I always run PBW, let sit in lines 15 minutes, Cold water flush, Then Star San and let sit for 15 minutes when I tap a new Corney. I’m currently running Rye Stout through one of the taps and the tap handle sticks and drips a little after shutting off. Do I need to pull everything apart and reclean or is it due to the beer having a heavier body? PS I’m using Co2 for the Rye stout as I don’t have a nitrogen tap. Thanks
Its just a heavier sweeter beer and tends to get sticky as it dries. A forward sealing faucet (Perlick) would be a good upgrade as they don’t stick and require very little maintenance.
put spout caps on after use this keeps the beer from drying in the faucet. also helps with fruit flies.
I’ve done some searching and reading about sticky taps and today decided to take apart all three (rear sealing) of mine, clean them, and apply silicon grease to the moving parts (as recommended on this site). Pretty gross stuff in there after 4 months or so.
My question is this: I may have been a bit liberal with the keg lube. The head on the first few pours from each tap simply disappears. Obviously, it is touching the grease as it pours. Will this dissipate with time, or do I need to take things apart again, and be more controlled with where and how much I put on?
Thanks.
(Hopefully tax returns will allow me to upgrade to Perlicks…)
I keep a small spray bottle filled with diluted StarSan. When I am not going to pull a beer for a while, I simply hit the inside of the faucet with a couple squirts. It washes out the mechanism where the air will hit and really helps to prevent sticking. Water would probably work as well, but why not sanitize it at the same time.
Keg lube helps too, but too much grease is not a good thing. Clean it out and this time use it sparingly.
Uncle
I’ve only been kegging since last November, so I don’t have the experience a lot of the guys have. I was getting the sticky taps (I have the standard, cheap taps). When we are all done drinking, I’ll take some StarSan and shoot it up the tap and then plug it with caps - Tap Soothers: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000KLYV0E?tag=adapas02-20
This has worked really well for me and I no longer have sticky caps (and no fruit flies). Just need to be more diligent in cleaning my tray!
Get a Perlick.
Forward sealing faucets fix these issues… I highly recommend them.
IMHO forward seating faucets are the only way to go.
I’m complaining OK whining about my sticky tap handles and a friend tells me he has a friend who works for Perlick. Two weeks later two boxes with remanufactured 525SS perl forward sealing faucets show up on my porch. So far No drips, no leaks, no sticks. All they cost me was a growler of Nut Brown Ale. Sweet deal. They look really nice with my black walnut tap handles.
Sweet score … it pays to know people.
