2

I will have to transport a 1/6 bbl keg about 4 miles on paved city roads. I have a cargo bike which I am confident can manage the size and weight of the keg. The keg will be of commercially brewed beer, filtered and pressurized (i.e. not cask conditioned or otherwise with yeast sediment).

The keg will rest for about 24 hours before serving. I'll probably use a pump tap for serving the beer but may have access to a CO2 cylinder and appropriate regulators, tubing, connections, etc. from a friend.

At first, I thought it would be an easy internet search to check for evidence of people transporting beer by cargo bike. However, I've gotten hits for party bikes, but I don't actually see any that serve beer - they seem to stop at pubs. I've seen trikes with taps but they seem to all be for cold brew coffee. I've seen a couple of hints of small breweries delivering by bike but these are out of date and may just be marketing exercises that didn't really work in practice.

So I'm looking for advice or feedback from anyone who has transported beer kegs by bike or has other relevant experience. Is typical bike transport bumpiness likely cause a serious problem for serving and enjoying a keg of beer?

Matthew Bourque
  • 141
  • 3

1 Answers1

2

I have now become someone with relevant experience! I can say that there was absolutely no problem serving beer from a keg transported by cargo bike as described in the question. The keg was transported in a horizontal position. I rode slowly to minimize bumps. The keg rested in a vertical position in a cool garage 6 PM - 9 AM and then in an ice bucket until about 3 PM when it was tapped. I did end up using a friend's CO2 cylinder and fittings, not a pump tap. The beer did not exhibit any excessive foaminess.

Matthew Bourque
  • 141
  • 3