THE DRAUGHT HORSE:
A tale of Beer and Bikes...
The Frame:
Welded out of quarter inch angle iron with the help of a certain sculpture professor. Suspension forks taken from scrapped kids mountain bikes. Suspension = less foam.
The Bar is made of half inch plywood with stain and several coats of lacquer. Also features four inches of insulation foam for a total of R 10 insulation value (at Skidmore College, Cold Beer Matters). Also, to avoid any problems with the law, we installed proper reflectors / blinkers.
Once the whip was saucy, we headed to the store to pick up the keg.
We got many types of reactions from passers-by. Some honked and cheered, some looked confused, the group of old men in tuxedos riding in the black Lincoln looked outraged.
We went with Miller Highlife because of the appealing price tag. The keg weighs close to 130 lbs, and the trailer around 40, so needless to say it was a tough pedal back up the hill. Also visible is the pump mechanism mounted to rear of the bar.
After much pedaling and sweat, the rig was back at home base.
Getting down to business: Lyle screws in the tap handle (generously donated by Dan at the Olde Saratoga Brewery).
The moment of truth: pouring the first beer from the mighty draught horse.
Lyle and Nat fetched themselves some glasses and showed their approval. (Design feature: rod style tap with extended air hose so that pump is anchored on the back of the bar).
The next stop on the maiden voyage was the Dead Horse Festival over at the Stables house. The hill on Clinton street was quite intense with 200 lbs of extra momentum (not to mention shitty brakes).
I have only found one photo from this night, but the draft horse delivered fresh keg beer to a bonfire deep in the northwoods on its second voyage. The suspension really helped getting down the rock and dirt path. However, because of the steep hill, we couldn't leave until the keg / trailer was light enough to be pushed up a slippery grass hill. Needless to say, we emptied the barrel and my friend Selby rode home on top of the bar. Good times.
Another good chapter in the history of the Draught Horse was when we brought it to our intramural softball game. The intensity of any sport tends to go up a notch when you have 15.5 gallons of beer in the dugout.
