Faucets - Is the perlick worth the extra?

Hi all, I'm looking to build a keezer and have a question about faucets - what's the deal with the perlick faucet? Why is it so much better than the basic standard ones that are half the price? I imagine that, as in many things, you get what you pay for, but in what way will the superior quality really tell?

the 525ss does not cost much extra, and they say they will not stick if you are not a daily user. I posted this same thread a while back. Some people do fine with regular faucets. They either flush them after every day's use, or get little caps to put on the ends.

I just went for perlicks. I have been happy. Just hit a tap I have not used in 1.5 weeks (apfelwine) and it poured perfect.

I think what you are asking is, "Is a Forward Seal Faucet better than a standard faucet?" The answer is, Yes it is. FSFs keep the seal in the beer so they don't get sticky. I have heard many horror stories about someone breaking the handle off the faucet when forcing it off of a stuck seal. FSFs are easier to clean IMHO and can be cleaned in place with better results. They look better, more like art than the industrial age looking rear seal.
Perlick makes both FSF( in a couple different styles) and rear seal. Ventmatic used to make the FSF and I think is a better faucet, unfortunaltey they went out of business.
Also the material it is made out of is a cost contributer, SS is twice the price of brass or plated brass

I think it also depends on how many faucets you have, and how many beers you drink. What I mean is, I only have three taps. So, they get more use than some. If I had 7 taps, I'd probably have several days where I wouldn't draw off a pint of some of those taps. Even so, I have one on tap night that I'm not really drinking much- maybe a couple of pints a week. With the forward-sealing faucets, they NEVER stick. Never.

If you only have one faucet, and you'll be opening it almost every day, I don't think it's as much as a concern.

I can come back from vacation, and not have stuck faucets. That's kinda nice!

i started with one regular old faucet that i got with some other stuff i bought. i decided to get perlicks for the other faucets. i didn't use the old one for like 2 days and it was stuck like a rock, i hardly was able to get it unstuck. definitely go for the perlicks. if you get them from rapidswholesale.com, it is a pretty damn good price.

I got my Perlick 525's from Keg Connection. They have performed flawlessly. When they arrived I disassembled one of them and it seems to be a very good design, not much to go wrong there. I have four beers on tap and only use one everyday, so it's nice knowing that when I pull a pint of something I haven't had in a week that I'm not going to wrestle the handle.

I have 3 525s on my kegerator and they are the only kind I have had but can say that I love em and have not dealt with any sticking what-so-ever

Thanks for the comments. I think I'm going to do this in three stages:

- stage one get temp controller, freezer, and picnic tap kit
- build out collar for freezer, get 2 taps
- add 2 more taps including a stout faucet

Stage one I think will happen very soon. Stage two might have to wait as it appears I'll be heading to california for a few months, not much point kegging up tons of beer if I'm going to be on the west coast.

Looks like a good plan to get going quickly, but I highly recommend you start with Perlicks. They are def worth the extra money!

Now if you think you might build a portable keg system, where the tap sit right on the beer out port of the keg, then I'd probably just get a regular faucet for that.

I got a very good deal on two brass, or brass colored Perlicks and they look great and have functioned perfectly for many months now. Maybe check ebay? Sometimes the Perlicks or Ventmatics show up. The Ventmatics will be higher priced, as many indicate they were considered a better faucet. I don't know, they were out of business before I built my kegerator.

cd2448 said:

Thanks for the comments. I think I'm going to do this in three stages:

- stage one get temp controller, freezer, and picnic tap kit
- build out collar for freezer, get 2 taps
- add 2 more taps including a stout faucet

Stage one I think will happen very soon. Stage two might have to wait as it appears I'll be heading to california for a few months, not much point kegging up tons of beer if I'm going to be on the west coast.

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This is exactly what I did. I did the picnic taps for about 6 months and finally did the Perlicks last month.

Go with Perlicks. I bought 5 cheapie faucets only to replace them 6 months later with Perlicks. Now that the 525SS's are out and can be had for less than $30, they are the only way to go.