Rotary Valve Faucet vs Perlick 525SS

Has anyone used a Rotary Valve Faucet? My local beer bar, Beachwood BBQ, swears by them, and they will only use these type of taps in their setup.


I'm considering purchasing one of these for my keezer which is currently planned to be all Perlick 525SS at the moment. If a rotary valve faucet does not add any value to the flexibility of my beer serving system, then I'll probably go all Perlick to keep things uniform (and cheap-er). I've searched HBT and found nothing about rotary valve faucets. Does anyone have experience with or knowledge about these type of taps?

No experience - heck, I've never even seen one of those - but there's some good information on the Roto Tap faucet available here.

Aside from the unique styling, one thing I find interesting is it uses a disposable PTFE cartridge valve...

Cheers!

I thought those were for wine?

GTO_Guy said:

I thought those were for wine?

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and soda. those are the type you see in 1950's malt shops.

i would just go perlick SS, unless you are dead set on that rotary style, because even nice perlick taps are cheaper than that.

audger said:

and soda. those are the type you see in 1950's malt shops.

i would just go perlick SS, unless you are dead set on that rotary style, because even nice perlick taps are cheaper than that.

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These taps are not uncommon worldwide, just not so much in America. They are designed for beer, not wine or soda, but could of course accommodate the other two.

I'm not so much worried about the price as much as the performance. I may or may not purchase one, but I'd like to learn more about them, including any experience anyone here has had with them.

The beer bar I know that uses these pours extremely expensive and hard to get kegs (rare Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, Beatification, aged imperial stouts, etc.) on a regular basis, and therefore they like to have extreme control over their pours, so as not to waste an ounce of that costly nectar. It's sort of what spurred me on in researching these taps.

ocluke, did you end up getting these? I'm considering them myself but it's hard to find any reviews on them. I want to make sure they're not gonna be an expensive let down.

alexroussos said:

ocluke, did you end up getting these? I'm considering them myself but it's hard to find any reviews on them. I want to make sure they're not gonna be an expensive let down.

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I did not, but I wish that I had at least purchased one in my keezer build. If you do purchase these, report back to us and let us know about them. I suspect that you won't be let down.

At $70 a pop better not be let down....I'd get one if the head is guaranteed and @ $34 for new cartridge I think I'll stick with my Perlicks.

I bought one of these and I just had to post up that I LOVE IT. I've worked beer fests with tap boxes and had foaming issues for various reasons. I took home a sixtel from work tonight and set my CO2 PSI at 14 just to see what happened with the faucet. It poured foamy at first but when I adjusted the collar it poured perfectly. I don't know what that luxury is worth to other people, but to me it's worth the cost of the Roto-tap V. Sure it's 2x the price of the most expensive perlick faucets but damn it's nice. I will be adjusting my regulator back down to a more reasonable PSI of course.

smokinghole said:

I bought one of these and I just had to post up that I LOVE IT. I've worked beer fests with tap boxes and had foaming issues for various reasons. I took home a sixtel from work tonight and set my CO2 PSI at 14 just to see what happened with the faucet. It poured foamy at first but when I adjusted the collar it poured perfectly. I don't know what that luxury is worth to other people, but to me it's worth the cost of the Roto-tap V. Sure it's 2x the price of the most expensive perlick faucets but damn it's nice. I will be adjusting my regulator back down to a more reasonable PSI of course.

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Thanks for reporting here on your experience. It doesn't shock me though. The beer bars that I know of that buy the most expensive kegs seem to all have these. When each pour translates into a lot of money, buying tap with the most control and least waste would be imperative.

How is cleaning and maintenance? Any further thoughts compared to a Perlick 525?

It comes apart very easy for cleaning. To maintain I am not sure yet. There are replacement valve bodies apparently available and should be very easy to replace. I do not yank on the tap anywhere close to how much a bar would. So I don't see myself having to worry about that a whole lot. Compared to perlicks I seems alot tighter. This is an unfair comparison though because the faucets I otherwise have experience with were WELL used. So they were loose and didn't stay sealed sometimes. So to compare old perlicks to my new Roto tap its very unfair to perlicks i have a feeling.

It comes apart very easy for cleaning. To maintain I am not sure yet. There are replacement valve bodies apparently available and should be very easy to replace. I do not yank on the tap anywhere close to how much a bar would. So I don't see myself having to worry about that a whole lot. Compared to perlicks I seems alot tighter. This is an unfair comparison though because the faucets I otherwise have experience with were WELL used. So they were loose and didn't stay sealed sometimes. So to compare old perlicks to my new Roto tap its very unfair to perlicks i have a feeling.

Seeing these more and more places (maybe just because I'm aware of them now)... new super-fancy beer bar Torst in Brooklyn is using them.

http://galleries.gothamistllc.com/asset/51409470cd657855c8a50044/mobile/torst_samhorine-1313.jpg

alexroussos said:

Seeing these more and more places (maybe just because I'm aware of them now)... new super-fancy beer bar Torst in Brooklyn is using them.

http://galleries.gothamistllc.com/asset/51409470cd657855c8a50044/mobile/torst_samhorine-1313.jpg

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They've been around a long time. You mostly see them in beer bars in the U.S. that regularly switch between various beers because they allow for flow control and reduced foaming (longer spout to allow you to put it way down into the glass). Some of these kegs are $300-500/keg, so every ounce saved is important.