Which beer tap?

[Northern Brewer]

I've not really been following what has been gone off in the beer dispensing world far a few years, not that I did much before.

I have six or so cornies but I have only really needed one tap before, working away 4 days a week meant that I only needed one tap. I tend to keg half of an 80 litre brew, and bottle the rest, so I usually have one cornie on the tap and drink bottles for variety. However, with the end of lockdown looming and with a bit of luck I'm only a couple of years away from retirement, I foresee a significant demand for beer coming up so want to expand to three or even four taps.

Here's my exiting set up. Its a pretty standard tap with sparkler that I bought refurbished off of eBay almost 10 years ago. The sparkler has been taken off for cleaning. Having said that its pretty standard, I am having problems getting one the same, or finding any similar.

It has a John Guest fitting on the back and it goes through the wall into the cellar where I have the cornies and gas board. The back of the tap is just above and to the right of the C02 bottle. It uses 3/8 pipe apart from the last couple of foot where it steps down a bit, helps cut down on foam if I remember rightly.

here's the original build thread

So, having looked around and not finding similar taps with sparklers, I looked at what was available. This type of tap is new to me, its called a compensator tap, but other than the ability to control the amount of foam, I can't find much info. I tend to very lightly pressurise the cornies, just enough to force it out of the tap, I prefer natural carbonation, not bubbly burp juice. But I do like a nice tight head, hence the sparkler. I think this tap is probably better suited to dispensing flat kegged with forced carbonation but not sure.

I intend to make a 3 or 4 row set of identical taps but not sure if the above will be suitable. I don't want to buy a chrome bar doo-dah with a row of taps, I shall make my own mount, I just want the taps.

Anybody know where I can get taps similar to what I have with sparklers or suggest a viable alternative?

I have down google searches, looked at the second hand market etc. etc.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Northern Brewer]

I just took a punt on a pair of these, old Worthington taps. Not sure what is in the nozzle but I can probably fit a sparkler if they haven't got one already.

I'm still interested to see if anybody has any opinions on the best tap to add to my exiting tap. I may get one more tap, four sounds a good number :)

Cheers
Andy

 

[LeeH]

I just took a punt on a pair of these, old Worthington taps. Not sure what is in the nozzle but I can probably fit a sparkler if they haven't got one already.

I'm still interested to see if anybody has any opinions on the best tap to add to my exiting tap. I may get one more tap, four sounds a good number :)

View attachment 42285

Cheers
Andy

I would take a guess those will be a cream flow tap the restrictor will have to be removed. (if it can)

 

[LeeH]

I have some Perlick flow control taps for sale if you are interested. Complete with shanks.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perlick-Faucet-Control-Model-650SS/dp/B074D9YBR9

 

[Northern Brewer]

Sounds interesting but I know nothing about this kind of tap. What I am looking for is something that can dispense lightly carbonated ales but liven it up on delivery, i.e. mimic a hand-pump and sparkler. My current tap does that, I'm struggling to find something similar. The Perlick seem to get good ratings, but mainly in the US where I am guessing they like beer more carbonated that a flat cap wearing Yorkshireman :)

Have you used them with Cornie kegs and served ale? What's your experience been?

Cheers
Andy

 

[MickDundee]

Sounds interesting but I know nothing about this kind of tap. What I am looking for is something that can dispense lightly carbonated ales but liven it up on delivery, i.e. mimic a hand-pump and sparkler. My current tap does that, I'm struggling to find something similar. The Perlick seem to get good ratings, but mainly in the US where I am guessing they like beer more carbonated that a flat cap wearing Yorkshireman :)

Have you used them with Cornie kegs and served ale? What's your experience been?

Cheers
Andy

Intertap and Nukatap have a stout spout attachment which I’ve used to decent effect albeit it’s a slightly “cheap and cheerful” approximation to real ale. You need to remove the plastic restrictor so that just the metal restricted plate remains and it’ll knock the carbonation out and give it a real ale effect.

 

[Northern Brewer]

Thanks guys

I'll wait until I have got this new pair of taps and give them a go and take it from there.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Northern Brewer]

The taps arrived today. Taking the nozzle off reveals what looks like a standard sparkler thread

So I get the sparkler from my existing tap

and it fits lovely. I'll keep the original nozzles in case I need to serve something else in future.

So, although I haven't tried to serve beer out of them yet, if I manage to get a couple of stainless beer sparklers, then in theory, we are good. The black plastic ones are a bit low rent.

I have found some SS sparklers for 11 quid each, a bit steep. I'll wait until I have tested the new taps first with the existing sparkler, I know a few friendly landlords who may have a couple of SS sparklers stashed away.

So the Yorkshire tradition of low carbonation but a nice tight head may live on a bit longer

Cheers
Andy

 

[Northern Brewer]

I managed to find time after the brew day to fit the new taps. I made the board over the last week or so, just some interesting scraps of oak, some with burr, glued to some ply then edged with more oak. Filling the cracks and knots with resin and 3 coats of finish took a good 7 days due to the cold weather.

I made the shelf above it too, it incorporates a strip of LEDs as a down lighter so you can still pour a beer without affecting the projector. The idea is clean empty pint pots go on the shelf, full ones go on the drip tray :)

The taps back on to the cellar, the cornies are lined up behind it and are at about 9c this time of year.

I've got a citra IPA on the first tap. I kegged a special bitter yesterday for the second tap, brewed an ordinary bitter today for tap 3 and Parcelforce delivered the lager malt at the fifth attempt for the pils I'm brewing next for pump 4.

I'll finish the wiring off tomorrow and replace the leaking pressure relief valve on my gas board.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Cestrian]

Lovely set up that Andy! A work of art. The Worthy taps look classic. I have to ask what is this room if the cellar is on the other side of the wall.

 

[damienair]

Amazing set up. Really well done. A piece of art.

 

[umfana]

I managed to find time after the brew day to fit the new taps. I made the board over the last week or so, just some interesting scraps of oak, some with burr, glued to some ply then edged with more oak. Filling the cracks and knots with resin and 3 coats of finish took a good 7 days due to the cold weather.

Major off topic diversion...
What resin did you use? I need to resin impregnate some knotty twisted up eucalyptus (to make knife handle scales) but without the use of a vacuum chamber.

 

[Northern Brewer]

Major off topic diversion...
What resin did you use? I need to resin impregnate some knotty twisted up eucalyptus (to make knife handle scales) but without the use of a vacuum chamber.

It's called Dr Crafty resin, 940ml for about 25 quid from Amazon. Not the cheapest but very few bubbles, I rarely resort to a heat gun to get the last few out. I have done a couple of small river tables with it but for anything bigger I will look elsewhere. Ideal size for knot filling.

 

[Northern Brewer]

Lovely set up that Andy! A work of art. The Worthy taps look classic. I have to ask what is this room if the cellar is on the other side of the wall.

It was a windswept part of the downstairs barn, but when the first lockdown hit, I used the time at home to partition it off from the rest of the barn.

I built the barn into a slope, so the bottom of the north end is underground, that's where the two cellars are. One of them is the brewery. The bit I partitioned off, 5m x 6m is partially underground. It has a pellet boiler and heat store in the corner that feeds the upstairs workshop and my wife's workshop which is in an adjacent outbuilding.

The wife thinks it's a space to take training courses, she's into permaculture, whereas I use it as a cinema and bar. The kids are just in their teens so I'm sure they will think its something else :)