Creamer faucet (not beer engine or stout faucet)

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david_42

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I'm considering one of these for some of my semi-REAL ales.

"The special feature of this faucet is the pour—pushing back on the tap handle whips air into the beer. "

This is similar to what a beer engine will do, in theory. Anyone have experience with them?
 
The bar I frequent has a few beers on these taps. Typically Scottish Ales(Bellhaven) and some English Ales. They definitely do what the description says in regards th long lasting foamy head, but it can get a little out of hand and you end up with a pint of foam if the person pouring the beer doesn't know what they're doing. Not that you don't know what you're doing, but a certain inexperienced bartender has ruined a few pints for me...
 
I didn't much care for any beer served with that. That thick head really covers up all the great aromas and is frankly kind of pointless. If you want a nice head on your beer, I find it just as effective to just drop the initial stream from the faucet straight into the center of the glass before tipping it.
 
Sorry but where do you get that a beer engine pumps air into the beer? A beer engine is just a pump. Some use a sparkler which is basicly a big restrictor plate like on a stout faucet. But nowhere in a beer engine is air pumped into a beer.
 
bradsul said:
I didn't much care for any beer served with that. That thick head really covers up all the great aromas and is frankly kind of pointless. If you want a nice head on your beer, I find it just as effective to just drop the initial stream from the faucet straight into the center of the glass before tipping it.

Yep.

Another simple way to get some more head on the pour is to push the faucet lever about halfway open/closed.

Save your monies on the creamer faucet david_42, IMHO.
 
Hmm... I just carbonate the beer and if I want some head on it pour a little rough for the first few seconds. Half way through the pint just give the brew a little swirl and it'll knock some CO2 outta the brew. Pour with your head, not with your wallet. ;)
 
If the beer was carbonated, I could do as people have suggested, but they are under minimal (2-3 psi) pressure. My thinking was, forcing some air into the last bit would release aroma, since there's no CO2 to do the trick. Sounds like all they do is force more CO2 out of solution.
 
My local pub uses beer engines (without sparklers) to serve the real ales and I've not noticed any problems with aroma being lessened or missing. I've noticed when they pour the last little bit of the glass they let it fall about 3" into the top of the beer, maybe that makes the difference.
 
Just for completeness:

Beer engines can be used with or without a sparkler. It screws onto the end of the faucet and aerates the beer. The purest of the purest consider this to be evil and anything dispensed using a sparkler is not really a REAL ale. Some people consider this device necessary for certain of the more bitter beers.
 
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