Portable Keg Cooler (a.k.a. R2-Beer2)

I purchased a kegerator last year to enjoy cold beer on tap at home. Early this spring, I thought that it would be nice to make it portable for camping, parties, fishing trips, etc. After thinking a bit about hauling a refrigerator around (not to mention the need for electricity) I decided to build a large portable cooler designed to hold the keg and CO2 canister.

I considered constructing a jockey box but that got trumped by wanting a more enclosed system.

I looked around online for some ideas and found a few commercially available insulated coolers starting around $180. Too rich for my blood! in addition, those were typically not set up for a CO2 driven system but more towards a one-night keg killer party with a standard air tap.

As with most of my projects like this that drive my wife crazy, I talked about it for a few weeks, researched on the 'net, and had a fairly detailed plan in my head by the time I started buying materials.

Step 1 Materials

Materials:

1. 55 Gallon Plastic Barrel (used) - $10
2. 30 Gallon Plastic Barrel (used) - $10
3. 4' x 8' x 2" Extruded Polystyrene Insulation - $28
4. Shower Drain + Reducer - $??
5. Misc PVC Fittings and pipe - left over from previous plumbing projects
6. PVC Ball Valve - $??
7. Thermos - $5
8. Casters (4) - $12
9. 4' x 8' x 1/2" Faced Insulation - $9
10. Can of "Great Stuff" - $6
11. 4" x 7/8" Corner Brace (2) - $5
12. Aluminum Tape, spray glue, plywood, screws, etc. - Extra stuff laying about

Grand Total = about $105 (figure $20 for the stuff that I don't recall the price)

Comments

[markherm13]

I am a college student and am looking for a little extra cash so i have been selling shrimp at the flea market and been doing so well i need to upgrade from igloo coolers to something larger. I have found a 35 gallon barrel and a 55 gallon barrel and am trying to make a larger cooler. Do you know of anyway to use the co2 canster to help cool the barrel via co2?

[dafonso]

For shrimp, you'd really want to use regular ice. CO2 can get expensive if you're not buying it in bulk (the beer guys charge about $5/lbs vs $.75/lbs for 100lbs). Also, regulating the expansion is doable, but not really worth the trouble.

Dry ice would probably freeze everything in about an hour.

[glubash]

Theoretically, that could be done by plumbing up some type of an expansion chamber (as the CO2 expands it will absorb some heat) BUT, unless you have a free source of CO2, it would get very expensive. The amount of CO2 that it would take to keep a keg cool would quickly outstrip the cost of keeping things cold with ice. Of course, you could always discharge a CO2 fire extinguisher in there! :) If you are looking for a longer-term solution, the keggerator route may be better. I've seen some pretty reasonable ones on Craigslist (~$125 or so, search for "keg"). Good Luck.

[Ryan_C]

Awesome Job! This is exactly what I was dreaming up, just wasn't sure where to find the 55 gal and 30 gal drums. Where would be a few good spots to try? How long does the ice last out in the sun?

[glubash]

Glad that you like it! I haven't done an outside sun test. Two inches of the extruded polystyrene should give an R-10 insulation factor. The R-factor on the extruded poly is the highest that I could find that was readily available and not prohibitively expensive. The next significant step up gets into very high buck materials or vacuum. Most standard coolers seem to have around 1/2 - 1" or so of insulation and I think the "super" coolers are closer to 2". With the 2" of insulation in this thing and starting out with a cold keg and a full load of ice, I think it will easily last a day in the sun but have yet to try it (have an outing planned in a few months where it will get a full test). As far as finding drums, that took me awhile. I started out with looking on Craigslist and doing a lot of asking around. I did find a businesses that cleans out and recycles drums (they were asking about $25). I posted an add on Craigslist as well and got several responses. I paid $10 for each of my drums. Not sure what the small one had in it but the large one was from a gas station car wash (you could ask there as well). Good luck!

[glubash]

The ice generally will last around 2 days in full sun and 95 degree heat (with the keg getting hit on a regular basis). Better insulation in the lid would increase this. Additionally, I may paint the lid white.

[lemonie]

Ah, ice-cold suds... L