one upside down over the top with holes cut in it for the tap and co2. attach them together with some stick on velcro or just duct tape. They won't keep as cool as a proper esky but they'll work.

What about getting ahold of some polypin containers for some cask ale while camping. they should fit into a normal esky.


another tip while camping is to freeze some food for your last days and use the frozen food as ice bricks so by the time the last days have come around they have defrosted. Saves space in the esky an saves buying ice.

get yourself one of those 23 litre all stainless kegs, like picture here

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-x-23-Litre-St...=item4abb9533db

they fit perfectly in one of those round rubbermaid coolers (or variations thereof)

a brumby tap fits straight through the existing tap hole, and if you get a small reg and soda stream bottle, it too will fit in the cooler

it will keep for days with a cool keg and some ice going in, because you wont be opening it, and as we know, if its not opened, it will stay cool longer

 

[brad81]

So just make sure kymba goes camping with you every time!

Looks the goods

 

[drsmurto]

I supply the beer for the annual boys camping trip at the end of this month.

In the past it was kegs with picnic taps and a small fire extingusiher for the gas.

This year we have upgraded one of the picnic taps setups to the red one on the right of this pic. Hoping to take the one of the left too (belongs to Raven).

Also bought keg chargers and did a local bulk buy on bulbs reducing the cost per bulb to $1.47. Saves messing about with gas bottles/regs etc

We take a massive techi ice esky which we fill full of ice just before we arrive and it lasts the 5 days easily. Each morning i empty the water out of the keg and add ice, it lasts the day.

This year we will have 4 kegs of beer (2 x golden ale, 1 x german pils and 1 more when i pull my finger out and actually brew it), 1 keg of scotch and coke (homemade scotch/water plus a soda stream cola flavouring) and a keg of black russian (homemade vodka and kahlua, water and soda stream cola) :huh:

EDIT - no power on our camping trip and generators are banned so ice is the only way to cool.

 

[Spork]

too easy...

View attachment 56929

Hey Kymba - what are your plans for the couple of weeks before xmas this year? I want to invite you to a camping trip...

 

[stakka82]

Just a question with portable keg chargers - is one 16gm bulb enough to charge a whole 9l keg?

If so is it as simple as charging the keg and then serving until keg's end?

 

[Phoney]

Just a question with portable keg chargers - is one 16gm bulb enough to charge a whole 9l keg?

If so is it as simple as charging the keg and then serving until keg's end?

enough to dispense a 9L keg, and only just.

 

[SJW]

Just a question with portable keg chargers - is one 16gm bulb enough to charge a whole 9l keg?

If so is it as simple as charging the keg and then serving until keg's end?

My understanding is it wont carbonate up a keg, but I plan on using just enough pressure to pour the pre carbonated beer. Not sure how many litres of co2 are in those little suckers, but I am guessing I would need a couple to dispense one full keg.

 

[MattC]

Would love more info on these. Where to get them or how to make them. Materials etc?? Please??

I supply the beer for the annual boys camping trip at the end of this month.

In the past it was kegs with picnic taps and a small fire extingusiher for the gas.

This year we have upgraded one of the picnic taps setups to the red one on the right of this pic. Hoping to take the one of the left too (belongs to Raven).

Also bought keg chargers and did a local bulk buy on bulbs reducing the cost per bulb to $1.47. Saves messing about with gas bottles/regs etc

We take a massive techi ice esky which we fill full of ice just before we arrive and it lasts the 5 days easily. Each morning i empty the water out of the keg and add ice, it lasts the day.

This year we will have 4 kegs of beer (2 x golden ale, 1 x german pils and 1 more when i pull my finger out and actually brew it), 1 keg of scotch and coke (homemade scotch/water plus a soda stream cola flavouring) and a keg of black russian (homemade vodka and kahlua, water and soda stream cola) :huh:

EDIT - no power on our camping trip and generators are banned so ice is the only way to cool.

 

[drsmurto]

A 16g bulb 'should' dispense one fully carbonated 19L keg.

That said i am taking a pack of 30 just in case one of the (other) drunken yobbos decides to feck about with the keg charger and waste a bulb or 7. In the past i have had to open a keg and pour it into a bucket then 'dispense' that into glasses after the gas ran out. Hopefully by allowing for 5 bulbs per keg i have that issue covered! The mates went through 4 bulbs dispensing 1 x 9L keg recently after i crashed. Only found out recently they wasting them by trying to inhale the bulb like you would N2O......

The 'portakegs' in the photo are made from 300mm stormwater pipe with a base fixed to it that is watertight. The lid is wood and has a hinge on the back to flip open. The taps are very cheap flow control jobbies.

I am a DIY tool tard so the only thing i did was spray paint mine red and stain the wooden top, the rest was done by Raven19 whose baby shit brown coloured portakeg is the one on the left :lol:

The information on the building/pimping of these portakegs can be found on the BrewAdelaide forum - Link

From memory there are more than 10 of them locally after one of the brewers got his hands on a large amount of stormwater pipe. If you peruse pictures of the recent case swaps you will see a line of these things.

 

[stakka82]

Thanks guys. I was aware that the keg needed to be carbonated first, but didn't know if you needed just the one bulb or more than one to dispense the full 9l.

Dr Smurto, you mentioned a bulk cartridge buy, what was the supplier and how many were needed to bring the price down to $1.50?

 

[drsmurto]

Thanks guys. I was aware that the keg needed to be carbonated first, but didn't know if you needed just the one bulb or more than one to dispense the full 9l.

Dr Smurto, you mentioned a bulk cartridge buy, what was the supplier and how many were needed to bring the price down to $1.50?

Boxes of 300 and company is called finewhip. 300 food grade is $439.95 with free delivery ($1.47/bulb), 10 of us went in so a box of 30 cost us $44 each.

For those wanting to save even more coin, 300 non food grade is $349.95 with free delivery ($1.17/bulb). I've used the non food grade in the past but for an extra 30c we decided to go the safer option.

 

[stakka82]

Ah, thanks for the info.

300 is quite a few and I wouldn't have anyone else to split with, so I think I'll just pick them up from Keg King - 1.95 for singles. Can't wait to get the 9L out and about.

 

[stevemc32]

If you follow the link provided by DrSmurto and browse around it looks like they actually sell lots of 30 for $45 plus shipping now so no need for a group buy.

 

[dent]

I use a Diemen cylinder for portable applications - since you can get regulators so cheap nowadays I find it a bit of a false economy going for the bulb chargers. The cylinders are about $100 to buy retail and $15 to swap for gas at your LHBS. Working out how many bulbs that cylinder is equivalent to is left as an exercise for the reader.

 

[kegs23]

heres my 19L keg set up and my 9L kegs set up

 

[Batz]

I can't find the pic or thread, but Florian puts a 19lt keg in a foam box from the green grocers. Like a broccoli box, he duct tapes up the lid, it's filled with ice and lasts a couple of days. Brilliant! Oh and free!