When my local homebrew shop sported a deal on 3 gallon kegs I knew my wallet was a goner.  If you have never had the joy of kegging in a 2.5 or 3 gallon keg you are really in for a treat.  It's light.  It's small.  It's just the right amount to keep them wanting more!

Tote-a-keg, a commercial version of this portable kegerator gadget, came out several years ago and Brew Your Own magazine ran a how-to DIY article not long after.

So I bought three of the little kegs and starting keeping an eye out for the wheeled Rubbermaid beverage cooler that is the heart of this gadget.  The end of Summer is the perfect time to pick up one of these at a clearance price from your local home center or big box retailer.

Drill a 7/8" hole in your new wheeled cooler above the cup holder (the cup holder makes a perfect drip tray later) and mount a shank with a 90 degree elbow in it.

Use the faucet and tap handle of your choice on the outside of the keg, but don't make it too fancy if you plan on dragging this thing all over kingdom come as I have.  Functional is more important than pretty

For CO2 I used a 2oz cartridge dispenser available at homebrew and bicycle shops.  It's a great little pistol-grip dispenser that takes disposable cartridges good for about 5 gallons of dispensing.

Here is the bulkhead fitting I put together for the gas-in line to the keg.

Finally I found my 3 gallon kegs did not allow the lid to close with their fittings on top so I took a hole saw to the inside of the lid and made a bit more room.  Now the keg fits in nicely with lots of room for ice around it.

Once I put this portable kegerator together I was amazed how much use it got.

When you have beer in little kegs you simply do not hesitate to take it with you everywhere.

It works out well that after carbonating a 5 gallon keg one can fill up a little keg to take with you and bottle a dozen or so for competitions.  Perfect!