12 replies to this topic

[positiveContact]

... in between pours?Your picnic tap that is. I kind of hang it off the edge of the keg but it seems a little precarious. Do you guys have any safer/better methods? Also - how do you avoid crusty build-up on the tap? I don't want to be cleaning these things every 2 weeks.

[realbeerguy]

Keep a spray bottle of Star San handy. I use it on the taps and the picnic taps I have in the kegerator.

[positiveContact]

Keep a spray bottle of Star San handy. I use it on the taps and the picnic taps I have in the kegerator.

probably a good idea. do you spray it out after each pour or do you spray it occasionally and wipe it off a little?so no clever storage ideas? I found nothing in my fridge is particularly magnetic so that's out.

[BarelyBrews]

I put a metal hook on the inside of the fridge,and a key-ring type holder on the picnic tap and it hangs there ok.If i am not too lazy to just drop it over the top of the keg,like others have said.edit:never had any buildup in the fridge,mines set around 35 degrees.Clean it when i empty the keg,usually around 2 months.

Edited by Kegdude, 01 April 2011 - 07:59 AM.

[SchwanzBrewer]

I hate picnic taps, so much so that I bought 4 regular taps in order to serve beer straight from the keg at the Golf Tournament I am donating beer for. Cheers,Rich

[MakeMeHoppy]

I had 2 kegs in my serving fridge and just hang the taps on the opposite keg to keep it out of the way. I have a bottle and hose that I can flush the taps out when I finish a keg. I'll occasionally just take the tap off and run under water if it's been a while and old beer is dried on them.

[Kremer]

When I used cobra taps I kept a cup of starsan in the fridge. After pouring for the night I'd swish them in there then hang on the edge of the keg. Seemed to work well.

[Big Nake]

I like to hang mine horizontally on the TV antenna on my roof. This way, when I want a beer, I have to get my ladder, climb up on the roof & get the thing, climb down, connect it to the keg, tap a beer and then disconnect it, climb the ladder and hang it. I find that this handy "hanging method" helps to drain the tubing so there isn't beer in there or pesky beer-build-up. But eventually I found that this was all just too cumbersome and I switched over to faucets. Also, I realize that it's opening day for the MLB and all of that, but NO I haven't had any beer yet today. Cheers.Ps. When I used picnic taps, I just draped it over the keg and let it dangle.

[brewguy]

I just coil and drape on top of the keg. I've never had a problem with beer build-up. Maybe you need to increase your rate of consumption. What is the advantage of hanging?

I hate picnic taps, so much so that I bought 4 regular taps in order to serve beer straight from the keg at the Golf Tournament I am donating beer for.

Why the picnic tap hate? I have only used picnic taps, so maybe I'm just missing out on the wonders of regular taps. I've thought about making a jockey box for tailgating, but that isn't because I have a problem with cobra taps. It would just be a bit less ghetto than corny kegs in a trashcan of ice. One advantage of the ghetto method is that cops think I brought my own trashcan, and I'm a responsible citizen rather than a target they can harass for bringing kegs to a tailgate.

[positiveContact]

Why the picnic tap hate? I have only used picnic taps, so maybe I'm just missing out on the wonders of regular taps. I've thought about making a jockey box for tailgating, but that isn't because I have a problem with cobra taps. It would just be a bit less ghetto than corny kegs in a trashcan of ice. One advantage of the ghetto method is that cops think I brought my own trashcan, and I'm a responsible citizen rather than a target they can harass for bringing kegs to a tailgate.

no idea on the hate. in my kitchen I wouldn't have them - too messy. in the basement though - they work just fine and are cheap

[realbeerguy]

probably a good idea. do you spray it out after each pour or do you spray it occasionally and wipe it off a little?so no clever storage ideas? I found nothing in my fridge is particularly magnetic so that's out.

Spray after pour, or if having a few, at the end of the night.

[Big Nake]

I don't think it's as much "picnic tap hate" as it is "faucet love". Once you have faucets on a tower or faucets on shanks sticking through a fridge door or the back wall of your bar, the cobra tap just seems... you know. Okay, I'm just kidding. I do use my picnic tap from time to time either for bottling something or when I want to put a keg outside in the backyard for a party, etc. I will put the keg in a tub, throw ice in there, use my extra Co2 tank and just connect a picnic tap to it. When someone is done tapping, they just lay it on top of the keg. Cheers.

[chadm75]

I kind of hang it off the edge of the keg but it seems a little precarious.

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