Who Makes Good Taps for Keezer?

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Clint Yeastwood

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I ordered a Torpedo Megamouth keg based on the fantasy that it would fit in my spare fridge. Now that the keg is here and reality is biting me from the rear, I have decided to give up and make me a 9-foot keezer with 4 Corny kegs. Last time, I put beer towers on top of one, and it worked fine, but this time I think I will avoid reinventing the wheel for once and use a collar.

Back when I did this the first time, I used taps called Tapmatic or Ventmatic or something. They were the hotshot taps back then. Is there something better now?

Also, who makes a good stout tap?

I still have CO2, one regulator, some tubing, and a bunch of disconnects. I'll bet I threw my taps out.

I feel like a keezer is the way to go because 1) I have done it before, 2) I can replace the Chinese freezer (they all are) if it poops out and still keep the other hardware, and 3) I have read bad things about kegerator companies.
 
"Vent Matic" And the principal basically licensed away control of the forward sealing shuttle design. You can find fair replicas under the Intertap brand. And of course Perlick sells their line of forward sealing faucets that don't use a shuttle.

For stout faucets, Micromatic sells the traditional big hunk of stainless steel design, but you can also change the spout on an Intertap faucet to use one of their stout spouts.

fwiw, I run a five pack of Perlicks and a Micromatic stout faucet. Very reliable, no complaints...

Cheers!
 
The best solution I've seen to date used black iron pipe and fittings to hang a conventional surface mount drip tray from the collar. The person screwed a pair of pipe flanges to the collar with elbows screwed to those and pipe sections below to another pair of flanges screwed to a board that the tray sat on. Brilliant and good looking, too.

Anyway...You can easily find trays on Amazon, and a 16" long surface mount, non-draining tray would handle four faucets on up to 4" centers.
https://smile.amazon.com/ACU-Precision-Sheet-Metal-0100-16/dp/B00WQ7XIAE
Cheers!
 
I'm the wrong guy to ask about tap handles, I use the factory stock black plastic ones :)

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Cheers!
 
The best solution I've seen to date used black iron pipe and fittings to hang a conventional surface mount drip tray from the collar. The person screwed a pair of pipe flanges to the collar with elbows screwed to those and pipe sections below to another pair of flanges screwed to a board that the tray sat on. Brilliant and good looking, too.

Anyway...You can easily find trays on Amazon, and a 16" long surface mount, non-draining tray would handle four faucets on up to 4" centers.
https://smile.amazon.com/ACU-Precision-Sheet-Metal-0100-16/dp/B00WQ7XIAE
Cheers!
Thanks, man.

So far, I have 3 Perlicks, a stout faucet, and 4 used Cornys on the way.

I should get some real gas manifolds. The stuff I cobbled together from Home Depot fittings is looking pretty crazy.
 
Please, use 4mm ID / 8mm OD EVA Barrier line in your keezer, for both beer and gas. You'll thank us for that.
John Guest (or Duotight) push-fit connectors are very handy in that environment.

In that light, you would get a gas manifold with 1/4" MFL connects. And (stainless) shanks with a flat end (no barb), onto which John Guest BSPP to 1/4" MFL fittings connect.
 
Right now I just want to get up and running. The gas side is ready to go. I can fine tune it later. The beer side is what I'm working on.

For the moment, I plan to use plain old black ball lock disconnects. I'm trying to figure out the right hose diameter.
 
I'm trying to figure out the right hose diameter.
4mm EVA Barrier line and 6' per tap will be all the diameter and length you'd need.
Same 4mm line can be used for gas, at any length.

The 4mm line can be coaxed over 1/4" barbs with some very hot water and a stepped swaging tool.

Otherwise use regular 3/16" ID, thick-walled PVC, Bevlex 200 line.
 
Thanks. Best I could do was 3/16".

Now I'm looking after the kegs. I bought sets of new gaskets, and I'm looking for keg-cleaning tricks. I have a tub of PBW coming.
 
Now I'm looking after the kegs. I bought sets of new gaskets, and I'm looking for keg-cleaning tricks. I have a tub of PBW coming.
Clean them in succession, reuse all cleaning and rinsing solution(s), moving from the first keg to the last. While doing so, every keg will be in it's own partial state of cleaning.

Using that method it should take no more than 15-20 minutes per keg, in total, all taken apart, cleaned, rinsed, and sanitized.
Use Keg Lube on all o-rings, rub it in, and leave whatever is left on it.

Use PBW hot, but not boiling.
I use a dedicated toilet brush to brush the inside, especially the bottom section. And shake the kegs (put the lid on it).

