So you’re in the middle of a tailgate party, you want to BBQ, play games and serve your frosty beer at the same time.  Where’s the waiter?? And what can you do when you don’t own a kegerator? How about a few Beer Towers, each with its own beverage! Check out this list of the best beer towers for your tailgate party.

Awesome looking lined up in Drinks Central at your tailgate party, they’re known as Booze Tubes, Tabletop Beer Dispensers, Bazooka Tubes, or Beer Pitchers. They are low tech – few moving parts – probably the secret to the design’s affordability.  It pretty much adds up to a Yard of Beer but unlike those massive steins, glasses and containers, they stay cold.

Of course, the difference between this and the draft models can’t be denied.  But these are cheap and if your look after them, you’ll have them forever.  The bottom line is that they are a great accessory for the ‘bar’ or picnic table in the parking lot.

If you have a larger budget and a powered site, then you might want to consider a large kegerator and the draft beer towers and taps to go with that.  However, many people really can’t afford to throw down that much moolah – there are heaps of accessories and maintenance required for the big rigs.  So these little low-tech units are a great alternative and not to be sneezed at (or on).

Basically, this is like a well-sealed very tall pitcher, around a yard of beer, except many have a tube full of ice down their center.  Some light up with amazing colors.  They have a spigot tap for serving.  It’s up to you what you serve from them but I keep a dark beer in one, a light Pilsener in another and a medium bitter in another.  That seems to keep everyone happy.  Oh, and one with non-alcoholic beverage in for the designated driver.  You can purchase logos separately for the taps to identify your drinks.  Next day, fill it with a Bloody Mary with pickle juice and oysters for that essential pick-me-up hangover cure, hair of the dog and Vitamin C/Zinc hit and you’ll be rearing to go, ready for the next tailgate party.

Choosing a beer tower, you need to look for stability, an ice tube, (AKA chill stick, chill bat)  or flexible ice wrap, to keep the booze cold. Ease of cleaning and durability of the tube, tap and base are important too.  That’s it. Simple.

Note that the beer taps are intended to be carefully pulled down only a quarter of the way to dispense liquid. Taps will be damaged, if pulled completely down but if you break them you can easily get replacements.

Beer Tower from BarProducts.

Standing on a base of 8” diameter, this Beer Tower in just under a yard tall at 34”.  The tube is clear plastic and holds 3 liters (101.4 fluid ounces) of liquid.  A standard beer is 10 ounces, so you will get a little over 10 glasses from this.

Drinks are dispensed by pulling down the spigot handle (bar style) or pushing the button on the spout.

The ratio of base width to height is good and it should not tip over under normal circumstances.  Turn the tower to lock it into place on the stand.

Handy in a crowd situation – a few of these will keep the beer cold and people can help themselves.  Fill it with your home-brew!

This model does not come equipped with an ice tube and it is recommended that you purchase a freeze sleeve and wrap it around the tube, at least at the base of the beer section.  Obviously that doesn’t look as amazing as the amber liquid glowing through the tube, but it is functional.

Techni-ICE Sheets, Better than Ice or Gel Packs! Reusable, Dry Ice Replacement

These flexible sleeves are as good as dry ice, can be heated as well as frozen and will last for ever.  A great investment.  You can wrap these around anything to keep them cold and put one on your head next day to reduce your hangover.

Wyndham House 3.7qt (3.5l) Beverage Dispenser (No Ice-Tube)

With a capacity of 7 pints (3.7 quarts or 3.5 liters) this is quite large and surprisingly, is around half the price of most on the market.  The dimensions are 9-3/4″ x 33-1/2″ x 7-3/4″ so it is a little wider than most which may add to its stability.

Half the price of most on the market. as this model does not include an ice tube down its center so you would need to ‘sleeve’ it to keep the booze icy or buy a separate ice-tube.  Some say there is little need to do that as the turnover is quite fast at tailgate parties.

If you want the complete beer tower with matching ice-tube, check out the model here:

Wyndham House 3.7qt (3.5L) Beverage Dispenser (With Ice Tube)

Fundamentally, it’s the same as the beer tower above, but has a refillable ice-tube which you slip into the center.

