The Installer's Guide to Fût Mauricie Towers

If you install draft, here's what you need from us: dimensioned spec sheets and CAD, mounting cutouts and clearances, cooling guidance for the run in front of you, and honest lead times. Fût Mauricie builds custom draft beer towers and drip trays in-house in Trois-Rivières, and every project starts with a free 3D rendering plus specs turned around in about one business day. This page is the hub for the trade: it points you to the deep-dive articles, the tools, and the program terms so you can spec, quote, and mount a job without guesswork.

What does this guide cover?

This hub is written for the people holding the drill and the coupler wrench, not the end customer. It assumes you already speak the language: shank, restriction, trunk line, glycol power pack, colonne de tirage. Here's the ground it covers:

  • How we build towers and what "custom to spec" actually means for your job
  • What you get from us before you cut a hole — renderings, spec sheets, and CAD
  • Mounting types and where the real dimensions live
  • Cooling: when to plan glycol versus air-cooled, and why the trunk line drives the decision
  • Tap spacing, materials compliance, and warranty
  • How the Trade Program works for installers and resellers

How does Fût Mauricie build a custom tower?

Every tower is built to spec, in-house, in Trois-Rivières. Nothing is drop-shipped from a catalogue and re-badged. The workflow that matters to you as an installer:

  • Parametric CAD. The tower geometry is driven parametrically, so a change to tap count, spacing, or mounting base regenerates a clean, dimensioned model rather than a one-off sketch. That's why we can turn a rendering and specs in about one business day.
  • Laser cutting. Bases, faces, and mounting plates are laser cut for repeatable hole patterns and cutout tolerances — the numbers on your spec sheet are the numbers on the part.
  • TIG and robotic welding. Structural and cosmetic welds are TIG or robotically welded depending on the joint, which is what lets us stand behind a lifetime warranty on the welds.

Practically, this means when you ask for a non-standard tap count, a specific column height, or an odd mounting base to clear existing millwork, it's a parameter change and a build — not a "we don't make that." If you want the full walk-through of the custom process, see the Guide to Custom.

Because the model is parametric rather than hand-drawn per job, the geometry stays internally consistent: change the tap count and the column width, tap centers, base footprint, and cutout positions all update together. For you that means the spec sheet you build to and the rendering the customer signed off on are generated from the same source of truth — they can't drift apart. It also means a revision is fast: if the site walk turns up an obstruction or the customer changes the tap count late, we regenerate the model and re-issue the specs instead of starting over.

What do you get from us before you cut a hole?

The point of a spec sheet is to keep you from measuring twice and drilling once in the wrong place. Before anything ships, you get:

  • A free 3D rendering so the customer signs off on the look and you confirm the footprint against the site.
  • A dimensioned spec sheet — overall height, base footprint, cutout size and position, tap centers, and mounting hardware. This is the document you build to. Do not scale off the rendering.
  • CAD on request for coordination with the GC, millworker, or refrigeration contractor — useful when the tower has to land on a specific pedestal or share a chase with the trunk line.

Turnaround on the rendering and specs is about one business day. Build lead time after sign-off runs 5–15 business days depending on complexity and finish. Quote your customer against the far end of that range if the finish is anodized or the base is non-standard.

How do the mounting types differ?

We build for three mounting families. The cutout and clearance requirements are different for each, and they vary tower to tower — so the table below is orientation, not gospel. Always work from the per-tower spec sheet for real dimensions.

Mount type Where it lands What you're cutting / fastening Watch for
Countertop Bar top, back-bar counter Beer line + drain pass-through cutout in the counter; base bolts to the surface Counter thickness and substrate; access below for line routing and coupler service
Wall Back wall, column face Mounting plate lags into structure or blocking; lines run in the wall cavity Solid backing/blocking behind finish; line path to the cooler; height for glass clearance
Ceiling / pedestal Island bar, open floor plan Pedestal base or ceiling drop; lines run in the pedestal or ceiling chase Structural attachment above/below; chase size for the trunk line and glycol return; rigidity

The recurring theme across all three: leave yourself line access and service room. A tower you can't get behind to change a coupler or chase a leak is a callback waiting to happen. Confirm the substrate before the day of install — a wall mount into drywall with no blocking, or a countertop cut without knowing what's under it, is how a clean spec turns into an improvised fix on site. When the mounting condition is unusual, send it to us with the RFQ and we'll spec the base and hardware around it rather than leaving you to shim it.

What should you confirm before install day?

