How to Handle the Handles

Beer tap handles come in many sizes, shapes and designs. For the breweries the beer tap handle is designed to advertise a brand logo and support a life style theme – it tells you “what’s on tap”. With the introduction of kegerators and the growth of the home draft beer system, beer tap handles have also taken on a life of their own.

Today, you can get tap handles to fit your personality whether it is a sports theme, a brand you prefer, or life style. You can now customize the tap handle as you see fit and bring style to your bar.

How to connect the beer tap handle to the beer faucet:

1. Simply screw the beer tap handle onto the beer faucet lever turning clockwise until it is hand tight only.
2. On the beer faucet lever there is an adjusting knob that allows you to align the beer tap handle to your desired location. Remember most beer tap handles are designed to face the bartender so you can read the brand logo as you would be reading a label on a bottle. However, sometimes you may decide to position the tap handle sideways or at an angle and this is where the beer faucet lever adjusting knob becomes important. If you want to change the position of the tap handle you can turn the beer faucet adjusting knob counter clockwise until it tightens to the desired location – hand tight only.

The way you grab the beer tap handle can make a difference in whether your draft beer pours foamy or not. Believe or not most first timers make the classic mistake of grabbing the beer tap handle from the top and pull it forward with a jerking action – this will do two things, first, it will put excessive leverage on the beer faucet components and possibly cause damage and second, it will cause the beer to become agitated and pour foamy. The correct way to grab the handle is from the bottom with two fingers (index and middle finger) and pull the handle toward you in one smooth motion and when closing the beer faucet close it the same way – in one smooth motion.

So the next time you have your friends over see if they know how to grab the beer tap handle and pour a beer like you see in commercials.