Keg parka

[Chris]

Ok, do these things actually work? And how well?

[lethaldog]

More importantly is there really any need, i took one of my kegs out of the fridge that was sitting on about 2*C and drank it with mates and it stayed cold enough all night in the middle of summer..

[Chris]

Fair enough point- that volume of liquid will stay cold quite a while. It's the last bit that will get warm quickly- but you should be too far gone to notice that anyway.

I was thinking about it for 9L kegs only, as they will heat up much faster.

[lethaldog]

An esky with some ice and a bit of cold water i think would be the best option but in saying that ive never tried the parka either just never saw any need for it

[rwh]

I used a wheelie bin. Chilled down three kegs in the fridge, then stood them up in the back of my car with a foam matress wrapped around them, drove down to the holiday house with a bunch of friends, cleaned out the recycling wheelie bin, put in the kegs with about 5 bags of ice, wrapped the outside of the wheelie bin with the foam matress. The whole contraption stayed cold for the whole weekend (or rather that fraction of the weekend that the beer lasted for). I dispensed the beer with one of those CO2 bulb charger things; took four bulbs per keg (which is good because I had a 12 pack of them).

[drsmurto]

There is a brewer here in Adelaide who straps 2 kegs to a sack truck and runs the beer thru a magic box (esky full of ice with metres of beer line sitting in it) and then out of 2 taps on the front of the esky. Even if the keg does warm up slightly its still good. Only issue is that he has to gas it up a bit higher to pour all thru the day.

RWH - did you use a pluto gun with the bin? You have to have pics of that set up for us!

[rwh]

RWH - did you use a pluto gun with the bin?

Yep.

You have to have pics of that set up for us!

Unfortunately, no.

[gregb]

My 9L party keg I wrapped in a beach towel and carried in a shopping bag. Stayed cold till empty. Pluto gun and bulb charger.

Cheers,
Greg

[Ross]

the parkas work great & you can slide your sodastream bottle inside, which makes the whole party keg setup very neat.
for extra cooling you can slip some gel packs inside the sleeve as well.

cheers ross

[Chris]

As far as I know, the magic boxes aren't all that cheap. And most of the suggestions seem to involve bags of ice. At my last oktoberfest, my old fridge had died a few weeks before. I ended up spending $30 on ice to cool 2 kegs. I'm looking to avoid that situation again- or any other that involves buying ice! That stuff isn't cheap!

Thanks for the info Ross. I'll need to order a soda stream adapter from you in the not too distant future, as well as a couple of 9L kegs

[rwh]

I'm looking to avoid that situation again- or any other that involves buying ice! That stuff isn't cheap!

Thanks for the info Ross. I'll need to order a soda stream adapter from you in the not too distant future, as well as a couple of 9L kegs

That stuff aren't cheap!

[Chris]

It sure aren't

But at least it is all re-usable. I'd rather have that $30 to put towards a new keg than blow it on ice. Say no to drugs.

[Chris]

Ross, those keg parkas worked really well. Cold beer for 14 hours. Can't ask for more than that.

The only reason it wasn't longer is because I took them home and stuck them back in the fridge. They were at 11*C by the time I got them home. I'm pretty impressed.

[drsmurto]

Slightly OT but yet another purchase of mine from Ross that i love.

Bought a picnic tap and had the maiden voyage on the weekend. Went around to see a mate do his 1st AG and took a keg of landlord with me with the picnic tap attached. Straight from my kegging fridge so was already chilled and carbed up. Gave it a touch more CO2. Poured a little frothy to start with but calmed down during the course of the day, it was put into a beer fridge to keep it cool-ish. Went home and swapped the keg for the hefeweizen, took that along to a party that night and was a hit.

A keg parka would help if i left it out of the fridge for an extended period but since it has such a large thermal mass it warms up slower than a stubbie does.

Also picked up another 3 kegs making 7 in total so i can age the beers for a few months in the keg prior to drinking.

[Boonie]

Also picked up another 3 kegs making 7 in total so i can age the beers for a few months in the keg prior to drinking.

7 ....now where's that envy emoticon..........this will do

[Chris]

I'm up to 4 x 19L and 4 x 9L now.

And Boonie, try "Mr Green"