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College Entrepreneurs Invent a Way to Keep Beer Cold KegSkins banishes the biggest party foul -- warm beer.

By Jodi Helmer

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Like a lot of college students, Max Chautin went to his share of keg parties while studying political science at Johns Hopkins University. But for the 2011 grad, sipping cold beverages was about more than socializing--it was a form of market research.

"We were spending $20 on ice and watching it melt," Chautin says. "It made sense to have an insulating barrier that kept the beer cold and eliminated the need for ice."

In the midst of designing a keg-size "koozie" to keep beer chilled, Chautin, now 23, realized that unadorned kegs represented an untapped marketing opportunity. He devised a plan to make his reusable wraps more profitable by customizing them with brand logos. "Kegs are such a high-profile fixture at an event," he says. "It didn't make sense that companies weren't taking advantage of the blank space on the keg."