Beer Faucets

A beer faucet is the part of the system where the beer actually pours from which connects to the shank in a draft beer system. Beer Faucets come in finishes of chrome, stainless steel and brass. This faucet will work with all beers except stout beers. The most common stout beer being Guiness requires it’s own beer faucet design. To properly pour Guinness and other stout beers and achieve the unique head on the beer requires a specialty European Stout Beer Faucet. The faucet operates by pulling forward and down on the tap handle. In addition, this deluxe stout faucet features a stainless steel body and a restricted spout that contains a tiny disc. The restrictor disc helps slow down the pour and allows the beer to pour properly. If you need to pour regular beer with this faucet, just remove the restrictor disc

The assembly of a beer faucet is:

1. Faucet Body
2. Shaft
3. Screw
4. Shaft assembly
5. Handle lever
6. Compression bonnet
7. Collar
8. Knob
9. Handle Assembly (which is parts 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13)
10. Coupling gasket
11. Seat washer
12. Friction ring
13. Bonnet washer

Cleaning your beer faucet:

It’s necessary to clean your beer faucet because over a period of time bacteria and yeast will build up. Also, if you don’t use your beer system daily the beer will dry up and stick. If you’ve ever experienced trying to pour a beer and when you pull on the beer faucet it won’t open, this is because the beer has dried out in the beer faucet body.

There are new stainless steel Perlick faucets available that eliminate the issue with beer drying in the beer faucet body because of their forward design. A forward design means the beer shuts off in the front of the beer faucet near the spout instead of in back where it connects to the shank.

However, even if you have the new stainless steel Perlick faucet, or a new stainless steel faucet from another manufacturer, you should clean your beer faucet about every 2-3 kegs. Keep in mind if you go through 2-3 kegs annually, you may want to clean your beer faucet at least once a month.

The best way to clean the beer faucet is to disassemble the beer faucet completely and submerse in a bath of beer cleaning solution and water and use a faucet brush to clean all the pieces. Rinse with clean water and reassemble. Rinsing is an extremely important step. If you don’t rinse well enough and a soap residue is left inside the beer faucet you may experience that your beer will pour flat. To remove the beer faucet from the shank, the best tool is a spanner wrench.

It is highly recommended to only use beer cleaning solution when cleaning your beer faucet. This solution is designed specifically to have enough cleaner to remove the bacteria and yeast but not too much to cause an off taste to your beer like bleach or other cleaning chemicals like this.

Trouble-shooting your beer faucet

1. If your beer faucet leaks at the connection to the shank, it may be a bad faucet washer.
2. If your beer faucet leaks from the spout, it could be a bad plunger washer.
3. If your beer faucet sticks, it means beer had dried inside the faucet body. To resolve it is recommended to clean the beer faucet as mentioned above under the Cleaning your Beer Faucet section or switch to a stainless steel Perlick faucet.
4. Beer Faucet is too close to tower and can’t use certain tap handles – need a handle angler.
5. If you pull on the handle lever of the beer faucet too much to try to unstick the beer faucet, it can break. You can purchase just the handle lever to fix your beer faucet instead of purchasing an entire new beer faucet.

What to look for in a quality built beer faucet

1. Any beer faucet that says it has a Teflon ball washer is going to wear out faster than a one made with a brass ball washer. In the assembly above, the brass ball washer is referred to as a friction ring.
2. Any beer faucet not made in the USA might not have the strict tolerances that make them compatible with your beer system.