Problem with tap handles

[hopmadness]

I've noticed that if I don't drink any beer during the week, when I go to pour a beer on say Friday night, the tap handles are very difficult to move/difficult to open the tap. It's like I have to "break them free" if I haven't used them for several days. After I put a little muscle into "opening" the tap....then everything works fine for the rest of the night. Any ideas regarding why this happens and/or things that I can do to prevent it...(besides pour a beer every day)??

 

[beerthirty]

It sounds like you have rear seal faucets. Personally I would pour at least a beer a day but since you seem to be fighting that idea the choices are switch to more expensive forward seal faucets or try plugging the faucet when not in use. This should help to keep the beer from drying out around the seal and piston. Be careful when forcing the handle, some stems are made from brass and break off easily when forced.

 

[ombre42]

get Perlicks when those break
I bet using a spray bottle full of starsan pointed up into the taps and several squirts to wash the beer off the mechanics would help