Many of us here are into closed or semi-closed transfers into 100% pre-purged kegs.
That means the (cleaned and sanitized) keg will be completely filled with Starsan (or water), then pushed out completely with CO2 through the liquid out diptube/post. The keg stays that way, left with 10-12 psi of CO2 in it. The keg will then be filled through the liquid out post, with the PRV opened or a QD on the gas post, with a tube going into a bucket or jug with Starsan. The keg never gets opened until the next cleaning. ;)
 
Thanks for writing all that.

I know a little bit about this. I used to have a big collection of kegs. But it's always good to hear how other people do it. I haven't used PBW before.

I'm glad I remembered to order gaskets before the kegs' arrival.
 
I haven't used PBW before.
It's a very good alkaline cleaner!

[EDIT] Consists of 30% 70% Sodium PerCarbonate (the main active oxygen releasing ingredient in Oxiclean, basically), 70% 30% Sodium MetaSilicate (a TSP substitute), and a small amount of Sodium EDTA, a common chelating agent, sequestering "metal" ions.

You can mix your own "homemade PBW" from the 2 main ingredients, for a fraction of the price. But the tub is handy to have. ;)

1 scoop (Tbsp) per 5 gallons is nominal strength. The same in 1 gallon is very strong!
Used warm to hot increases reactivity (cleaning power).
 
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I have seen tools that attach to drills, and they look interesting. I have a pressure washer, but I am afraid the water would come around and hit me in the face. My second cousin's husband had that happen to him while cleaning a toilet.
 
I have seen tools that attach to drills, and they look interesting. I have a pressure washer, but I am afraid the water would come around and hit me in the face. My second cousin's husband had that happen to him while cleaning a toilet.
Kegs don't get all that dirty inside, there's not much that adheres to the stainless.
There may be some sticky trub/yeast on the bottom, but the sides remain fairly clean.

1. Rinse out
Once the lid is off, I add some water, swirl or use a scrub brush (a dedicated toilet brush) as needed until all trub on the bottom is suspended, then pour it out.

2. Second rinse
Then a 2nd rinse with the scrub brush around the bottom (and sides if needed); pour out into the next keg in line.

3. Hot PBW
Pour in a gallon or so of hot (homemade) PBW solution. Reset lid and shake like it owes you money. Pour the PBW back into the pot for reheating or into the next keg in line.

4. Rinse 2x or 3x

5. Sanitizer + 100% Prepurge
==> Ready for (semi-)closed transfer, same day or whenever needed.
 
The kegs I ordered are used, and the seller says to expect soda crud.
Hot water with some detergent will dissolve it. Check the whole insides including under the top/domes for dried-on syrup, it could be caked on there too.
You will need to remove the posts, poppets, dip tubes, and soak/brush everything to get the crud off. Just throw all the pieces into the keg for the soak.

Root beer syrup is the worst...
 
Meant to post this after the toilet post, but somehow it went to the wrong thread:

It's worse than it sounds. It wasn't a real pressure washer. It was one of those pressure wands at a do-it-yourself car wash. It was in a small town so I suppose everyone saw it or heard about it. The worst thing is that he made my cousin drive him to the car wash on a Chevy C60 flatbed truck, and he sat on the toilet during the trip to prevent it from falling off.
 
Now...what about tap handles? I want handles I can write on, but not giant, foot-long handles that get in the way.
I got a set of these for Christmas and love them. Silginnes Chalkboard Beer Tap Handles - 4-Pack Wooden Walnut Beer Tap Handles With Chalkboard And Pen - Best For Homebrew, Kegerators And Bars - Makes A Great Gift For Beer Lovers And Homebrewers Amazon.com: Silginnes Chalkboard Beer Tap Handles - 4-Pack Wooden Walnut Beer Tap Handles With Chalkboard And Pen - Best For Homebrew, Kegerators And Bars - Makes A Great Gift For Beer Lovers And Homebrewers: Home & Kitchen
 
Check Etsy for tap handles. I recently ordered three tap handles from WoodChuckFlood. 1.5”-square cross section, 8” long. Was able to choose a finish that matched the one I had applied to my keezer collar. I’ve got a chalk marker I use for labeling glass carboys, and it works great on the chalkboard paint on the tap handles.
 
Highly recommend the Kegland (or similar) beer shank with the threaded barb fitting. This gives you max flixibility - if you dicide to go to or from duotight. The duotight shank fitting works perfectly in my setup. Buy it once, and use it forever - much unlike my own dumb self! I also spent some time pondering CO2 options. I found a shank that was threaded on both ends and long enough to feed through my refirgerator wall. I connected a corny gas post to the outside, and a gas QD to my regulator line. Inside is all duotight. This lets me just unplug the CO2 whenever I need to without having to mess with the rest of the setup.
 

