Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Sticky taps  (Read 3466 times)

Offline klickitat jim

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8604
Sticky taps
« on: May 09, 2013, 10:32:17 am »
Why do taps stick closed after a few days of no pouring? How do you cure it?

Offline HoosierBrew

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 13031
  • Indianapolis,IN
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2013, 10:39:56 am »
Amazon sells a faucet plug.  Just bought one recently.  It's like they use in bars. Mine has a short little bristle brush thing on the end of it to scrub the inside. At the end of the day after pouring pints I dip the thing in isopropyl alcohol, scrub out the inside, and put the plug in the faucet. Works pretty well.
Jon H.

Offline davidgzach

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1698
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2013, 10:42:17 am »
Why do taps stick closed after a few days of no pouring? How do you cure it?

Exactly why I make sure to use mine every day!   ;)

Dave
Dave Zach

Offline HoosierBrew

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 13031
  • Indianapolis,IN
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2013, 10:44:51 am »
Why do taps stick closed after a few days of no pouring? How do you cure it?

Exactly why I make sure to use mine every day!   ;)
An even better option!

Dave
Jon H.

Offline klickitat jim

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8604
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2013, 10:44:54 am »
Cool. Mine came with brush. I'll try that. A little scrub a dub occasionally

Offline Jimmy K

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3643
  • Delaware
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2013, 10:51:17 am »
It is beer drying on the internal parts that makes it stick. I keep a squirt bottle of sanitizer to rinse taps with - that helps too (and there is no beer going stale in there). Plugs also help.
Delmarva United Homebrewers - President by inverse coup - former president ousted himself.
AHA Member since 2006
BJCP Certified: B0958

narvin

  • Guest
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2013, 11:16:25 am »
Forward seal faucets like Perlick will fix this problem.

Offline rjharper

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 646
    • Angry Scotsman Brewing
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #7 on: May 09, 2013, 11:27:27 am »
Why do taps stick closed after a few days of no pouring? How do you cure it?

Forward seal faucets like Perlick will fix this problem.

This.  Most cheaper faucets are rear sealing, which means when it's closed, the moving parts and mechanism that the beer just flowed over, are now exposed to the air, allowing them to dry out, gum up, and bugs to grow on them.  Rear sealing faucets need regular cleaning, and really need to be in continual use (like a bar)

Perlick faucets are front sealing, which means when the tap is closed, all the moving parts are in the beer behind the seal.  Therefore theres nothing to dry out, and a simple squirt of starsan up the faucet at the end of a drinking session is all you really need.  I've had Perlicks go unopened for weeks, and they pour just fine.

It seems just about everybody buys the cheap ones first, then upgrades to Perlicks.  I just tell everyone to buy the Perlicks to begin with.

Offline theDarkSide

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3041
  • Derry, NH
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #8 on: May 09, 2013, 12:07:03 pm »
I have Perlick forward seal taps, and squirt star san when done for the dayand use the Kleen plugs.
Seacoast Homebrew Club - Portsmouth, NH
AHA Member
Stephen Mayo
------------------------------------------------

Offline mpmccann

  • 1st Kit
  • *
  • Posts: 10
  • Old Orchard Brewing - Lewisville, Texas
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #9 on: May 09, 2013, 02:13:18 pm »
I too have the sticky tap problem sometimes. My keg fridge is in the garage. In the Texas heat I have been greeted by a swarm of fruit knats the following morning after a night of drinking. 
That will make you try to keep on top of things… :P

« Last Edit: May 10, 2013, 09:47:00 am by mpmccann »
All for Brew / Brew for All

Offline yso191

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1816
  • Yakima, WA
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #10 on: May 09, 2013, 03:44:40 pm »
Forward seal faucets like Perlick will fix this problem.

+1  I always had this problem until I replaced them with Perlicks.
Steve
BJCP #D1667

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.” ― G.K. Chesterton

Offline klickitat jim

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8604
Re: Sticky taps
« Reply #11 on: May 10, 2013, 01:33:32 pm »
They are on the wish list