Most install-day surprises trace back to something that could have been confirmed at spec time. Run this short checklist before the tower is finalized so the base, cutouts, and cooling are built for the actual site:

  • Mounting condition. Countertop, wall, or ceiling/pedestal — and the substrate behind it. Verify blocking for wall mounts and structural attachment for pedestal or ceiling drops.
  • Run length and cooler location. This decides air-cooled versus glycol and sets the line count. Measure the actual path, not the straight-line distance.
  • Tap count and spacing. Locked on the spec sheet at 3–4" center-to-center; confirm it against the glassware and the back-bar width.
  • Cutout and clearance. Take these from the per-tower spec sheet, and confirm there's service access behind or below the tower for couplers and lines.
  • Finish. Finish direction affects lead time — settle it early so it doesn't push the build date.

When do you plan glycol versus air-cooled?

The cooling decision is driven by the length of the run from the cooler to the faucet, and it's the single biggest thing that changes what you rough in. The short version:

  • Air-cooled works for short-draw — the tower is close to the cold source and the run is short enough to hold temperature without a recirculated glycol loop.
  • Glycol (recirculated) is for long-draw. Once the run gets beyond roughly 25 ft, you're planning a glycol power pack and a trunk line — an insulated bundle carrying the beer lines plus the glycol supply and return, so the beer stays cold end to end.

Trunk-line planning is where installs go sideways: the bundle has to be sized and routed early because it dictates chase size, pathway, and the tower base you'll need to land the lines cleanly. The line count in the trunk line also drives the tower base — the base has to be built to accept that many lines plus the glycol supply and return, which is exactly why the run length and cooling type belong on the RFQ, not discovered on site. Get the run length and cooler location confirmed before the tower is finalized so the base is spec'd for the right line count and cooling type. Full decision framework: Glycol-cooled vs air-cooled beer towers: how to choose.

How much tap spacing do you need?

Tap spacing is typically 3–4" center-to-center. That range balances two things you already know: enough room to land a glass under each faucet without knocking the neighbor, and enough internal real estate for the shanks and wrench access when you're tightening couplers. Tighter than 3" and pour ergonomics and service both suffer; wider than 4" and you're stretching the tower for no gain.

Because spacing interacts with tap count, column width, and the mounting base, we set it in the parametric model and lock it on the spec sheet. If you're speccing a high-count tower or a tight back-bar, read Tap spacing on a draft beer tower: how to spec it right before you commit a number.

What about materials, compliance, and warranty?

  • Food-safe materials. Wetted parts are food-grade stainless steel and food-safe components, so the beer path stays clean and inert. If the AHJ or the chain's equipment spec has a food-contact requirement, send it with the RFQ and we'll confirm the materials against it.
  • Lifetime warranty on welds. The welds are covered for life. That's a direct function of building the welds in-house with TIG and robotic processes rather than sourcing pre-fab columns — we control the joint, so we can stand behind it. For you, that's one fewer failure mode to worry about on a tower that lives in a wet, high-cycle environment.
  • Finish for the environment. Finish choice affects how a tower holds up in a high-traffic bar — see how to choose a beer tower finish for a high-traffic bar if the customer is deciding between options.

Frequently asked questions

How fast can I get renderings and specs?

About one business day from when we have the tap count, mounting type, and finish direction. That's the free 3D rendering plus a dimensioned spec sheet you can build and quote from.

What's the build lead time once specs are approved?

5–15 business days after sign-off, depending on complexity, finish, and tap count. Non-standard finishes and bases sit toward the upper end — quote your customer accordingly.

Can you match a non-standard tap count or an odd mounting base?

Yes. The tower is parametric, so tap count, spacing, column height, and base geometry are inputs, not fixed SKUs. Send the constraint — existing millwork, pedestal, chase — and we'll spec the base to it.

Do I need glycol for this run?

If the run from cooler to faucet is beyond roughly 25 ft, plan glycol and a trunk line. Shorter short-draw runs can go air-cooled. Confirm the run length before the tower base is finalized so the line count and cooling type are built in. See the glycol vs air-cooled guide.

Where do the actual mounting dimensions come from?

The per-tower spec sheet — never the rendering. Cutout size and position, tap centers, base footprint, and hardware are all dimensioned there. Build to that document.

Is there pricing for installers and resellers?

Yes — the Trade Program has volume terms for installers and resellers. If you place repeat work, get set up there before your next quote.

Related guides and tools

Go deeper on the specifics:

Working the bigger picture? These sibling hubs cover the whole system and the buying decision:

Tools to spec faster:

Ready to spec a job?

The more you give us up front, the tighter the first pass comes back. Send the tap count, the mounting type, the run length from cooler to faucet, and any site constraint — existing millwork, a specific pedestal, a tight back-bar — and the rendering and specs will reflect the real job, not a generic tower you have to reconcile later.

Get free 3D renderings and specs in 1 business day. We'll turn a rendering and a dimensioned spec sheet you can build and quote from. Request a quote. If you install or resell regularly, set up on the Trade Program first so your terms are in place before the next job.

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