Author: Marshall Schott

If ever a controversial product I did review, Vent-Matic Ultra Flo faucets takes the cake. The entire story is pretty interesting, from the company history the owner shared with me to the impact my review had on where things ultimately ended up. It may seem odd that I’m spending the beginning of this review focusing on a different product, but I think my reason for doing so will eventually make sense.

I don’t get anything out of bashing others, even when I feel like they’ve wronged me in some way. It’s an odd philosophy, I get that, but it works for me. I only say this because my purpose in sharing this story isn’t to rail on anyone, but to provide a little insight to those curious about what happened to Vent-Matic after my review. I’m also willing to accept this serves as a confessional of sorts, as much of went down following my review of the aforementioned product left me feeling not very great. For those not interested in story time who would rather just read my thoughts on Intertap faucets, skip to the next section.

| The Backstory |

Back in August 2015, after being unable to fix leaks in 3 out of 7 of my Perlick 525SS faucets, I began searching for an alternative and with some digging eventually stumbled on the Vent-Matic website. It looked like shit, but the faucets seemed pretty rad, at least enough for me to ask them for more information. In that email, I dropped that I had a brewing website and was planning to publish a review of the faucets, assuming they were as good as they sounded. The following day, I received a response back from Brad, the owner, saying he would like to setup a phone call, so I shot him my number and a good time to chat. He called later that week and we talked… for over an hour.

Brad spent the better part of our conversation explaining to me in great detail Vent-Matic’s history, which for the sake of brevity and out of respect for Brad’s request to keep certain things private, I’ll not go into too much detail about. Basically, Brad was unhappy with the sticking that occurred in other forward sealing faucets and designed a non-sticking alternative. After a few business partner disagreements and compromises, it was decided that Vent-Matic would license their brand to other manufacturers under condition faucets marketed as Vent-Matic be made to the exact specs designated in the blueprints. This didn’t happen, poor quality Vent-Matic faucets began to hit the market, and Brad began the fight to regain control of the business.

It wasn’t too long after the legal dust had settled that Brad and I connected. With great confidence, Brad told me about everything that made the Vent-Matic Ultra Flo faucets great and offered to send me a few to review, admitting this would be the first time he’d done such a thing. Suffice to say he was right, the faucets were incredible, which made writing a glowing review very easy. On October 1, after a few weeks of regular use, the article was published and within hours Brad emailed me saying he was being “inundated with comments and sales.” Fantastic! Or so I thought.

Less than 2 weeks after the review went live, I was contacted by the first of many folks saying they either hadn’t received the product they ordered or what they did receive didn’t really resemble the product I reviewed. I reached out to Vent-Matic and they assured me all issues were being worked out, which in the end seemed to be the case. Everything seemed to be going good.

I believe it was March of last year that someone directed me to the website for Intertap faucets. Noticing how similar they looked to the Vent-Matics I’d been using, I emailed Brad for more information. Oddly, he never responded. Now, whether coincidence or not, I can’t be sure, but two curious things happened very soon after I sent that email:

Vent-Matic lost all signs of life. No responses, no inventory, no website. The one place in the US carrying Intertap faucets pulled them from their catalog.

Not sure how to deal with the product review I’d published a few months earlier, and making zero progress with Vent-Matic, I decided to reach out to Keg King, the Australian company responsible for Intertap faucets. Their swift response confirmed my suspicion that Vent-Matic had contacted them and that they were in the process of “working out a patent agreement.” This was in April and by June I received word an agreement had been made, meaning Intertap faucets would again be available in the US. To this day, I’ve yet to hear from Brad about anything, multiple emails over the last year all met with silence. It’s as if Vent-Matic vanished into thin air, just… gone.

| Intertap Forward Sealing Faucet Review |

I was recently contacted by site sponsor MoreBeer asking if I’d be interested in reviewing a product they thought would interest homebrewers, a new competitor in the forward-sealing faucet market called Intertap. After a moment of hesitation, I eventually agreed, as I’d received a ton of questions about this product and felt an honest review might help make up for what I still view as a failure on my part.

The well packaged and surprisingly weighty faucets arrived the day after I was informed they shipped.

Removing the small plastic bag from each faucet revealed an attractively shiny stainless unit that had a very sturdy feel.

Like Vent-Matic and the defunct Perlick 425, Intertap faucets have a threaded nozzle that can easily be removed, though interestingly, it has a slightly larger diameter. I removed the nozzle to get a closer look at the faucet’s innards and was pleased to see smooth machining with no burrs.

I noticed the Intertap had a very familiar tapered shuttle design to stop the flow of beer rather than a ball at the bottom of the lever piece. This unique component is apparently responsible for significantly reducing the likelihood of leaks.

Looking into the faucet from the backside of the body, I could see the other side of the shuttle surrounded by more smooth and shiny stainless steel.

