Diy Tap Handles

[ant]

I know DIY tap handles have had a run on AHB, but havent seen anyone post about this type before, and thought it was a great way to personalise your setup.

Ever since seeing the Rogue Ale tap handles, which feature grain in a transparent tap shaft


Ive been thinking about making my own version, but with a removable top cap, so I can then fill the shaft to reflect the ingredients used in the brew (ie 80% pale, 10% crystal 60, 10% munich, with a couple of whole hop flowers (ie Hallertau, etc) on top. Alternatively, you could just fill the tube with anything that reflects the name or style of the beer (can you imagine Hair of the Dog??? :blink: ). Only thing I would change with this design are the tops, to be either a round disc or oval shape, and fit my own printed stickers to them but thats pretty much it.

I figure if I have a regular recipe that I make and am happy with, it deserves its own tap handle

After all theres not much to it finding the caps for the tube is probably the hardest part to match; especially in chromed or in stainless. My part list running from the top of the tap handle down is:
- round wooden disk of about 3-4 diameter
- screw, drilled and glued into disk, then glued to inside of metal cap
- metal cap, with hole drilled through centre
- clear PVC pipe (pipe size of 1)
- metal cap, with hole drilled through centre, glued to clear pipe
- 3/8 16 UNC bolt (glued to inside of metal cap)
- tap finial

So, after settling my parts list, and already ordering half a dozen finials and the pipe, I came across the lot in the pic above on ebay for ~$60 so I guess Ill just modify these instead!

It could also be a nice line for a small Australian based, online retailer to develop???

 

[mika]

I figure if I have a regular recipe that I make and am happy with, it deserves its own tap handle

Hahahaha, that's funny Ant...never seems to happen that way, I think a regular recipe is one of those Myths like a good woman h34r:

I actually mis-read the title and missed the "tap" bit. Before reading that I thought it might be the kind of thread that Guest_Lurker should be reading :lol:

P.S. What's going on in Yanksville ? Yall come back now, ya hear !

 

[AndrewQLD]

Ant, I like this idea, and I am wondering if the BOD tap handles Ross sells would work for this.

Ross are these tap handles completely hollow and do you think they would be suitable for this application?

Hahahaha, that's funny Ant...never seems to happen that way, I think a regular recipe is one of those Myths like a good woman

I have 1 beer that is permanently on tap, I never run out, and I have another beer that is almost always on tap as well.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[bonj]

Nice idea. I want some different handles for my taps. The clear tubing is a great idea.

 

[ant]

Ant, I like this idea, and I am wondering if the BOD tap handles Ross sells would work for this.

The Micromatic site shows them as having a black insert, so I don't think they would. You could of course take the insert out and just find another cap?

 

[Ross]

Ant, I like this idea, and I am wondering if the BOD tap handles Ross sells would work for this.

Ross are these tap handles completely hollow and do you think they would be suitable for this application?
I have 1 beer that is permanently on tap, I never run out, and I have another beer that is almost always on tap as well.

Cheers
Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Funny you should ask, as it was the 1st thing I looked at after seeing this thread.
The bod handles have a full length insert that the tap screws into, but it would not be too difficult to cut the insert approx 10mm from the bottom & then cut again just below the top, so you would still have a nice finishing cap for the tap. The top cap would need a dab of glue or something though to hold in place.
There are probably better ways of doing this & when I've got some spare time I'll see what I can come up with

cheers Ross

 

[ant]

Good to see a small Australian based, online retailer is on the job. :super:

 

[Kingy]

Finally got some ink to print out my tap handle mod. Which franko kindly put into the template for me as i have no idea on editing stuff. Possibilitys are endless
View attachment 2_handle_changes_1.bmp

edit: one tap handle recently had grain and hops full to the brim but decided to stick a knights emblem in there