The removable cooling chamber ensures drinks stay cold from the first fill-up to the last. Features ABS body, large dome base, removable ice cooling chamber, and removable tap for ease of cleaning.

Beer Tubes Stainless Steel Chill Stick (Beverage Cooler)

You want the beer chilled enough for drinking but not so cold that you get the ice-cream headache when the beer bong is in use.  The Chill Stick is designed to keep the product at optimal slamming temperature.

The investment is worthwhile though it is a little skimpy for a yard of beer. You may need two of these or a sleeve at the base as well depending on the day and where your tailgate party will be held.  In the heat, I would recommend a sleeve as well as the ice-tube.

Beer Tower 3 Liters with Ice Tube Draft Beer Tower Dispenser

Capacity is 3 liters or around 10 standard beers.   The ice-tube is removable and detaches from the base for easy cleaning and re-fills with ice.  DO NOT fill with water and freeze.  It is designed to hold ice-blocks and will not stand up to being put in the freezer and frozen.

At least this one comes with its own ice-tube.  It’s a standard beer tower not much different from many on the market.

As with others, your tailgate party guests can help themselves to cold drinks of all kinds from this dispenser. I would never put dairy drinks in this as the cleaning would be painful.  And heck, what a waste!  Beer is so much less labor intensive ….

Lighted Beer Tower with Ice Tube

But if you are looking for a point of difference, this may be it!

As with the beer towers we have already looked at, you have your yard of beer in a clear plastic tube firmly fastened to a base measuring 8” in diameter and the removable ice-tube is keeping the beverage frosty which you are accessing through the pull-down bar-style handle.  But then … whoo-hoo!  It lights up!  The battery operated light effects make it look like your tailgate party has its own cool bar.

Note that the ice-tube is very well sealed.  You just fill it with cubes and seal it and no leakage into the beer to water down that great taste.

Holds 9 – 10 standard beers or 2 blenders full of margaritas.

To fill the tower without spillage or an excess of foamy froth, place it low down and have a friend hold it on an angle as though you are pouring a beer.  Dribble the beer slowly down the side.  The tap will add a nice head to the beer when drinkers are pouring their own booze from it.

Cleaning hints can be found below!

The BrewTender Tabletop Beer & Beverage Dispenser

The tube holds up to 80 ounces and keeps it cold, ready for your guests to serve themselves. Sack the waiter!  It’s perfect for tailgate parties and has built in lights that glow up through the drink for an amazing effect.

Beer dispensing happens within a few seconds.

Dimensions: 20 1/2″H x 7″D

Note that for these Beer Towers with onboard lighting, don’t leave the light on all the time or it will heat the beer.  A good hint is to buy a backup ice-tube and add this in when the first has defrosted.

If you want to store this in the fridge, you will need to remove all the shelves as it is almost a yard high.

You can take it to your local pub and get them to fill it with their beer tap.  Way easier than doing it yourself.

It is an essential ingredient for tailgate party drinking games as it keeps the action happening fast.

80 Oz Bever. Cooling Dispenser – Style KTBEVDS

Same size as the one above, this also lights up and I guess what you are paying for are the design, the concept and manufacturing as the materials are not exactly solid state, though it works and will last if you take care of it.

Like the other lit up beer towers, this one will lose its cool if you keep the lights on all the time so either get a backup ice-tube or turn the lights off from time to time.

NOTE: Put the ice-tube in the fridge (not freezer) overnight before you put the ice in to maximize the cooling effect.

3 Liter “Shorty” Beer Tube with Ice Tube

Here’s a Beer tower that is a lot easier to cart along to your parking lot tailgate party.  It still holds 3 liters (10 standard serves of beer approx..) but s only 23” tall and sits on a wide, 14” base.  The tower is large, 5 ¾” in diameter and the kit includes the ice-tube insert that you can fill with ice and keep the drink cool.  Because it is rather squat, it is more stable and will fit into your tailgate party food kit more easily.  It is simple to transport with integrated handles and The Shorty is lightweight in design and manufacture.

