Hi,
You can jump all my text and see my questions in bold.
I write because I am struggling to find a quality faucet to fit micromatic shank/thread on a micromatic tower (short draw glycol chilled system with various/custom resistance in the lines). I need flow control SS faucets as well (which increases the difficulty of finding a great designed faucet).
I am still quite new to USA and working for a brewpub here since 2 years has given me a valuable opportunity to be more closely involved with draft equipment maintenance and product selection for better beer/quality pours.
My brewpub has a metropolis 20 faucet tower and we used to have rototap faucets. The model we used was discontinued in 2017 where the centre valve assy became so expensive that I had to dump/replace all faucets. Personally, it was poorly designed but poor design -to some extent- is the problem I still face.
"Unfortunately" I already bought perlick 650SS because of being in a rush but fortunately I still have 3 faucets where I need to find a faucet and I am tempted to try something else. Perlick 650SS is not the worse maybe but I don't like the following things:
- lubricant needs to be used
- Only rubber seals and too many seals imo
I'm stuck with those perlick for a while now as a new purchase so I would like to ask for those:
1) Can you recommend me the best food grade lubricant for beer/foam and rubber seals? (I understood Silicone based is best for rubber).
2) Do you know any vendors who sells or can custom make peroxide cured epdm seals for the perlick 650SS?
3) Finding peroxide cured EPDM seals to replace rubber seals may not help me to not use lubricant, but maybe I would then need to find an alternative lubricant because of the material. My concerns are running caustic on rubber seals and using lubricant that could kill foam and end up in the product. Can you clarify to me if my concerns are valid with those rubber seals and chemical contact (material degradation and food safety) and also about lubricant potential impact on foam stability/product integrity?
Finally, my most important question, because I don't really like perlick 650SS and I have a chance to get 3 faucets to test for long term:
- What ss faucet with flow control which can fit on Micromatic thread/shanks would you recommend and why? (Things such as: flow control mechanism with more laminar flow, minimum internal parts => cheaper maintenance/ease of cleaning, no need for lubricant, stable/food grade internal parts warm liquid, caustic and peracetic).
I was interested in CM becker V10 but unfortunately can't fit it on micromatic tower/shanks/threads. Then I read a bit about nukatap and intertap but it doesn't convince me. This said, please share if you think these former two are better. Maybe I could use some micromatic as well, but I haven't looked into their latest models because of pricing and I hate their rototap model which I had to throw out because it was phased out and internal parts became so expensive.
I wish I could replace the whole draft system set up but it will not be possible (because of budget, downtime and because we just modified the tower and both many perlick faucets).
Thanks for any help!
Thomas S.
Head Brewer
------------------------------
Thomas Sjoberg
Hopstix
Tucker GA
------------------------------