Up-cycling Before Recycling - Heineken Mini-Keg Speaker

One of the big things they don't tell you about doing an internship is how much free time you end up having, compared to the crazy flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants rigor of your Junior year engineering curriculum. It actually quite unsettling to come home after work and have nothing to do. No homework, no projects, no studying. So to combat the stir-craziness I was experiencing, I started trying a multitude of hobbies, such as learning a new programming language, trying my hand at app development, blogging (duh), and a few DIY projects.

One of the projects that really took my interest was turning a Heineken mini-keg into a standalone speaker. It made perfect sense to me. I like beer. I like music. It's only natural that I'd want to combine the two.

Borrowing heavily from gilgonza3's project on Instructables, I set off on creating my own boozy jam box. And let me tell you, it was an eye-opening experience, beset with several problems (mostly of my own making), but I'm damn proud of the result, and I'm so glad I did it. Here are some pictures documenting the build.

Opening up the keg

Gluing the speaker support ring

Getting ready to drill holes for the connectors

Wiring going between back of keg and amp

Mounting the amp

Installing the amp and connectors

Finished product

There are still some things I want to do with the speaker, namely reinforce the stands and put a protective grill on the speaker, but that stuff can wait. This speaker is loud, proud, and ready for a party!