Draft Beer Drip Trays & Glass Rinsers 101

Drip trays are designed to go under your faucet(s), catching any beer or foam that misses the glass and preventing your bar or counter from becoming a sticky mess. Effective for both leaks and accidental spills, a drip tray will then drain the excess beer through a drain hose.

This hose is typically set up to discharge by a floor drain, but you can also have it drain into a bucket. Keep in mind, however, that if you use the bucket method, you will want to have a staff member empty this bucket nightly.

Drip trays are available in a variety of finishes (such as stainless steel and chrome) and shapes, which means you can easily find one that matches or complements your beer tower.

The standard shape is a rectangle, designed to work with most standard beer faucets. A wraparound drip tray is also an option, and works with towers where the faucets are not in a straight line, such as mushroom towers.

We also have drip trays for jockey boxes! Available in widths of 15” or 24”.

Glass Rinsers

Drip trays with glass rinsers are a great way to ensure every glass your bartender uses is clean. You place the glass upside down over the rinser, and cold water is sprayed up into the glass.

Using a glass rinser has the added benefit of chilling your glasses – something that will certainly enhance the customer experience.

When you purchase a glass rinser, it’s important to add in a shutoff valve and a water regulator.

The shutoff valve will make cleaning easier, as it lets you turn off the water supply, and the water regulator will ensure that the rinser pressure is appropriate. Without the regulator, the pressure could send glasses flying out of your staff’s hands!

If a glass rinser would be a good addition to your bar setup, there’s no need to buy all-new drip trays - add-on glass rinsers are an option! The glass rinser assembly available through Rapids easily attaches to your bar using a side mount flange. It can rinse glasses up to 4-1/4" wide.

To ensure you have everything you need to install a drip tray and glass rinser, check out our installation parts breakdown.

Drip Tray Styles

You will want to consider how you plan to mount your drip tray before you purchase.

Surface Mount: Surface mounts require only a drain hole in your countertop, making them the simplest style to install.

Drop-In: To install a drop-in drip tray, you will need to cut into your counter top. While this installation is more work upfront, it does provide a cleaner, classier look.

Wall-Mount: A wall-mount drip tray is the solution to wall- and door-mount dispensing where you don’t have a countertop underneath.

Drip Tray Accessories

One issue that frequently arises with drip trays is pest control. Beer residue is a great attractant for fruit flies. To make sure these annoying bugs don’t bother you, we recommend a Sani-Tap drip pan strip. It easily fits in most drip trays and uses a controlled release that lasts up to 90 days! It also controls foul-smelling odors caused by mildew, fungi, algae, and slime.

We also offer faucet plugs, which can keep fruit flies out of your faucets.