I'm recently gutting and redoing a bar in one of our locations and want to bring in a new direct draw system. Does anyone have suggestions on brand/model? I would prefer something that could sustain 8 taps. Thanks folks.
Personally I think the Fagor is cheap Mexican made crap...BUT!!! Micromatics brand of beer units are rebranded Fagor units. They might also spec out some slight changes too. I would recommend the Bev air over them any day..
Beverage Air is the as close to the industry standard you will find. They are widely considered to be the best. Great warranty, HVAC techs know them well, standardized design, parts are available and easily serviced, they work right out of the box. if you aren't sure, you can't go wrong with the Bev Air. Made in USA, been around forever. yes, there are other good brands. not familiar with Fagor. Summit, True and Marvel are reputable. True is probably the next best commercial option. 8 faucets is a very large kegerator. you will need to dispense 1/4 and sixtels, perhaps one half barrel and a combination of the rest. Cheers.
that is not an 8 faucet kegerator. it will dispense 4 beers. adding 4 faucets and 4 couplers is not easily accomplished. holding 5 half bbls and dispensing 8 beers is not the same.
Its also depends on what size kegs OP is talking about dispensing. If he is talking 1/6 kegs lots of options.
This makes it pretty easily actually: http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/towers-pid-DPT38PSS-PL.html You will end up with two extra two-shank towers and four extra faucets, but its always good to have backup faucets.
i have installed micromatic towers, added additional faucets to kegerators, swapped towers and basically have enough experience to say that it is not so simple. the inside of the box quickly becomes a mess of couplers, line and choker. it is not a great idea to have 8 varieties all with the same pressure either, but most bar owners don't know or care. replacing an empty half barrel with a full one is a hassle if you have to unwind 4 kegs to get it done. MM will sell the kegerators with the pass through tower in lieu of the two towers. no need to buy extra equipment. careful consideration should be given to 8 flavors from one kegerator. it sounds like a good idea, but there are drawbacks. sixtels are not economical at all and quarters are only marginally better. if 8 varieties can be moved and there is limited space, I suggest a few faucets and bottles. a walk in cooler is the best bet but not always practical. it is always up to the owner to make the call. if you have a real need to keep many beers on tap, perhaps the space is not designed for what you want would be my advice to a client. Cheers.
I ran a bar with this exact setup for two and a half years and had very little issue. If you are at all organized there isn't much worry of a "mess" especially considering that your box is basically split in half between the lines feeding the two tower columns. The most that ever had to be moved was one 1/2bbl and one 1/6bbl, for the two 1/2bbls between the doors, which when it comes to direct draw kegerators is not much worse than normal (from my experience having worked with many of them behind the bar). The only downside is as you mentioned, having 8 lines on one regulator, but we dealt with that as best we could using flow control faucets (and by the same logic you can say that any kegerator with more than one line is not ideal).
