Faucets - I know Perlick is the best but...

Jealous of your wife being excited for a keezer in the living room. My wife is pushing me to take stuff out of the living room.

 

We live in a loft style space, so when I built my keezer it had to look nice. There is nowhere to put it that isn't front and center. My wife just said to make sure it looks really nice, so I got a black freezer (I did not want to paint), wrapped the collar in brushed stainless steel, got an aesthetically pleasing drip tray, etc. Here is a kind of shitty picture of it sans cap catcher:




As far as faucets go, Perlicks are the best bet. I'm not sure where you are seeing them for $50, I paid something like $33 for my faucets. With stainless shanks and other misc parts, I think the entire assembly came out to under $50. Well worth it in my opinion.

 

Love the SS collar. How did you go about wrapping it? I'm pretty proud of the way my stained oak collar turned out, but that SS looks pretty cool.

 

I have the new VentMatic faucets and love them so far. There is a bit of a debacle going on between the manufacturer, the retailer, and the customers so I would not recommend buying them for a few months until the issues are officially resolved.

That said, whatever you do go with, I wholeheartedly recommend (and kind of insist) rear sealing faucets (Perlick, Ventmatic). They save a lot of hassle in my experience.

 

I'm a huge MicroMatic 304 fan.
Have them on my ten taps, they look great, work well, easy to clean.

When Joe Short added the new bar in Short's, he used MM 304's if that means anything to you.
Also I'm pretty sure when Drew Larson redid the bar at HopLeaf, he used MM 304's...

 

I manage projects and design products for an architectural metals company. I built the collar from 2 x 8s in our shop and then had my fabricators build the stainless wrap with some material we had left over from another project. They drilled all the holes for me and put returns on the top so that the freezer seal rests on the stainless. Covered pretty much the entire collar except for an area in the back where the lid attaches and hoses run through. We used an industrial adhesive to attach it to the wood. They made all the clips and other mounting parts that go inside as well.

Nice to have access to these kind of resources. I've had them build quite a few things for me. Right now, we are working on a single tier stand for 3 keggles for a friend of mine... for about 25-30% of the cost of what you'd normally expect for a similar stand.

 

Yeah, you can get Perlicks much cheaper than that...but if you want SS shanks to go along with them...that's where it gets pricey.

Personally, I use as much SS as possible.

Do not skimp on the regulator, and buy a dual regulator...it's very handy. I've got the one from TapRite...and it's been great.

Anyway, sometimes it's better to wait and get quality parts than compromising to get everything you want right now. This is probably one of those times.

 

You can get the newest Perlick 630SS's WITH SS shanks, tail piece and handle for $63.99 from some online vendors right now.

Faucets for $39 bucks alone.

I went with Perl's myself, the now discontinued 525SS's.. I love 'em, and wouldn't have anything but a forward sealing faucet.

 

I bought my Ventmatics a few years ago, so mine don't have the problems they appear to have today. Assuming they're of the same quality, I would strongly recommend them, once the bugs get fixed.

If you can get a good deal on the kegs now, do it -- they won't get cheaper with the passing of time.

Regarding cheaping out on the regulators -- Micromatics really don't cost that much more than the cheap ones, so that's not a big deal. FWIW, I recently had to replace the gauges on my Micromatics, but they're pretty cheap, so that's not a real problem, either.

Regarding a grain mill or a kegging setup (I saw your other thread), do both. Just eat store-brand white bread for a few months!

 

Perlick makes a very nice faucet. as everyone is going to tell you, go with the forward seal faucet. that means Perlick.

however, if you don't want to spend $60 or more, you can be perfectly happy with lesser faucets.

you should get s/s. I think it is worth it. in the least, opt for the s/s shaft upgrade if offered.

the cheapest are no name and made of chrome plated brass. avoid the $15 faucet. you will regret saving a few dollars every time you place that junk in your hand.

Krome is made in India. S/S if you can afford it. the "Edge-Tap" is competitive, they are rebuildable.
TapRite is mediocre and very cheap.
Abeco makes some nice ones.
MicroMatic has a range of faucets from cheaper to expensive Euro design flow control. I don't think they make their own faucets at MM, and the prices are fairly high. but the company is great and you will probably not have any trouble with technical service or parts if you do buy from MM.

still, get the Perlick forward seal. that's my two cents anyway.

lastly, a chest freezer can be loud, especially watching quiet TV. and make sure you have a good drain.
Cheers.
Cheers.

 

"you will regret saving a few dollars every time you place that junk in your hand."

That's why I always opt for quality **** and faucets (now)

 

Or Perlick users who can tell me to just wait it out and do it right the first time?

You can get Perlicks on Amazon for 35 bucks (today), but the price changes everyday. Sometimes they are $32 up to $39, with shipping ranging from free to outrageous. I say again, the price changes every day.

The cheapest faucet I found was $8.37 . . . that's a saving of 27 bucks for a POS that will give you problems versus an item that will last forever given the proper maintenance. Amortized over your lifetime (30 years?) you are saving 89¢ a year by settling for the POS . . . less than what you tip for a cup of coffee. My close friend says I'm the second cheapest person he has ever met . . . and I got the Perlicks.

Imagine the disgrace when the crew that is wheeling you out of your house to the nursing home is snickering about your cheap-ass faucets.

 

check out birdmanbrewing.com

They run some decent deals on keg set ups, and perlicks in particular.

I got my faucets and shanks, as well as the accuflex bev line from them.

It's fantastic beer line.

 

I've just decided to replace my other 3 faucets (just replaced a Chinese dog food one with a Perlick Chrome plated brass ($20)...will replace another with a SS anything I can find...and then whatever's trending for < $ based on my comparisons so far.

I'm kind of curious if the forward seal thing is patented because that's the only feature that seems to matter (other than maybe solid SS)

I will have 4 different brands of faucets within the next year no doubt.

(for consumer research only)

 

oh yeah and how.
Perlick was sued by a company making the ventmatic, Shirron I think is the company... there is some juicy news if you bother to google the lawsuit.
Perlick had to redesign their forward seal faucet. Shirron stopped manufacturing, but I believe the Shirron is back, or some other variant of the design. and by all accounts they are a true work of art. the details are fuzzy.

some draft nerd did a side by side comparison and posted it on his blog. I thought I was a draft geek...
Cheers.

 

I thought the original company usually did the suing? ...I'll look it up...yeah, sure...cheers, bro

 

Non-Perlick user.
I have $15 Krome Dispense faucets, they look nice and work, but they stick on the first pour of the evening. I'm assuming Perlicks don't stick even after a week or two of non-use?

 

I've got a faucet I rarely pull. It's for the bigger beers.

It never sticks. Infact, none of mine have ever stuck, or gurgle, or anything.

Also, when I clean them, I have minimal junk in the faucet as well. Not much to sit inside of them and turn into mung.