With things looking good so far, it was time to install the faucets on my keezer. After disconnecting and cleaning all of my beer lines, I swapped out the Vent-Matic faucets for the Intertap faucets, a task that took all of 15 minutes.

Now to see how these new and supposedly improved faucets work! I connected a keg, ran off a couple ounces of beer to fill the line, then poured myself an inaugural pint. The beer came out in a full stream, filling my glass gradually and leaving just the right amount of foam. I’m not sure if it’s because of the larger diameter nozzle, but it seems to me the Intertap faucet pours with slightly less foam than my Vent-Matics such that I can fill a 5 oz taster glass to the perfect level with ease.

Unlike other faucets I’d used in the past, pulling the lever on the Intertap feels like what I imagine shifting an Abrams tank is like. Incredibly solid with absolutely zero play. Happier than I expected at this point, I was excited to play with some of the accessories, a novelty in the world of beer faucets.

MoreBeer included 4 different Intertap faucet add-ons including a set of self-closing springs, a really simple yet clever solution to a problem any kegerator/keezer owner has experienced– the accidentally bumped lever that ends up pouring beer all over the place. The spring, which is placed between the faucet and the shank, purportedly provides enough pressure to close the lever on its own.

I installed the springs on a couple of my faucets and they worked fine, though one seemed to lose its bounce a bit after about 3 weeks of use. I never realized how awkward it is to have to hold a faucet open while filling a glass, it made the process feel almost like a task. I determined this accessory isn’t necessarily for me and removed the springs, though I can see how it might be helpful for those with rugrats or pets who can’t keep their paws off of things.

The rest of the accessories are threaded and attach to the body of the faucet, replacing the standard nozzle. I received a very familiar looking barbed growler filler, the diameter of which was notably larger than fillers for other faucets. The only downside I see to this is the 1/4″ ID tubing I use for the Brü Bottler won’t fit, but that’s a simple fix.

Another accessory I received is the ball lock spout that essentially converts the nozzle of the faucet to a ball lock disconnect. Clever as hell! While I use pin lock kegs, a single liquid ball lock disconnect would allow me to rack carbonated and clear beer to another closed keg directly from the tap without opening my keezer. I’m thinking this will make the perfect solution to the previously mentioned Brü Bottler issue, as 1/4″ ID tubing fits nicely on the barb of my disconnect. It was also pointed out to me that the ball lock spout can be used to attach counterflow bottlers such as the Blichmann Beer Gun, allowing for the filling of bottles and growlers without opening the kegerator/keezer. For CO2 flushing, an extra gas line can easily be ported to the exterior of the keezer.

I also received the stout spout, which is supposed to be used with a typical nitrogen setup… which I don’t have and, honestly, don’t have much interest in getting. So instead, I tried it out with what I do have.

Better than I expected, especially since this was done without nitrogen, though I’m sure it’d be more genuine if done “the right way.” Like regular nitro faucets, the stout spout is longer than the standard nozzle and has an integrated aerator disc that creates a lusciously creamy head with our without the use of beer gas (nitrogen). While I enjoyed the results I achieved using just CO2, which turned my Intertap into more of a creamer faucet, the stout spout is also designed for use with nitrogen gas to produce and even more authentic nitro pour.

I’m no expert, but I’ve had plenty of “real” nitro served beers and I’d be hard pressed to believe what I’ve poured using the stout spout were much different. Such a cool solution, particularly for those of us who don’t want to invest in a full-fledged nitrogen setup, though I trust it’ll work well for those seeking a more genuine nitro pour as well.

| THE VERDICT |

If it’s not already obvious, I’m beyond pleased with Intertap’s forward sealing stainless faucets, in fact I’m struggling to come up with anything negative about this product. I may not be the biggest fan of the self-closing spring concept, but that’s mostly because it doesn’t serve my purposes, and besides that, they’re a $2 add-on accessory. Intertap faucets have an incredibly solid feel when opening and closing the lever, providing a smooth full pour that falls beautifully into the glass while creating the perfect amount of creamy head. The stout faucet provides those who prefer it an incredibly simple method for achieving nitro pours that rival the genuineness of more expensive setups at a fraction of the cost. These faucets simply look, feel, and work great, to the point I’ll depart from my norm to say they’re actually better than other popular faucets on the market.

As if the quality of the units and unique accessories weren’t enough, Intertap faucets are also considerably less expensive than other options at just $32.99 for stainless and $18.99 for chrome plated. Oh yes, and they are actually available and being sold by MoreBeer, one of the most reputable online homebrew retailers in the world!

One of the more common questions I get after reviewing a product is whether or not I’d recommend it for a family member or friend, my response almost always being in the affirmative. But I’ll be honest, if my twin brother, who happens to be currently planning his keezer build, doesn’t go with Intertap faucets, I’d be inclined to view him differently as a person.

If you have been using Intertap faucets and have some thoughts on them, we’d love to hear about it in the comments section below!

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