Drippy Stout Faucet

[kcbeersnob]

I installed this stainless stout faucet in January: http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Stainless-Stout-Faucet_p_142.html

It drips for a long time after I use it. If I pull a pint in the evening, I will find a fairly large dried pool of stout on my drip tray in the morning. Is that common for a stout faucet?

A couple weeks after I started using it, I had to take it apart and give it a PBW soak because of some build up inside the faucet that was restricting the flow such that it would only pour out one side of the spout.

 

[kcbeersnob]

I thought I would post an update for posterity's sake.

I needed a second stout faucet, and I decided to try a different one: http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/taps-faucets-pid-JESF-4.html

It drips too, but not as much as the one noted in my original post. I like this one a little better than the original one. The nozzle is a littler narrower, so the beer doesn't flow as fast--which is a good thing when you're serving at 20-30psi.

Although the nozzle is plastic, it is thick, heavy duty plastic. I went back and looked at some pics from my first trip to the Guinness brewery and their nozzle is plastic too.

 

[pannell77]

I installed my faucet from stainlessbrewing.com yesterday and have the same issue. It drips for a long time, it also leaks whenever I lift the lid to my keezer which is a huge issue since I have to lift the lid to be able to switch out kegs and don't want beer to spill out everywhere.

 

[bigdubz]

I have two of the stout faucets made by Krome, and they exhibit the same behavior. I haven't found a way to stop the drip, I think it is just beer left between the valve and the tip.

For the last few months I've kept Star San and paper towels near the kegerator, and I just hold a paper towel to the tip and it pulls the beer out. After the last pint of the night, I spray Star San up the nozzle and wipe down all of my faucets.

It sounds like a pain, but now that I'm used to it, it no problem. 5 months of stout faucet/nitro with no mold or negative effects.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[kcbeersnob]

To prevent mold I just unscrew the nozzle, rinse it off and screw it back on after I finish using it for a night. I only use a stout faucet for a few months each year--so not a big deal. I'm still very happy with the Micromatic faucet.

 

[Indian_villager]

I believe what y'all are experiencing is the drip of the liquid holdup between the valve body and the jet disc. In that space you have a bit of liquid lock which over time will drip out or gunk up. I usually just unscrew the spout and let the beer into my drip tray and screw back in. So long as you don't have some unrelated major issue your beer is not going to slowly bleed out.

 

[masonsjax]

It's like holding liquid in a drinking straw with your thumb over the top. Mine drips and splashes beer all over the front of my keezer making a big mess. I wish there was a valve on the top of the nozzle that would allow letting air in to release the beer stuck inside.

 

[day_trippr]

I have a Micro-matic stout faucet (a great blunderbuss of a thing) and I've taken to leaving a red plastic cup under it overnight. By morning it's done dribbling and I can stick a plastic cap over the spout.

It is what it is...

Cheers!

 

[kcbeersnob]

So long as you don't have some unrelated major issue your beer is not going to slowly bleed out.

LOL! I don't think anyone actually thought that was happening. Thanks for the laugh.

When you're used to no drip Perlick faucets, the drippy stout faucet is just annoying, but it is clearly also to be expected. There are clearly better (i.e., less annoying) stout faucets to be had, though. I give the Micromatic high marks in every category.