Jockey Box cover build

Normally, when we serve large groups of friends, we serve on draft from our keezers at the brewery. Recently, we purchased an SL1 Oktober Canning Machine and take cans to small gatherings or when we travel (i.e., camping, fishing, hiking, golf, etc.). However, for the Craft Beer LB Homebrew Invitational on March 19, we realized we needed to purchase a jockey box for serving a large crowd our beer on draft. Yes, we could just serve our beer from a picnic tap like we have done at many a party, but we wanted to present our beer to the crowd in the best way possible. So, we purchased a jockey box to help us control the temperature of the beer we are serving AND to present our beer in the most professional way possible. 

This brought us to a new problem...jockey boxes all look the same. So, what to do about it? Well, create a jockey box cover in 2JBC style of course! If you haven't guessed by our logo and color scheme, we are HUGE reggae fans. Growing up in Long Beach, both Mike and I fell in love reggae at a young age. In fact, Mike was actually a drummer in a reggae band for some time, so what better way to pay homage to the music that we love and is a huge part of our LB background than to paint our jockey box cover in rasta colors! 

Materials

1X6 boards for slats  
2x2 board for corners
plywood board for top
1x1 trim for top and bottom borders
Spray Paint (we used Behr Spray paint with Primer in No More Drama-Red, Blazing Bonfire-yellow, and Luck of the Irish-green; and Rustoleum black matte for the borders and top)
1 1/4 inch Spax construction screws
bar mat (optional for the top)
Metal logo sign (12x12 Metal Print with matte finish from Shutterfly; the matte finish is better for outdoors)
Jockey box (we purchased one with front connections because we didn't want to deal with connections and hoses on the sides of the box) 

***sizes of cuts and width of the box are really dependent on a variety of factors including the size of the cooler, where the hoses connect to the jockey box, whether or not you want trim, and so on. Therefore, we left the exact cut sizes off of the list. 

Below you can see the cuts we made. We cut the 1x6 boards to length for the sides (6 total boards, 3 for each side) and front of the jockey box cover (3 total boards). Then, we cut the 2x2 for the corner posts, 4 total pieces. The 1x1 trim was cut to match the length of the 1x6 boards, 4 boards for the sides and 2 boards for the front. 

After cutting each board, we lightly sanded the 1x6 boards and then spray painted one yellow, one red, and one green board for the front and each of the sides. The 1x1 boards were spray painted black. This was our first time using Behr spray paint, and we really liked how even the color sprayed on.  

​After four coats and 24 hours to dry, the boards were ready to assemble. We attached the sides to the posts first. We assembled from the bottom up, starting with the black trim, followed by red, yellow, and then green  which follows the color order in our logo. There was not enough of the 2x2 board to attach the top trim with a Spax screw,  so we used a finishing nail to attach the top black trim instead. 

Below is one of the side panels assembled without the top trim. 

After the sides were assembled, we lined up the front boards with the side boards to ensure the stripes lined up correctly. After the sides were completed, we cut the plywood board to fit the top. We then spray painted the top black to match the top trim. 

Last, we added our custom metal Two Jacks logo to the front of the Jockey Box cover. The metal logo is removable for transport and to prevent any scratching or damage. 

Below is the view from the backside of the Jockey Box cover. You can see that there is plenty of room to grab the handles of the cooler to remove it. Also, there is plenty of room to check the ice, check the connections, and pour from the tap handles. 

Initially, we had planned to add handles to the cover, but we think handles wouldn't look as nice. We have seen several jockey box covers that fold down when not in use; while convenient, we opted for a simple box. One, we personally didn't want any visible brackets or latches on the front or sides of the Jockey Box cover. Second, we felt that we would most likely be storing the cover with the Jockey box which meant that we could just leave the box as a display on our brewery shelving unit when not in use. 

Overall, this was a simple and easy project. We like the overall look and are pleased with how the jockey box cover turned out. The Shutterfly metal sign came out great and we like the raised look of it more than we would like a custom sticker. The fact that the sign can be removed and stored to prevent any scratches is a bonus. Even with wood prices incredibly high right now, the total cost to make the cover including the wood, screws, paint, and metal logo sign was about $120. 

We hope this is the beginning of many outdoor festival pours. Cheers!
​2JBC