******* PERL 525SS Faucet

[vallere]

Does anyone know whether or not the ******* PERL 525SS Faucet is made from 304 Stainless Steel?

[djc]

That's sort of like going onto a GM website and asking for help fixing your Ford.

[Mark Borland]

I can't speak to another company's products, but I do know that our best-selling 304 faucet uses 304-grade stainless steel for the body and shaft assembly. This ensures that the wine (or beer) only ever comes in contact with 304-grade steel.

[vallere]

My bad!

That's sort of like going onto a GM website and asking for help fixing your Ford.

I guess I was thinking of Micromatic more as a distributor than as a manufacturer. I should have gotten the clue when Perlick was censored.

[djc]

Manufacturer, distributor, doesn't matter. Competitor sums it up.

[vallere]

Here's the backstory. Several of my homebrewing friends are making sour beers. They think it makes sense to use a wine type tap system for these beers. They currently have 525 SS faucets. The question is, Do they have to replace them?

[djc]

I would have your friends call the manufacturer and ask what type of stainless it is.

[Mark Borland]

I guess I was thinking of Micromatic more as a distributor than as a manufacturer. I should have gotten the clue when Perlick was censored.

Micro Matic is a manufacturer, and although we do offer direct sale of our products via the web, we are increasingly focusing on providing full-service commercial dispense systems. Our products are also often available from foodservice equipment supplies.

Regarding the censoring of competitor brand names (such as "Perlick"): this language censor was configured by our programming team when the forum was first set up, but isn't really in line with our current company philosophy, so we have decided to disable the censoring of brand names (which is why you were able to use the word "Perlick" in the post quoted above).

While we prefer to limit discussion on this message board to Micro Matic products and equipment, we understand that not everyone is using our gear (yet!) and thus occasional use of other company's brand names might be necessary. (That said, any advice you receive here about another company's products can't be verified or guaranteed by Micro Matic.)

Here's the backstory. Several of my homebrewing friends are making sour beers. They think it makes sense to use a wine type tap system for these beers. They currently have 525 SS faucets. The question is, Do they have to replace them?

Our 304 stainless steel faucet may have been originally intended for use in keg wine systems, but they are increasingly being used in beer dispense systems, too.

Considering how affordable the 304 faucet is now (almost comparable to traditional non-304 faucets!), it makes sense to use the best quality stainless for any beverage dispensing!

As mentioned, I can't offer any insight on the Perlick faucet... and I don't know if a new faucet would be necessary for dispensing "sour" homebrews... but you can't go wrong with 304 stainless faucets, so it would probably be a worthwhile investment either way.

[vallere]

Thanks Mark.

I think my confusion over manufacturer versus distributor arose because many of your couplers, in particular the low profile, look exactly like Perlick's. Perhaps you manufacture it for them under a private label agreement. I will try to stay within the Micromatic system for all future comments.

[Mark Borland]

Thanks Mark.

I think my confusion over manufacturer versus distributor arose because many of your couplers, in particular the low profile, look exactly like Perlick's. Perhaps you manufacture it for them under a private label agreement. I will try to stay within the Micromatic system for all future comments.

It's not against the rules to ask a question on this forum about another company's products, so no worries in that regard (although you may not get a lot of helpful answers, since most folks on this message board primarily use Micro Matic equipment).

I'm not surprised to hear that other manufacturers are offering low-profile couplers that look very similar to ours. Because couplers (and other, similar products that serve very a specific function) are designed to fit universal keg valves, they all end up looking fairly similar... although there may be differences in build quality, materials used, etc which wouldn't be apparent until you actually use the product.