The Northern Brewer Homebrew Forum

by KC » Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:37 pm

I'm in the process of building a kegerator. Converting a chest freezer and plan to have three taps going. Having a debate with myself on what faucets to order. Are the Perlicks etc worth the extra money, or should I order the cheap ones?

Website · by **Kegalicious** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 6:12 pm

First you must pray to the faucet gods for a minimum of 4 days with no food or water. :shock:

Okay, so this is an age old debate that has been wrestled with for quite a while. A good comparison of Perlick vs Ventmatic can be found here. A good reference for the Cobra (inexpensive) tap vs Perlick/Ventmatic can be read here. As far as whether or not to get Perlick/Ventmatic vs the el cheapo faucets I would say that it is largely a matter of personal preference. If money is a big factor and you want the cheapest solution, go with the el cheapos. If however, you are willing to spend the extra money, my personal recommendation would be to get the Perlicks or Ventmatics if you can afford them. The forward seal design will save you time and hassles in the long run as far as cleaning and sticky faucets. They also look very nice and add that professional look to your setup. I am presently waiting for the Ventmatics to go back into production, hopefully they will be available within the next month or so. Many on the board use Cobra taps and are happy with them, many others are also very satisfied with either Ventmatics or Perlicks.

- Chad

by **djmd** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:50 pm

That thread had a lot of negativity towards the perlicks. I don't know if they have really upped the quality at perlick, but my perlicks are just fine. They are solid, pour great, no foam as was reported in that thread. Glad I didn't read that thread first, I'd be holding out for vent-matics, and who knows when they will be back. I would try a perlick before you tried one of the old-school faucets.

by KC » Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:16 pm

Thanks for the quick replies.

I don't really want to wait until VentMatic decides to have products available again. Glad to hear you like the Perlick. I've read a bit of both, couldn't decide whether to deal with sticking and buy $15 faucets or pony up the extra $20 apiece.

by **hopper** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:11 pm

I was in your situation about a month ago. I bought the cheap $15.00 faucets from Beverage Factory. Saved a bunch of dough, they do pour beer. And look pretty good............. But I just ordered 3 perlicks from NB today beacuse the cheap faucets FREAKIN SUCK!

I thought I could justify it by saving money and I figured that I would be using the faucets enough that they would not stick too bad.
Not so.
All they need is three days max before they stick so bad that you think you're going to break a tap handle opening them.

Trust me dude...........buy the perlicks first.

If you really need to prove it to yourself. I will sell you my three cheap ass faucets when my perlicks arive in a few days. I'll give 'em to you for half what I paid. I'm just going to e-bay them anyway. PM me if you're interested. But trust me you won't be happy with them, and you'll probably replace them soon (while kicking yourself for not having better sense in the first place).

by **TonyC** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:32 pm

djmd wrote:That thread had a lot of negativity towards the perlicks. I don't know if they have really upped the quality at perlick, but my perlicks are just fine...

Yeah, the comparison is very bias. I disassembled my Perlicks when I first got them, and the threads were perfect, and the inner bores were flawless. Yes, the design is different than Vent-Matics, and thats the only thing I could ever say against them.

My Perlicks are awesome, pour great, and are worth every penny.

by **ruinah69** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:58 am

I have 3 Perlicks and don't have any issues with them. I had the problem with sticking faucets with the el-cheapo ones and once I got the Perlick's I wondered why I didn't get them sooner. Absolutely 100% worth the extra money. It's been 14 days since my last pour on one of them and I tried it last night and no sticking.

by **Mikey** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:49 am

I have two Perlicks and they are great. Much better than the cheapos I had before. No sticking at all and no problem with foaming. I read several posts about poor threads, but I didn't have that problem.

by **5367** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:21 am

I think you will find manufacturing inconsistencies in either VM or Perlick. Asian contract-manufacturing on this scale is hit & miss by its nature. I love my VMs but can see major inconsistancies among the 6 that I have. (In areas that do not effect function, thankfully.)

Overall, though, they are both outstanding faucets. I prefer VM for soft reasons, but would not hesitate to buy Perlick if I needed a faucet today and couldn't get a VM. I would not buy the old-school faucet. IMO, that design has been rendered obsolete.

by **alphabrew** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:23 am

I just got three Perlicks a couple of weeks ago. Although I haven't used them yet, I believe when you have such an overwhelming amount of people on this board come forward and say that the cheapos will just have to be upgraded at some point you should listen up. Therefore you can look at it like this.....spend a lesser amount of money now, get the cheapos and deal with them until you can afford to upgrade. At that time, spend the money AGAIN and go through the hassle of unloading your used cheapy faucets on someone elso. OR...you could just bite the bullet and get it right the first time. I voted on getting it right the forst time as I hate having to deal with selling and shipping and spending money twice that I could've spent once. Just my $.02. Good luck.

by **beerbandit** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 10:14 am

I have two perlicks and love 'em.

by **h2dk** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:18 am

Mikey wrote: I read several posts about poor threads, but I didn't have that problem.

Out of the 5 I received, 1 had poor threads. I couldn't get it past the first few threads on one shank (and yes, I forced it to the point I had a difficult time removing it). I tried on a different shank, and although tight, it was able to be put all the way on. No problems with the other 4.

by **ScubaDave** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:50 pm

I recently installed 2 Perlicks. I'm very happy with them.

by **adami** » Thu May 18, 2006 1:48 pm

I'm looking at getting some used Perlick Chrome taps. Any opions on the chrome vs stainless steel version? Are the designs different, or just the materials?

My big question is should I spend the extra cash to get a stainless steel version?

Opps, looks like the SS version is a different design:

I'm guess the seal forward design is only availalbe in the SS?