It’s understandable to want craft beer everywhere. And while the influx of cans has made that a little easier, nothing tastes like craft beer straight from the tap. A new company called Tap Truck USA is giving craft beer lovers delicious beer on tap wherever and whenever they want — and if you’re in California or the northeast, they can come straight to you.
Tap Truck USA outfits vintage American trucks with space for kegs and taps out the side of the truck. They cater events, weddings, outdoor parties, and basically anywhere that there’s a need for fresh beer.
“I have always been very passionate about vintage cars and trucks,” Corbin O’Reilly, who co-founded Tap Truck with Taylor Steers in December 2016 in San Diego, tells me in an email. “Tayler has always been a major beer guy amongst the craft scene. When you put our two minds together what could be better than Tap Truck?”
It started out as a passion project, but they found a need at weddings, corporate events, and tailgates. Now they have an outfitted 1952 Chevy Panel truck, a 1965 Chevy Panel truck, a 1969 Chevy C-10, a 1957 Chevy Apache 3100, and a growing list of trucks in works (including a vintage firetruck).
O’Reilly and Steers restore all of their vehicles and install the kegerator systems themselves.
“It is a challenge outfitting old beasts to carry around the delicious fluids!” O’Reilly tells me. “We want the trucks to not only look great, but they need to be able to support all the weight of the beer, drive/carry all the beer and stop with all the beer! So we generally need to do some major modifications on a vehicle along with building the beer systems and cooling systems.”
Tap Truck is still a very young company, but has already booked gigs at weddings, golf tournaments, and served beer to thousands of Wyoming University football fans at the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. They’re looking to expand from their home base, managing the state-by-state (and sometimes county-by-county) alcohol catering laws.
As for the next step? Helping others join in on the business. For $20,000 to $25,000, O’Reilly and Steers will build a custom truck, license the Tap Truck brand, and help you start your own beer truck catering.
Cheers to the guys bringing fresh beer everywhere.
