A cellar that fills up the week before a bank holiday, a taproom outgrowing its cold store, a wholesaler riding a summer surge in draught orders — the drinks trade runs on stable cold. Beer, cider, wine and soft drinks all keep best at a steady, controlled temperature, and a warm-then-cold cycle flattens a cask as surely as it dulls a lager. A refrigerated container gives a microbrewery, a wine merchant or a drinks wholesaler a self-contained chilled volume — kegs, casks, pallets of bottles — set down in the yard and working the moment it is plugged in, with no building work and no long tie-in. EuroReefer is an editorial comparison site specialising in reefers: we hold no stock, no depot and no fleet, so we scope the need and pass your request to specialist suppliers. Breweries and the drinks trade are one of several sectors in our sector guides.
Positive cold: +2 to +8 °C
Most of the drinks trade works in positive cold — chilled, not frozen. A band of +2 to +8 °C covers keg and cask storage, bottled and canned stock, and a wine merchant’s holding cellar, and cask ale in particular wants a steady cellar temperature rather than a deep chill. The containers offered for hire carry a standard -25 to +25 °C range, so the same box set near 0 °C will hold a cold-conditioning stage, then be reset to +6 °C for keg storage — the duty is chosen on the controller. Grasp one thing early: the unit holds a set point rather than pulling a warm load down quickly, so bring stock in already cold and let it settle.
Kegs, casks and bottles: which size
Three formats cover the trade, from a taproom buffer to a wholesaler’s overflow.
| Size | Usable volume | Euro pallets | Typical drinks use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10ft | ≈ 15 m³ | 4–5 | Taproom, microbrewery, off-licence overflow |
| 20ft | ≈ 28 m³ | 10–11 | Growing brewery, wine merchant, event stock |
| 40ft HC | ≈ 67 m³ | 23 | Drinks wholesaler, distributor, peak-season store |
A 20ft unit measures roughly 5.44 × 2.29 × 2.27 m inside — two rows of pallets and a walkway, or a long run of stacked kegs, on a payload near 27 tonnes. The 40ft high-cube adds height at 2.55 m internal, which counts when bottles come palletised and double-stacked. Mind the 10ft: its quoted 2.99 m is an external overall length, and the usable interior is noticeably shorter, so treat it as a four-to-five-pallet store. Over-packing any unit restricts cold-air flow and makes the refrigeration work harder.
Cold conditioning and seasonal peaks
Two brewery jobs recur. Cold conditioning — lagering, cold-crashing to clarify, holding dry-hopped stock — needs a temperature kept steadily over days or weeks, which a container built to maintain a directed temperature suits well; flag it when you enquire, since ventilation and monitoring are set with your process in mind. Then the seasonal peak: a summer draught surge, the Christmas run, a festival’s stock. Hiring extra cold for a few weeks costs less than building for a peak that lasts a month. Note that minimum hire terms near 90 days are common on the UK market, because transport at each end dominates a short job — short-term hire exists, at a higher day rate, under the market’s normal degressive structure.
Running costs: power
A drinks store runs around the clock. Consumption depends on format and set point; multiply the daily figure by your own electricity tariff.
| Size | Set point | Consumption / day |
|---|---|---|
| 10ft | +2 °C | 50–70 kWh |
| 20ft | +2 °C | 85–95 kWh |
| 40ft HC | +2 °C | 170–190 kWh |
A higher cellar set point draws less than these +2 °C figures. Connection is usually three-phase 380/400 V through a 5-pin 32 A CEE plug, drawing 5 to 12 kW by format; some small formats accept single-phase 230 V. Sort the supply before delivery, not after.
Hire or buy
Below 18 to 24 months of continuous use, hire generally keeps the edge; beyond it, buying is worth costing out. The figures below are indicative UK-market rates for 2026, quoted ex VAT (VAT applies at 20%), before delivery, connection and any fit-out.
| Option | Indicative UK price (ex VAT) |
|---|---|
| Long-term hire | from ~£12/day |
| Used unit (class A or B) | £4,500 – 7,500 |
| New “one-trip” | £18,995 – 22,500 |
A sound used unit has 10 to 15 years of service left, and a class A machine is typically under 12 years old — ask for a PTI (Pre-Trip Inspection) report under three months old, and check the make of the refrigeration unit (Carrier, Thermo King, Daikin or Star Cool), which governs spare-part access. Be wary of the isothermal variant: cheaper, but with no working refrigeration unit — it holds cold, it does not make it. Our hire, for-sale and prices pages set out each route and its ranges.
Compare offers
ATP covers the transport of perishable goods, not a unit parked in your yard, so no one should sell it to you as a requirement for static storage; HACCP and any licensing for on-site drinks storage vary by country and council, so check with the relevant authority before siting the unit. Describe your need once — set point, size, keg or pallet volume, power and duration — through our quote request. We pass it to specialist suppliers, who contact you directly if they can meet your need.
Frequently asked questions
What temperature should a refrigerated container hold for beer and wine?
The drinks trade mostly works in positive cold, roughly +2 to +8 °C: keg and cask storage, bottled and canned stock, and a wine merchant's holding cellar all sit in that band, with cask ale wanting a steady cellar temperature over a deep chill. Containers offered for hire carry a standard -25 to +25 °C range, so one box covers a cellar setting or, dropped near zero, a cold-conditioning stage.
How much does it cost to hire a refrigerated container for a brewery?
On the UK market, long-term hire starts at around £12 a day ex VAT, with the rate set by size and commitment. Minimum hire terms near 90 days are common, because transport at each end dominates a short job; short-term hire exists at a higher day rate. VAT is added at 20%, while electricity runs on your own tariff and delivery is quoted separately, so compare complete quotes.
Can a refrigerated container be used for cold conditioning or cold crashing?
Yes. A reefer is built to hold a directed temperature over days or weeks, which suits lagering, cold-crashing to clarify, or keeping dry-hopped stock cold. Two points to raise when you enquire: the unit maintains a set point rather than pulling a warm batch down quickly, so bring stock in already cold; and any ventilation or monitoring for a specific process is agreed with your brewer, not assumed.
Does a drinks store container need ATP certification?
ATP covers the international transport of perishable goods, not static storage: a container parked in your yard and plugged into the mains sits outside it, so no one should sell it to you as a requirement. Food-hygiene rules such as HACCP and any licensing for on-site drinks storage do apply, and they vary by country and council. Check with the relevant authority before siting the unit.