Creamer Faucet or Stout Faucet - Are they worth it?

[DeNomad]

I am finding myself thinking about adding a dedicated porter/stout faucet to my kegerator. In your experience did you find adding a creamer faucet or a stout faucet with a nitrogen line worth the money and space? I have been using my standard Perlick 630SS faucets for quite some time with great success - that being said I haven't tried other faucets.

Also is a good quality stainless stout faucet easy to find? A quick search did not yield many results from Canadian suppliers for me.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]In your experience did you find adding a creamer faucet or a stout faucet with a nitrogen line worth the money and space?

I would miss my nitro imperial stout nightcap terribly.
So, yes, totally worth it.

Ontario Beer Kegs carries a few stout faucets...
https://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/Faucets_and_Assemblies_s/615.htm

Cheers!

 

[55x11]

I am finding myself thinking about adding a dedicated porter/stout faucet to my kegerator. In your experience did you find adding a creamer faucet or a stout faucet with a nitrogen line worth the money and space? I have been using my standard Perlick 630SS faucets for quite some time with great success - that being said I haven't tried other faucets.

Also is a good quality stainless stout faucet easy to find? A quick search did not yield many results from Canadian suppliers for me.

it is worth the money for sure, if you like beers on nitro. The possibility of serving my home-brews on nitro (especially unusual combinations, like red ale on nitro or scotch ale on nitro - it's not just for stouts) - provides for a lot of interesting experiments. I also sometimes serve cold brew (coffee) on nitro, even though it's better on pure nitro rather than beer gas mix.

I have three nitro stout faucets currently. I also have another 630SS faucets. I find that the nitro stout faucets work well but drip a bit (a few drops over ~20 seconds after closing the tap) - while 630SS never dripped on me. This could be due to the larger free volume /surface inside, I am not sure. Still, highly recommended.

 

[day_trippr]

Stouts faucets all drip like that.

Most of the reason is the small opening at the bottom of the spout that is cut on a horizontal plane, as opposed to, say, a 630 which has a much wider opening which is cut at an angle relative to horizontal.

The rest of the reason is stouts are typically high FG and more viscous than, say, a small beer, which increases the surface tension on what collects at the bottom of the spout.

The combination causes beer to basically just sit there. But you can wick most of it out by wiping the back rim of the glass across the spout opening...

Cheers!

 

[55x11]

Stouts faucets all drip like that.

....But you can wick most of it out by wiping the back rim of the glass across the spout opening...

Cheers!

Good to know I am not the only one! (I tried to disassemble and clean the faucets periodically but it doesn't seem to solve the problem much at all).

wiping trick is what I have used lately as well - just need to be a bit patient.

 

[day_trippr]

It can take a little time - I wait about 10 seconds then commence with the wicking.
The knack is to make sure the dribbles end up inside the glass

When you think about it, there's pretty much nothing in homebrewing that doesn't benefit from an abundance of patience...

Cheers!

[edit] Couple of things:
- I cap my stout faucet spout using the smaller of the white plastic caps from a standard rubber carboy cap. Keeps it from drying out, good for a few days between removing the spout and flushing it and the restrictor plate and flow straightener with hot water.

- Back to the OP: creamer faucets are not something worth spending more $$ on.
First, they tend to confuse guests ("No - you don't push that one back!" )
Second, you can create foam with any faucet just by cracking it at the very end of a pour.

I ended up with the part that turns a "regular" Perl into a "creamer" faucet because a lifetime supply of O-rings for my six faucets was still $14 below Perlick's minimum order cost. I installed it and sure enough #1 Son got caught spraying beer. I put the "regular" faucet arm back...

 

[sillbeer]

This is the stout faucet I have and I love it.

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-beer/stout-and-ale-faucet-polished-stainless-steel-body-jesf-4

I don't know why I waited so long to get one. I've only served two 5 gallon kegs on it and my first one was a learning experience getting the pressure right. I asked how to get my pressure setup and day_tripper quickly replied. It now serves perfectly.

Oh, and mine drips too.

 

[DeNomad]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Looks like all yays for stout faucets for I am going to give that a go and stay away from the creamer faucets. I think some drips are an acceptable downside to having a great glass of stout served on nitrogen.

