Choosing beer taps and faucets for different styles
Most bars buy one faucet model and fit it to every line. That works for a row of lagers. Once the tap list includes nitro stout, high carbonation wheat beer, sours or cider, the faucet starts to matter. Here is what each type does and where it belongs.
The standard rear sealing faucet
The common bar faucet seals at the back of its body. When you close it, the beer in the faucet body and spout is open to the air. It drips out, then dries into a sticky film. On a busy tap that pours every few minutes, this is not a problem. On a slow tap, the faucet can stick shut overnight and the dried beer gives bacteria and moulds a place to grow.
Rear sealing faucets are cheap, easy to strip and fine for high turnover lagers and pale ales. They need nightly attention on slow taps.
Forward sealing faucets suit slow taps
A forward sealing faucet closes near the front, close to the spout. Very little beer is left exposed after the pour, so there is less drying, less sticking and less to clean. They cost more but earn it on taps that pour a few times a night: barley wines, specialty beers, guest taps.
In Indian humidity and heat, residue grows quickly. Moving slow taps to forward sealing faucets is one of the simplest hygiene upgrades a bar can make. Pair it with our guide to cleaning taps and nozzles between line cleans.
Flow control helps lively beers
A flow control faucet has a lever or knob that adds restriction at the tap. Turning it slows the beer down without changing gas pressure. That helps on short draws that are hard to balance, on high carbonation beers like weissbier or Belgian ales at 3 volumes or more and on systems where one tap shares a regulator with others.
It is not a cure for a badly balanced system. If every tap needs flow control turned right down, the line resistance or gas pressure is wrong. Our guide to over carbonated draught beer covers that diagnosis.
Stout faucets are only for nitro
A stout faucet has a restrictor plate, a small disc with tiny holes, inside the nozzle. Beer pushed through it at high pressure on a nitrogen rich gas blend throws out fine bubbles and builds a creamy head. Use it only for nitro beers. A normally carbonated beer through a stout faucet pours almost entirely as foam.
Keep the plate and nozzle spotless. Remove and soak them daily. A partly blocked plate gives a slow pour with large, loose bubbles.
Side pull taps let you control foam
Side pull faucets, common in Czech pubs, have a handle that moves in two directions. Pulled fully, the tap pours beer. Pulled partly the other way, it pours only fine, wet foam through a small screen. A skilled bartender can build a pour that is mostly beer with a thick foam cap, or a glass that is almost all foam.
They suit lagers where the bar wants to show off foam as part of the serve. They take training to use well. A side pull tap in untrained hands wastes more beer than it saves.
Stainless steel for sours, cider and kombucha
Many standard faucets are chrome plated brass. Over time, cleaning and wear can expose the brass underneath. Acidic drinks attack exposed brass, picking up metallic flavours and damaging the faucet. Sours often sit around pH 3.0 to 3.5, cider and kombucha similar or lower.
For any acidic product, use faucets, shanks and couplers in food grade stainless steel, commonly grade 304. It is worth fitting stainless on every tap if the budget allows, because tap lists change and today's lager line may be tomorrow's gose.
Shanks, nozzles and tap handles matter too
The faucet bolts onto a shank, the short tube that passes through the font or wall to meet the beer line. A shank of a different grade of metal from the faucet, or a worn washer between them, is a common source of slow leaks and trapped beer. When you upgrade faucets, check the shanks and washers at the same time.
Nozzles and spout extensions also change the pour. A longer spout lets the bartender fill from near the bottom of a tall weissbier glass, which cuts down on foaming. A short, wide spout suits fast pours of lager. Whatever the shape, nozzles should come off easily for soaking. If staff need a spanner to remove one, it will not be cleaned as often as it should.
Finally, label and colour code tap handles so staff never connect an acidic beer to a brass faucet by mistake when the tap list changes.
Match the faucet to the tap list
A practical setup for a mixed Indian taproom might look like this: stainless forward sealing faucets as the default, flow control on two or three taps reserved for wheat beers and Belgian styles, one stout faucet on a dedicated nitro line and spare plugs for every tap overnight.
The best check is a taster in front of each tap. Hardware that leaves a metallic edge or a faint stale note will show up there first.
Your first step: list your taps by how many pours each gets on a quiet weekday. Any tap under about 20 pours a day is a candidate for a forward sealing faucet. Any acidic beer on brass is a candidate for stainless this month.
Common questions
What is the difference between rear and forward sealing faucets?
A rear sealing faucet closes at the back, leaving beer in the body to dry out. A forward sealing faucet closes near the spout, so less beer is exposed and it sticks less.
Can I use a stout faucet for normal beer?
No. The restrictor plate turns normally carbonated beer almost entirely into foam. Use it only for nitro beers on nitrogen rich gas.
What faucet should I use for sour beer?
A food grade stainless steel faucet. Acidic beers can attack chrome plated brass once the plating wears.
