There are few things I see value in spending top dollar on, as I’ve found I can usually pay less for items of equal or even better quality just without the big name attached to it. But then there are those things where price does seemed to be correlated with quality, and for those who keg, faucets are certainly one of these items. I recently learned about Vent-Matic faucets and had the very cool opportunity to chat with the owner of the company. Besides sharing a remarkably fascinating story, he sent me some faucets to review… these ain’t your mama’s typical tap!
I do wish that these were available when we were building the bar (club down the road was doing a large buy, but it always fell through for one reason or another - for like a year or more) but I gotta say, the 650SS ain’t a bad choice either.
This part gave me flash backs " I recall once coming home after 2 short days away, stoked to pull a pint of something I’d brewed, only to find myself struggling like the dickens to get the damn thing to budge! I pulled so hard, I had to brace the entire kegerator, and even then, nada"
One time the plastic tap handle snapped off in my hand. When I reordered good tap handles I included two Perlicks. When those wear out, I’ll look at these new ones
Thanks for the write up, Marshall. I’m happy with my Perlicks, but the next time I buy I’m definitely open to try them.
FWIW, they aren’t ‘new’ - i’ve had mine for about 10 years now. The owner had some production issues and IIRC a spat with Perlick, which caused them to be off the market for a long time.
I love my VMs. I have most of the available spout sizes, though most of my beers use the standard 10mm.
Glad to see Brad is back in action!
Where can these be purchased? I don’t find much info on the google machine. I probably can’t afford them but am curious how the price compares to Perlicks.
Marshall, I mentioned in our FB group that I have all Ventmatics (the 2-piece Ultraflo model) and then I put 8mm spouts (made by the guy who runs Centerline… he is a local homebrewer/fabricator and I have been our drinking beer with him many times) on all 4 taps. I really like the pour I get with the 8mm spouts. The larger 10-12mm spouts seemed to give me a hollow pour occasionally. He also built the 8mm spouts so that the spout fills with beer and comes to the bottom of the spout when you turn off the faucet. This makes the beer all come to the bottom of the spout (I think he just beveled it a little at the opening) and drain into the glass at the end of the pour. No more “beer-dribble” 30 seconds after you turn off the faucet. Great stuff and awesome to see Ventmatics back.
There’s a link that takes to you to the site at the end of the brulosophy review:
http://www.vent-matic.com/#!/c1nab
Looks like just over $50 depending on finish
I’ve been in the market for a new faucet - currently rocking a shitty one that came with the kegerator and a nitro tap I recently bought.
I was going to target the 650SS Flow Control, I’m assuming the vent-matic doesn’t have that feature but to be honest I’ve never used it. Is it a big impact?
Still bottling here, but thanks for the write up Marshall. When I make the witch to kegging I will be looking into these for sure
Wow. Blast from the past. I switched to Perlicks when I used my Bowie Bottlers (since switched to a beer gun), but I always loved my Shirron/Ventmatic faucets. I need to start stocking up while they’re still around, just in case.
I think so too. I wonder if I should pick up 2 of these for “safe keeping” or if I should replace my 4 current (older model) Ventmatics with these and then keep the OLD ones for safe keeping. Very tempting especially when Marshall mentions how it magically improved the head on his beer.
I’ve never used the 650 series Perlicks, but if you check the Brülosophy FB page, you’ll see Colin Kaminski has had nothing but problems with his.
I like your style.
Great to see the Ventmatics are back in production.
I got the last of my five faucets just before they went out of production.
I’m a long way away from a kegerator but curiosity is getting the better of me. What’s a ‘hollow pour?’
I have two of the Perlicks with flow control and have had no issues. Just a different story; I’m not trying to say Colin is wrong.
Basically where the beer comes out of the tap along the sides of the faucet and leaves a ‘hole’ or ‘bubble’ in the center. It effectively looks like a tube instead of a solid stream.
Yeah, I can see where that would not be the most desirable thing. Thanks.
Yes, these are great faucets. I bought some not from the original run but when Shirron was briefly making them 7 or 8 years ago. I also like the removable spouts… I can clean them as well as use narrow or wide spouts for different carbonation levels.
I am a cobra tap user for years, but, have been considering building a kegerator.
Forgive my ignorance; why does the removeable tip make cleaning easier? It seems you still need to clean up inside the portion of the tap that is not removeable.