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Thanks for the help.

I decided to buy 4 black plastic handles. I was thinking about it, and I realized it ought to be pretty easy to take a tap and a piece of wood and make a handle myself. If I fail, there's always Amazon.

I ordered Bev Right 4" SS shanks. I can always return them. I don't see Kegland-branded shanks out there. Are they under a different name?

While I'm at it, does Kegland own everything? Looks like a lot of brewing sites are really the same company.

Right now, the plan is plastic disconnect on keg => 3/16" no-name tubing => nut => shank.
 
I decided to buy 4 black plastic handles.
Cheap and cheerful, those are what many of us use. And a chalkboard.

Now the Van Halen handle^^ is very special, that beats about all of what's out there. Would be nice if it also played a ransom riff when pulling it... You couldn't keep that beer on tap if you tried. ;)

I really like the round stainless tap handles Stainless Brewing used to sell. Wish I had bought a few dozen of those back in the days. IIRC, they came in 3 lengths.
 
Cheap and cheerful, those are what many of us use. And a chalkboard.

Now the Van Halen handle^^ is very special, that beats about all of what's out there. Would be nice if it also played a ransom riff when pulling it... You couldn't keep that beer on tap if you tried. ;)

I really like the round stainless tap handles Stainless Brewing used to sell. Wish I had bought a few dozen of those back in the days. IIRC, they came in 3 lengths.
Hey now, that could be a fun project for sure. Might have to see what I can do. LOL. But then my wife will know each time a take some out. I keep my glass half full so when I top it off she doesn't know. LOL
 
Brought the keezer home just now. I got an 8.7-foot Magic Chef. The box looks pretty small. I need to make sure the floor area will do 4 Cornys.

I had a real experience getting it. Home Depot's site said they would deliver it the next day (today) for $35. I could not pass that up. At around 3 p.m., I hadn't heard anything, so I called them.

I could not get a human being on the phone, but they let me text their robot, who confirmed I needed a human being. The human being who texted me said I had to call the local store. I called the local store, they put me on hold, and the machine hung up on me.

I called again and got a rude girl. She said something very rapidly, and I thought she was speaking Spanish. I said, "I don't speak Spanish," and she said, "Neither do I!", and put me on hold instantly. When she came back on the line, she pretty much tried to blame me for clicking the wrong thing on the website, and I set her straight about that. She said the box was sitting there waiting for curb pickup, which was not what I asked for. I was getting annoyed. Finally, she said they would deliver a week from now, and I would have to be here for up to 14 hours to wait for the truck.

Even though I'm using a little SUV, I drove to Home Depot in person. I went to customer service. I told the lady at the counter to have an employee try to get the freezer in the car, and if it didn't fit, they could deliver it next week. She apologized over and over. Could not have been nicer. All the while, I was telling her about the rude girl I had talked to.

Then the girl at the counter next to her butted in and made it clear she had been the one I had talked to. I told her I would rather deal with the first lady. She said, "Fine." Which it was.

The box fit in the car, they killed the delivery charge, and the lady felt so bad, she took some money off the price of the freezer. Total price went from $397 to $335.

The lady I dealt with felt so bad, she was afraid to ask for a review. I told her I would be happy to give one for her and the young man who lifted the box. Home Depot had already made the mistake of asking for a review of my phone experience, so I guess the girl will hear about my feedback this week.

I don't know whether covid has made stores so desperate they will hire anyone or what. I have had many appliances delivered because of my business interests, and Home Depot and Lowe's have gotten really bad. It used to be normal to get an appliance in 5 days or less, and they didn't let rude people talk to customers. These days I look at Best Buy first, and after that, a regional outfit called Brandsmart.
 
Things keep mutating.

I wanted to get some equipment ordered so I would not have to wait a month to drink my first ale. It was taking time to learn about new technology, so I went with some familiar items. Now I'm making changes.

As has been suggested, I'm going all-Duotight from the kegs to the shanks. I ordered some conventional tubing and disconnects, but they'll be going back. I got a length of Evabarrier, some Kegland disconnects, and some push-fit things to attach tubing to shanks.

I already have a couple of regulators set up with old-style disconnects and tubing, so I'll leave them alone unless they leak.
 
If you haven't ordered your taps yet, at the very least look up the Nuka-Taps. They're the best taps I've ever had. They pour amazingly, have plenty of attachments if you need them and they look good. I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least look at them before buying some. Just my two cents.
 
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