15 replies to this topic

[chuck_d]

I am serving two nights in a row for this wedding with three beers pouring at any time. I've got a 3-tap SS coil jockey box. I'm just trying to put together a list of non-obvious parts that I should bring along in case of issues, or for maintenance.- Spare beer gas tank (running G mix 75/25), in case of a leak, got two new tanks yesterday- CO2 tank, to pressurize the unfinished kegs over night, bleed of the G mix, pressurize with CO2 properly for over night storage- Spare gas line in case of leak- Spare beer line in case of leak- keg of cleaning solution (will flush in the morning, once the ice has melted and we've sobered up, don't want to freeze the cleaning solution)- 2 buckets- Paper Towels galore- teflon tape for gas repairs- faucet wrench- regular wrench- CO2 & Partial Pressure charts - so i don't make a math mistake in my headAight, what am i forgetting.

[MtnBrewer]

Spare taps?

[chuck_d]

Spare taps?

Right, faucets you mean? Good catch. I have some standard faucets lying around so I should just toss them in the list. This jockey box is going to feature 2 Perlicks and a Ventmatic.My spare gas lines & beer lines are going to include the appropriate QDs, I'm testing everything tonight and tomorrow, but you never know when a leak might happen. I'm sort of a little panicy about this weekend. Lots of firsts for me. First time using a jockey box, first time my beer is being featured in a 120+ person party, first time having someone else serve my beer (caterers).

[MtnBrewer]

Yes, faucets is what I meant. Good luck...hope it all goes smoothly.

[ncbeerbrewer]

Right, faucets you mean? Good catch. I have some standard faucets lying around so I should just toss them in the list. This jockey box is going to feature 2 Perlicks and a Ventmatic.My spare gas lines & beer lines are going to include the appropriate QDs, I'm testing everything tonight and tomorrow, but you never know when a leak might happen. I'm sort of a little panicy about this weekend. Lots of firsts for me. First time using a jockey box, first time my beer is being featured in a 120+ person party, first time having someone else serve my beer (caterers).

Chuck,You will do fine with it all I am sure. I served 7 of my beers in June at my buddies wedding, no Jockey Box just picnic taps and kegs and caterers served them as well. There were around 150 guests for mine and while it started off with many questions from the caterers it went smooth for the night. I just got a compliment today about a few of the beers that I served as well. I felt like you, nervous and just wanting it all to go smoothly. I am sure your Jockey Box will pour nicely and your beers will be a hit. Just relax and enjoy the spotlight you know what you are doing!!Mike

[chuck_d]

Thanks guys. Fear of the unknown you know... at least I'm not getting hitched.

[gumballhead]

Thanks guys. Fear of the unknown you know... at least I'm not getting hitched.

Friends wedding + open bar \ your own Homebrew + Beer Goggles, can = long lasting side effects. never leave your wing Man. and you'll be fine.

[chuck_d]

Friends wedding + open bar \ your own Homebrew + Beer Goggles, can = long lasting side effects. never leave your wing Man. and you'll be fine.

Haha, my friend's nickname is actually Goose. Long story short... My housemate in college was kind of clueless, misheard his name on the first day of water polo practice and actually thought his parents really named him Goose. It stuck like glue. I'm actually trying to write that story into my toast...

[TAPPER]

Any tools needed for repair (wrench, socket set, cutting tool, etc.)Spare posts, poppets, o-ringsExtra QD'sHose clampsSpare regulator(s)Spare faucets (already mentioned - or at least replacement parts for the faucets)Nylon washers (if you're using 1/4" MFL nut & stems)I went through this recently for a friend's wedding. 10 beers on tap, rotating 5 others in throughout the day. The biggest concern I think you have is a gas leak. Check everything, check it again, and check it throughout the event.Basically have an extra of everything you're bringing to the party and you'll be just fine.