So far, it’s my favorite for parking lot use due to its stability and ease of cleaning and transporting.  Easier to fill also.

Chrome Metal 1-Faucet Beer Tower – 3″ Column. For Draft Beer.

OK, so I am just including this as a comparison.  If you invest in a kegerator, you can use one of these on the top for dispensing your booze.  It’s chrome and has one faucet for serving and the size is 3” across and  approximately 18” tall.  It has 5 feet of hose leading to your beer supply (which would be in the keg) and the nuts and couplers for it are standard.  Mounting gasket screws are in the kit.

Even though this is a commercial grade single faucet chrome-plated metal draft beer tower and the same tower that is found on all commercial grade kegerators such as True and Beverage Air, it’s not a heck of a lot more expensive than the cheap counter-top beer towers. Of course, buying the kegorator is another thing entirely but if your tailgate party is rowdy, the beer front and center as the entertainment, then you might want to cut straight to the pro equipment.   No flashing lights though.  Oh, and the counter-top models are cheap enough so that you can buy one for each beverage.

Double Tap Stainless Steel Draft Beer Kegerator Tower – 3″ Diameter

And now, here’s the dual tap version.  Again, you need a kegorator for this assembly to work and it is connected with 5 feet of hose.

Has a stainless steel tower with two brass taps on top to keep that beer flowing fast.

It is air cooled.  Mounting assembly is included.  Solidly engineered. Some people use this one for mounting on the top of a mini refrigerator and converting it into a kegorator.  If home brewing is for you, then this system is perfect as you can keep the kit in the fridge to stay sterile during the process.  If tailgate parties are all about the beer, then this fast-flowing tap is all about tailgate parties, particularly the home-gating type.
And for keeping those beer cans cool:

Kalorik Mini Cooler

This little cooler holds and dispenses 12 cans of beer.  Or soft drink if that’s your thing.  It has a built-in refrigerating system to keep all of the drinks nice and cool

The hardware is very sturdy and retro in design.  You can shove it in small spaces when packing for the tailgate party.

Needs an external power source to stay cold. So really, it’s better for home-gating than tailgating.  Unless you have a generator.

Now a word about cleaning your precious beer dispenser.  Beer can be susceptible to bacteria if the equipment isn’t kept clean.  So here are some suggestions. Cleaning is actually quite simple as the tube detaches from the base.  Clean with the longest handled brush you can find.

1. Invest in this super long handled beer tower tube brush and you will make life easy after the tailgate party has long since ended and guests have migrated to the stadium to watch the play.

The brush assembles to a 32.5” length, long enough to reach the bottom of your Yard of Beer Tower or just use it half size for the Shorty.  It has a durable plastic stem with a hook on the end for convenient storage when not in use, and soft but powerful scrubbing bristle to attack the edges of the tower.

2. Rinse the tower and tap after the use.  I appreciate that you may be in some remote parking lot and can’t get to a convenient place to do this immediately.  So if you miss this step, you may need to progress to step 3.

3. Scrub the tower using a few drops of a detergent that has NO PERFUME.

4. Rinse, rinse and rinse again.

5. If your tower has been contaminated by yeasty molds from standing beer, soak it in a food grade bleach such as the solution baby bottles are soaked in.  Milton tablets are fast and reliable (15 minutes soaking only and also don’t affect the taste of the brew) and you can buy them at

Then rinse and dry prior to adding beer.  It is not a bad idea to rinse it out with a shot of cheap vodka.  It is a great tool to have in the first aid kit or your cleaning kit.  Yes, truly.  And you could even drink it after … or clean your shoes.  If you have left your beer tower full of beer (yeah, that will happen – well, not at my tailgate parties … ) and have a yeasty mold problem, you can also use vinegar to clean it and then rinse well with warm water and air dry.  Alternatively, throw in some grains of uncooked rice (about ¼ cup) and shake it with some warm soapy water before rinsing thoroughly to remove all residue.  The combination of one or all the methods above will keep your tower 100% clean.