The Taprite stout faucet PN SF2003 looks like the ticket to me. Just need to get a 20lb nitrogen bottle and an appropriate regulator.

Sillbeer I am going to look for that post on pressure set-up now, thanks for mentioning that.

This is the stout faucet I have and I love it.

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-beer/stout-and-ale-faucet-polished-stainless-steel-body-jesf-4

I don't know why I waited so long to get one. I've only served two 5 gallon kegs on it and my first one was a learning experience getting the pressure right. I asked how to get my pressure setup and day_tripper quickly replied. It now serves perfectly.

Oh, and mine drips too.

 

[BBBF]

I am finding myself thinking about adding a dedicated porter/stout faucet to my kegerator. In your experience did you find adding a creamer faucet or a stout faucet with a nitrogen line worth the money and space? I have been using my standard Perlick 630SS faucets for quite some time with great success - that being said I haven't tried other faucets.

Also is a good quality stainless stout faucet easy to find? A quick search did not yield many results from Canadian suppliers for me.

I used to have the perlicks with creamers. It worked and I used them to add a little more head to the glass, but the creamer wasn't a must have and I would never try to talk someone into getting a creamer faucet.

Are stout faucets needed? Only if you like nitro beers. A nitro set up is more expensive, so I wouldn't recommend having one, unless you really want it.

I'd recommend looking into the Intertap faucets, which have a nozzle be removed and replaced with a stout faucet nozzle. That way you have the option of pouring nitro or co2 beers.

 

[akthor]

So this is a bit off topic but I bought a nitro regulator off here a while back with the eventual goal of adding nitro to my irish stout.

In perusing around I'm confused I see talk of "beer gas" and of just using nitro.

Can someone please explain the how's and whys and pros and cons of the different methods?

 

[day_trippr]

Usually, folks use "nitro" as slang referring to beer gas - an N2-CO2 blend.
I know I'm totally guilty on that count

It'd be a rare setup to run straight nitrogen, because CO2 carbonated beer in a keg will lose carbonation as the head space increase. The CO2 in beer gas keeps the carbonation level at the desired level...

Cheers!

 

[DeNomad]

So this is a bit off topic but I bought a nitro regulator off here a while back with the eventual goal of adding nitro to my irish stout.

In perusing around I'm confused I see talk of "beer gas" and of just using nitro.

Can someone please explain the how's and whys and pros and cons of the different methods?

Akthor my understanding is beer gas is a mixture of 75% Nitrogen and 25% CO2. With beer gas you can carbonate and dispense at higher pressure with the "Guinness pour" and you only need one gas cylinder. You can also carbonate with a CO2 cylinder as normal and then swap the CO2 cylinder out for a nitrogen cylinder when you want to dispense your beer to the same effect.

Personally I will be using two cylinders as my local welding store only offers beer gas in cylinders which are about 5' tall (obviously for the local brew pubs not residential use). A 20 lb nitrogen tank and 5 lb CO2 tank are both around 5-6" diameter and only around 2' tall and they can fit in my kegerator.

 

[zachattack]

You can also carbonate with a CO2 cylinder as normal and then swap the CO2 cylinder out for a nitrogen cylinder when you want to dispense your beer to the same effect.

This will eventually lead to flat beer as day_trippr explained above. You need some CO2 pressure above the beer to maintain the carbonation. The beergas is necessary unless you want to periodically vent and re-carb with pure CO2.

 

[akthor]

So do you need to get beer gas from the same people that fill CO2 tanks? Or do you blend it with a CO2 tank and a nitro tank? If so how? What regulator do you use on a beer gas tank if you can get it filled?

 

[day_trippr]

You get beer gas from whomever sells it. My lhbs fills both CO2 and beer gas cylinders.
You use a "mixed gas" cylinder, typically with a CGA-580 valve, and a regulator to match...

Cheers!

 

[RRL]

I know the place I goes sells the typical CGA-320 fitting / cylinder and uses a regulator that can handle higher pressures.

The cylinder holds either pure co2 or the beer gas mix 70/30 or what ever it is. so all depends who and what they sell. I would 100% talk to the gas place 1st and see what they will sell before buying a regulator Im glad I did anyways.


and x2 for OBK for peopel in Canada, especially since our dollar has been in the craper