How long should I let a keg settle before tapping it?

[tec5154]

I tend to think that I rush it. After driving it home and bringing it down stairs and shaking it up a bit from the movement, how long would you let the keg settle before tapping it?

[THE ICEMAN]

24 hours at the least. You need to let the keg get to temp & to let CO2 get back into solution.


THE ICEMAN

[cubby_swans]

While 24 hours is recommended, I've brought many home and tapped after 2-3 hours. When I do that, I usually deal with a bit of foam that first night. Especially if the temperature is too high. But when you need a beer, you gotta do what you gotta do.

[bonefish]

I tap and drink. No harm can be done.
SEAN

[Hophead]

When I can wait, I usually leave it for a day. There have been plenty of times though that I tapped it immediately. Since the keg is always warmer than it should be, I just compensate by raising the CO2 pressure to 16-17 PSI for a few hours and it works just fine. This is also another good reason to have a longer beer line since it gives you the option of running higher pressures without the flow getting unreasonably fast.

[fnmocurtis]

I've tapped immediately after putting it in, and also waited. I get my kegs 5 minutes from home. I think it's more important for your temp to be correct more than anything else. The shakeup, (as long as it's not dropped!!) doesn't really affeect it very much. The first 2 pours usually takes care of that!!!

[jpasiczn]

I always let it sit as long as i possibly can before tapping, to let the temp stabilize. The store where I get kegs from, while being great guys to deal with, great prices, and able to order me anything I can imagine, do not keep the kegs as cold as I would like.
24 hours always gets things nice and chilled though.
I agree with increased PSI if tapping early on, as well as having extra line.

[bald eagle]

I pick up a 1/4 barrel a few days before the other one runs dry,so it is ready to go.

[mjn]

I tap the keg and start drinking it right away. I keep the pressure up around 16-18 for macro brew, then check the temp of the beer. Unless its over 50(its usually about 45 by the time I get it home and tapped), it presents no problem.

Got one in the 60s a few kegs ago and it was a little foamy the first night. But not bad.

[violator6]

The place I get mine is two minutes down the road and they keep all their kegs frigid cold. So I dont have to worry about temperature changes or anything like that even in the summer heat. So I get it home and tap it as soon as I can, havent had any problems with it so far.

[sda1416]

Do you have the room in your kegerator for 2? To keep them both cold?

I pick up a 1/4 barrel a few days before the other one runs dry,so it is ready to go.

[Jack Manstroke]

He is running 1/4 barrels, you can fit 2 in your standard kegerator no problem.

[GBEER11]

I tap the keg within 5 minutes of getting it home, use pitchers if its a little foamy. I've never had problems on my 8th keg on my danby.

[Kpt42]

I don't wait. The brewery I get most of my kegs from is about 15 minutes from the house. No foam issues at all.

I did have some foam issues when my Explorer was up on the lift while I rebuilt the tranny. Kegs didn't like riding shotgun in 95+ degree heat in a Wrangler with no doors. It'd take the Perlick 2 or 3 hours to get the keg cooled back down then.

[pvs6]

Right away, bump psi up but 5 psi. My distributor is less than a mile away and stores kegs around 40-42F. In the dead heat of summer the warmest that I got was 42 F. going in. No problems I couldn't deal with.