My Wedding Jockey Box Build

For my upcoming wedding we will be serving about 20-30 gallons of homebrew. I wanted a way to serve the beer in a professional and simple manner. I decided a jockey box would be the way to go.
I spent weeks/months researching this project. I want to thank all of those before me that took the time to document their experiences on this subject. More specifically I’d like to thank fall-line. His build, also for a wedding, inspired my cooler choice. Anyway, here is my jockey box:

Parts:

• Coleman Cooler
• 5/16” x 50’ stainless coil, w/connection hardware – qty. 2
• 3" Faucet Shank – qty. 2
• 3" Cooler Coupling – qty. 2
• Beer Faucets – qty. 2
• PVC pipe

Materials/Tools:

• Silicone Sealant
• Painters tape
• Combination square
• Level
• Drill
• 1” Hole saw
• Pencil
• File

Steps:
The basic steps were as follows:

1. Measure and mark where to drill the holes for the shanks/couplings
2. Drill the holes for the shanks/couplings
3. Measure and cut PVC pipe to fit into the holes
4. Insert the PVC pipes into the holes with sealant
5. Install shanks/couplings
6. Connect coils to the shanks/couplings
7. Install faucets

Measure and mark the holes for the shanks/couplings
This was pretty straight-forward. I placed the coils in the cooler to figure out what the best configuration would be. I orderd the left hand and right hand twist coils, so there weren’t many options. I ended up with the following configuration. I would have liked to position the shanks closer together, but oh well… I marked roughly where the holes should go. Using the square and pencil I was able to mark more precisely where to drill.


Drill the holes for the shanks/couplings
This seemed pretty straight-forward at first, having built a kegerator and keezer. However, I quickly realized my markings in the previous step would only be a starting point. Since the markings were on the inside of the cooler, it was difficult to ensure the resulting holes on the outside of the cooler would be at consistent heights. The solution was to drill a pilot hole from the inside through the outside at each location. These holes were not at the same height. Using one of the holes, I used the level to mark the same height at the other location. I then drilled another pilot hole for that location. Then working up through larger diameter drills and the hole saw I was able to achieve level holes.

I got a little squirrelly with the hole saw when drilling the hole on the right. The faucet collar will cover this, so no biggie…


PVC
I got this idea from another build (different website). The idea is that the PVC will be more rigid than the cooler walls when tightening the shanks/couplings. To prepare the PVC I inserted the pipe in each hole and marked where to cut. After cutting each piece I applied the silicon sealant. Then I inserted each piece into the appropriate hole and smoothed out the silicone.




Install shanks/couplings


Connect coils to the shanks/couplings


Install faucets


Action shots to come...

looking good.

Hi looks great! how dose it work? What are the coil connection fittings?

It's working pretty well. I tested it with a warm and cool keg. The cool keg worked better, but the warm one wasn't too bad at the rate I was pouring. I did notice that it took a couple pours to settle in after adjusting the psi. I found that around 30 psi the beers were pouring great!

The link below, shows an image of the coil connections. They screw right onto the shank and coupling.

http://www.kegworks.com/enlargeImage.php?productid=21807&imageid=22069

When you tried the warm keg, did you have a mixture of ice and water over the coils? Ice alone works ok, but with water there's better transfer of heat from the coils.

Looks good!! I myself just got married on April 20th and had 10 gallons of Home Brew and 30 Gallons of Commercial Brew. Let me tell you that was way to much beer! I had 122 guests and granted I also had a full liquor bar but I think I ended up with about 4 gallons of Home Brew left and 20 Gallons of Commercial Brew left. If I had to do it over again I would do 15 gallons of Home Brew and that is it! Congrats BTW!!

stlbeer said:

When you tried the warm keg, did you have a mixture of ice and water over the coils? Ice alone works ok, but with water there's better transfer of heat from the coils.

Click to expand...

I did use a water and ice mixture. I only used two bags of ice and I had to add a lot of water to cover the coils. I think I will use more ice next time. Any suggestion on the ice to water ratio?

Daves69 said:

Looks good!! I myself just got married on April 20th and had 10 gallons of Home Brew and 30 Gallons of Commercial Brew. Let me tell you that was way to much beer! I had 122 guests and granted I also had a full liquor bar but I think I ended up with about 4 gallons of Home Brew left and 20 Gallons of Commercial Brew left. If I had to do it over again I would do 15 gallons of Home Brew and that is it! Congrats BTW!!

Click to expand...

Thanks!
Congrats on your wedding! I am pretty stoked for the big day myself. Thanks for the advice on volumes. We are getting married at a vineyard, and will be serving wine and beer. We are planning on having about 150 guests. I was already thinking of just bringing 20 gal of homebrew and a 7.5 keg of some coors/bud light beer for the weirdos. After hearing your experience I think this would be the better way to go. Thanks!

Looks very nice! I'm working on a similar jockey box. Do you remember where you got your cooler couplings? I am having a hard time finding stainless couplings, did you just go with chrome plated brass? Also, what bore size did you go use in the coupling and the faucet shank?

You should throw some rock salt in there and it should get cooler.

salt for the win.

Hey! Sorry about the delayed response. I got the couplings from Kegworks. I went and looked on their site, but it appears they are no longer available. They were 7/8", as was the faucet shank. I believe they are just chrome plated. They were only $14.
Hope that helps!