If you’re serious about maintaining beer quality no matter where you go, jockey boxes aren’t optional — they’re essential.

A jockey box is basically a container that uses water and ice to keep something cool and is often used for beer. You’ve likely seen jockey boxes at cookouts, tailgates, or pretty much any outdoor event. Jockey boxes are built for mobility, freshness, and performance, making it possible to offer quality beer at any event or festival.

Offering jockey boxes expands your menu and equips your brewery or beer business to meet event demands and off-site service easily. In this guide, we’ll give you everything you need to know about jockey boxes: how they work, what they provide breweries or beer vendors, and how they can help scale your business.  

If you’re already sold, Foxx has all the equipment you need to offer fresh beer on the go, including cooler dispensers, insulated jackets to keep kegs cool, and portable tap kits that give the same beer quality as if coming from a restaurant or brewery tap.

What Is A Jockey Box?

A jockey box is a portable draft system. It chills and dispenses draft beer without refrigeration by running it through a cold coil or plate surrounded by ice, cooling the beer as it flows to the tap. Most jockey boxes look like typical coolers, just with a tap (or taps) affixed to the front. Coolers can be made of plastic, steel, or stainless steel.

Typically, there are two kinds of dispensing systems for jockey boxes:

• Coil cooler — Beer travels from a keg to a long (sometimes 50 feet long, although we have jockey boxes with 70-foot long coils) coil, often surrounded by water and ice, rapidly chilling beer. Usually, the coil (or coils, depending on how many beers you have on tap) lives inside the jockey box itself.  
• Cold plate — A cold plate also works to chill beer rapidly but instead uses a flat piece of metal. Generally speaking, cold plates are simpler, but coils are better for high-volume events where the jockey will be used continuously. Cold plates can still be effective if the keg has been cooled or insulated with a jacket to keep it cool.

Jockey boxes are usually attached to a keg with a CO₂ dispensing kit.  

How Does A Jockey Box Work?

Jockey boxes are easy to use and set up:

• 1. Chill your beer kegs — Although not necessary (particularly if you’re using a coil cooler), pre-cooling the kegs helps maintain temperature and ensure consistency.
• 2. Connect the CO₂ tank to the keg — Jockey boxes typically need a higher pressure, around 20–30 PSI (this could be higher, especially for a cold plate), than a traditional tap because of the length of the lines and coils. You’ll want to adjust this based on how the beer pours from the tap.
• 3. Attach beer lines from the keg to the jockey box inlet.
• 4. Pack the jockey box with ice (and water if you’re using coils) — A cold plate jockey box only needs ice. This is what cools the coils and cold plate. Make sure the coils or cold plate are fully submerged.
• 5. Open the faucet and pour — Beer travels through the ice-chilled coil or cold plate, instantly cooling the beer before it hits the glass.

It’s easy to replace a keg (just remove the keg coupler and attach it to a new keg) or depressurize the keg if you don’t finish the beer (turn the CO₂ off and pull the pressure relief valve to let all the CO₂ out).

How Can Jockey Boxes Help Beer Businesses

Jockey boxes give breweries and beer businesses the freedom to serve draft-quality beer at events, festivals, and off-site locations. This is vital for businesses that rely on quality as a differentiator: no need to worry about patrons having your beer off-site in a way that doesn’t represent the quality or care of your product.

Offering jockey boxes can open new revenue streams by allowing businesses to expand their reach beyond the brewery or beer shelf. Jockey boxes can also be a marketing tool, building brand visibility and introducing your product to new audiences.

More and more, customers are looking for flexibility. Adding jockey boxes to your menu offerings means you can meet customer demand for mobile, premium beer experiences — and Foxx has all the tools you’ll need, from cooler dispensers with coils or cold plates to jackets to insulate kegs to to all-in-one portable tap kits that make setting up jockey boxes a breeze.