We tried brass and found that brass was not a good mate to plastic. Brass corrodes and clogs with the introduction of certain bacteria and minerals and it is much stronger than plastic. In areas of extreme temperature change the brass will conduct the temperature at a different rate than the plastic and ultimately breakdown the molecules around the joint of the barrel resulting in leakage. The brass was also not easy to replace because strips the threading in the joint. So we decided to go with a plastic spigot that is easy to replace. This way the barrel will out live the spigot! We also like the way it looks.