[chuck_d]

Screw driver... basically I decided to just take my whole tool box and not try to select out of that box. That's just asking to make an error.The tubing cutter is clutch too, I'll just toss my beer & gas line coils into the car.It turns out I actually have an extra Perlick lying around so I'll take that as backup instead of a standard faucet.I built a little gasline QD T. In case for some reason my manifold just straight won't work I can at least split the gas inline and still pour two beers. I suppose I can crank up my CO2 tank also for the third beer (I only have one nitro regulator).Turns out my wine cooler went nuts and froze my lager. I wonder how long 11 gallons of beer takes to thaw. The stupid thing only has a setting down to 45*F, but it froze my beer. I'll keg and carbonate that tomorrow when it's hopefully thawed out. If there is still ice in there well this beer is suddenly something different, people are gonna get drunk.EDIT: LEAK DETECTOR. I almost forgot to pack this.

Edited by chuck_d, 12 August 2009 - 10:30 PM.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

So has this event happened yet? How'd it go??

[chuck_d]

So has this event happened yet? How'd it go??

Yeah, it happened yesterday and the day before, just got home about 2 hours ago. I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out. It was a lot of work but it was great. It took almost 2 hours to load the car, living in a 4th floor walkup makes that a serious workout. I brought 11 kegs of beer, 1 keg of Saniclean, 2 beer gas tanks and a 10 lb CO2 tank. The leak detector was clutch to have. I had tested everything for leaks before leaving, but I think in the trip up my gas manifold got knocked or something. When I hooked it up I could hear a little leak, slapped some leak detector all over it and found the two points that were leaking. I basically unscrewed the barbs from the valves, retaped them with teflon tape, reassembled and retested. It took all of 5-10 minutes max to fix that. We had 3 beers for the rehearsal dinner, American Amber that's still got the Cenntenial dry hops in the keg after like 6 weeks, a Kolsch, and British Ale. The bride's mom asked me how I got so much flavor into the beer. I was like, "Um, malt, hops and yeast." She was amazed, she thought I had added saffron or other spices. At the reception we had 3 different beers, a German Lager, an American Wheat and and American Brown Ale, close to a porter with some nice roastiness. Every time I introduced myself to someone new they were like, "Oh, the beer guy, this stuff is amazing." Which is a great ego boost, but I was happier about the people who were saying that behind my back to others, having not met me yet. They might just be saying that to my face to be kind to me, but when they are telling other people then you know they like it for real. It wasn't just BMCers either who were impressed. The groom's family is from Cali, and some of them are self-described beer snobs and into the craft scene out there and they were thrilled with my beers.In preparing for this I started to appreciate why the Brewers Association needed to publish the Draught Beer Quality Manual. After this weekend, I get it fully. After we setup the jockey box and kegs, my boy and I showered up to get ready for the pictures, then we were in the library doing some casual shots and we look out the window and see the caterer moving my jockey box and we're like, oh no. Anyways, they move it, hook it up while we're out at Tanglewood doing the official photos, we come back and the guests are mostly all arrived and drinking some beers. I go up to the bar tenders and they ask which beer is which. So I crawl under the table in my brand new suit to see how they hooked up the kegs, tell them. But even an hour later when I'm getting another beer and I ask for the wheat she's like, "Which one is that again?" and points to the left two taps. She and the other tender were disagreeing about which was the lager and which was the wheat. So who knows which beers people really liked when they came up and said which they liked most.My toast at the rehearsal went well too. My boy is so happy, his wife is great, they are moving just around the corner from me now too, they used to live 11 blocks up. It was a special weekend. I still have some of each beer left, I wanted to be certain we didn't run out. My friend who just got married is the one who gave me a beer gun for Christmas. So I plan on bottling a bunch of beer, and giving he and his wife a bunch of each beer. It was a lot of work, but it went very well, I'm just so happy to have been such a big part of this celebration.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I was happier about the people who were saying that behind my back to others, having not met me yet. They might just be saying that to my face to be kind to me, but when they are telling other people then you know they like it for real.

That's a nice situation to get some honest feedback from the general public.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

That's a nice situation to get some honest feedback from the general public.

wow - no posts in the general beer forum for the past 2 hours on a Sunday evening - it really is dead around here...

[ChefLamont]

Congrats! I am sure a lot of the success was your careful preparation. While engineering things on the fly is always kinda fun, I much prefer showing up prepared.

[chuck_d]

I posted a few pictures on my blog of the setup we had on the rehearsal dinner night & following day. I'll have to wait for other people's photos to come in for images of the jockey box on the reception night.https://dieseldrafts...ng-celebration/