Should a Bar Buy Its Own Tap Handles? Four Cases Where the Answer Is Yes
Updated September 2026 by Brad Lugar, owner of Steel City Tap Co., Birmingham, AL.
Quick answer: Most bars never buy a tap handle, because the brewery or distributor supplies one with the keg. A bar should buy its own in four cases: a house beer or brewery taproom with its own brand, a wall that rotates so often that brewery handles never match what is pouring, kegs with no handle (cocktails, wine, cold brew, kombucha), and a room where the owner wants one look instead of twelve logos. Stock shapes with your print start at 12 units.
We make tap handles in Birmingham, AL for breweries, and a growing share of our orders come from the other side of the bar. Here is when it makes sense for a bar or taproom to spend its own money on the faucet.
1. You brew it, so you brand it
A brewery taproom is the obvious case. Your own beer, your own faucet, and the handle is the first thing a customer sees when they walk in. A taproom running twelve blank chrome knobs is telling the customer it does not take its own beer seriously. Twelve stock handles printed with your logo and beer names is the cheapest fix on the list, and it starts at a 12 unit minimum.
2. Your wall rotates faster than the handles
If you pour 30 taps and change six a week, the brewery handles never keep up. Half the wall is wrong on any given day, and the bartender is answering "what is that one" all night. The fix is a house handle system: a magnetic metal handle where the handle stays on the faucet and a printed magnet swaps when the keg does, or a chalkboard wood handle you write on. One set of handles, every beer labeled, no distributor calls.
3. The keg came with no handle
Wine on tap, batched cocktails, nitro cold brew, kombucha, hard seltzer from a small producer. These kegs show up with nothing for the faucet, and the tap becomes invisible on a beer wall. A bar that puts a real handle on the cocktail tap sells more cocktails from the tap. Same 3/8-16 thread as every beer faucet, so any handle we make fits.
4. You want the room to read as one brand
Some bars do not want twelve brewery logos on the wall. They want their own name on every faucet, the same way it is on the glass and the sign. That is a house handle set: one design, twelve or more units, and the beer name on a swappable insert or a chalk panel. It reads like a serious bar and it reads like your bar.
What it costs a bar
Two tiers. A stock shape in resin, wood, or magnetic metal with your full color print has a 12 unit minimum and no mold to build, so it is the right tier for almost every bar. A fully custom shape (your own sculpted figure or bottle replica) has a 100 unit minimum, price breaks at 100, 250, 500, and 1,000+, and a 6 to 8 week build after design approval. Bars rarely need that tier unless they are also a brewery with distribution.
What to send us
A phone snapshot of your logo and the beer names. That is enough for a mockup. Vector files come later, after you say yes. Request a quote and you will hear back from the person who prints it.
Need the glass and the wall sign to match? Glassware and tin tackers run through our sister shop Classic Printing & Signs, and staff shirts and hats through Presto Embroidery. Same building, one art file.
Frequently asked questions
Do bars have to buy their own tap handles?
No. Breweries and distributors usually supply a handle with the keg. A bar buys its own for house beers, fast rotating walls, kegs that arrive with no handle, or when it wants one house look on every faucet.
What is the minimum order for tap handles for a bar?
12 units for a stock shape printed with your logo. Fully custom shapes have a 100 unit minimum and are rarely needed by a bar.
What is the best tap handle for a bar that changes beers often?
A magnetic metal handle with swappable printed magnets, or a chalkboard wood handle you write on. The handle stays on the faucet and only the label changes.
Will a custom tap handle fit my faucet?
Yes. Standard US beer faucets use a 3/8-16 thread and every handle Steel City Tap makes ships with a 3/8-16 ferrule. Wine, cocktail, and coffee faucets use the same thread.
How long do tap handles take?
Stock shapes with your print run faster because there is no mold. Fully custom shapes take 6 to 8 weeks after you approve the final design.