Cooling for outside bar..in summer..with no electricity?

[Metacomet]

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas, suggestions or improvements that can help me out with my keg/tap setup I'm building.
We're having a wedding party at the end of July on a campsite so I need a way to cool my beer down when serving it from kegs/taps. The biggest hurdle is that it's in a field and there is no electricity available.
We've built a basic bar from pallets and a crate. The crate section will hold the 4 kegs with space to spare and the lines will run up to the taps.
We've lined the crate with insulating foam, I'll also wrap the kegs and lines with insulation.

My idea is to have a coolbox inside the crate with lots of ice/water, and run the beer lines through the side and coil it under the icy water. The ice can then be topped up if it starts to get too warm.

Has anyone done anything like this before? How much beer line would I need to run through the cool box to get it cold?

 

[-Bezza-]

If you chill the kegs down to near freezing until the morning and then keep them insulated, by the time it comes to serving they should be a good temperature.

Depending on whose field it is, an alternative might be to dig a hole. The ground temp will be pretty cool compared to ambient temps, so that might useful.

Can't help with the idea you actually have, I'm afraid!

 

[Metacomet]

I doubt I'll be able to chill the kegs down as I arrive on site the day before. Definitely no hole digging :) it's a glamping campsite not just a field.

I did think about putting the kegs into buckets of ice, but thought it would last very long on a hot day, and a closed cool box for the lines should last longer.

 

[-Bezza-]

Could maybe try making an evaporative cooler, on a bigger scale than this:

https://www.wikihow.com/Cool-Beers-Without-a-Fridge#Using_Evaporative_Cooling_sub

How much ice might you have access to? I wonder whether you could get a whole load delivered fresh on the day - some to fill the crate with the kegs in the morning, and a couple of polystyrene boxes for top-ups later in the day.

 

[Metacomet]

The cooler may be a bit much to build, but wrapping the kegs in wet towels couldn't hurt, they are easy to refresh as well.

We've been told we can put som ice in the site owner's freezer, but it would be loads.

 

[connor7932]

a trailer, a freezer on said trailer, bottles of frozen water .done well,it would last a day maybe 2.
freezer could turn into a bar.tow bar needed and trailer,business idea :hat:

 

[IainM]

You could make a jockey box. There are plenty of guides out there on the internet as they are popular in the US.

 

[BarnBrian]

If you chill the kegs down to near freezing until the morning and then keep them insulated, by the time it comes to serving they should be a good temperature.

Depending on whose field it is, an alternative might be to dig a hole. The ground temp will be pretty cool compared to ambient temps, so that might useful.

Can't help with the idea you actually have, I'm afraid!

Ground temperature is around 12 degrees all year round, a hot summers day in Stockport is around 9 degrees, that scuppers that idea.
Ice and lots of it.

 

[Richie_asg1]

Lots of ways possible - proper beer line cooler running off a 12v inverter to a vehicle or leisure batteries / gen set. If it's windy a swamp cooler or wet towels over the kegs would help. Run the lines through a gas fridge that works on propane, Maybe run the lines through a car air conditioning coil? but for simplicity - I would go with the jockey box cooler with the lines in ice. You don't even have to take the ice out of the bags.
Maybe you could freeze some milk cartons and fizzy pop solid and use that too -so when it eventually defrosts you have fresh milk on site too, and something cold for the kids. May be more useful than bags of water.

 

[Hoddy]

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas, suggestions or improvements that can help me out with my keg/tap setup I'm building.
We're having a wedding party at the end of July on a campsite so I need a way to cool my beer down when serving it from kegs/taps. The biggest hurdle is that it's in a field and there is no electricity available.
We've built a basic bar from pallets and a crate. The crate section will hold the 4 kegs with space to spare and the lines will run up to the taps.
We've lined the crate with insulating foam, I'll also wrap the kegs and lines with insulation.

My idea is to have a coolbox inside the crate with lots of ice/water, and run the beer lines through the side and coil it under the icy water. The ice can then be topped up if it starts to get too warm.

Has anyone done anything like this before? How much beer line would I need to run through the cool box to get it cold?

Seriously of its your wedding party the last thing you or anyone else wants to be worried about is fobbing beer and warm lines. Just hire someone in and have done with it. I think you could even just hire in the mobile bar and let people serve themselves or pay for staff.

https://www.poptop.uk.com/stockport/suppliers/catering/mobilebar/

 

[kelper]

A petrol generator could power a kegerator/keezer. You might hire one from a tools company. They are very quiet nowadays.

https://www.hss.com/hire/p/generator-portable-2-6kva-petrol

2.6kVA is about 2kW.

£16.80 for one day plus £7 per extra day is a bargain!

 

[F00b4r]

http://www.eliapplebydonald.co.uk/blog/building-a-party-bar/

She used to post on Jim's a lot but not seen her in a while. She just used water typed up with ice I think. You can also get insulating jackets for the kegs.

 

[Metacomet]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think its definitely a jockey box I need to assemble.
We don't want to have a generator, as even a quite one would be noticeable on the small site.
Hiring a bar is a fall back option, but we're on a very tight budget, and we're very keen on it being a homemade/brewed, hands on affair...and we've already built a bar :)

So I'll try a cooler box with a long length of beer line coiled up, and filled with a few bags of ice (kept in bags) and water. Plus wrapping the kegs in insulation and wet towels. I'll need to give this a test in the coming weeks (fingers crossed for a hot day to try it).
Luckily all the beers are more english style ales and porters so I only need to get the temp down to cellar-ish temp, 10-13c.