How long to leave ale in chest freezer at temp?

I'm going to brew tomorrow, and I planned on setting the Ranco to 60°F using a Wyeast 1056 American ale yeast. How long should I keep it at that temp? Just until the fermentation is done? Or leave it in there for a week or so?

Here is my plan: Put the primary in the chest freezer set at 60°F until fermentation is complete. Then, raise the temperature to 65°F for a week. Rack the beer to my secondary, keeping it at room temps to clear for a week. This should put me at about three weeks, then off to bottle. Sound good?

Personally I ferment at 65-68 with american ale yeasts and leave it in the primary for a full three weeks before doing the first hydro test. 2 days later if the hydro test is the same I drop the temp to 35* for 4 days, then rack to the keg. Since you are bottle conditioning I would skip the cold crash so you still have enough remaining yeast to condition.

Well, there's a good question then; what is a good temp to ferment 1056 at? Is 60°F too low? Should I bump that up to 65° and leave it there for three weeks?

60-72 is the suggested temp range. It will ferment at 60* but might take longer. At 72* it will take less time but will produce more esters. I usually like to go just below middle of the road on yeast temps. The point of the long primary time is to allow the sleeping yeasties to clean up after themslves. Many here only primary for 1-2 weeks but many more of us have found our beer to be a better product if it is allowed to go 3 weeks. Some have left the beer on the cake for as long as 6 weeks, but I think you are pushing it then.

So, do you leave it at 65*F for three weeks? Or do you raise the temp a bit after the initial fermentation has finished?

Different strokes, from different folks. I leave it constant, others ramp up. I follow the KISS philosophy. Its work good on most beers. Some hi grav beers I ramp up for yeast health, but not much. Hi temps promote esters and I like clean beers.

I've never heard of raising the temperature in the primary (unless doing a Belgian, or in the case of a stuck fermentation.). What is that supposed to do for a "clean" attenuating ale yeast like 1056?

Sorry for the confusion. Most I leave constant. Belgians would be one of my hi grav beers so ramp up a bit. I was speaking in general of yeast not specific to 1056 in the last post.

YooperBrew said:

I've never heard of raising the temperature in the primary (unless doing a Belgian, or in the case of a stuck fermentation.). What is that supposed to do for a "clean" attenuating ale yeast like 1056?

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The theory is to raise the temp a few degrees toward the end of fermentation to keep the yeast from flocculating too soon. Some people primary at say like 63 then after 5 to 7 days ramp up to 66. I guess its to promote good attenuation, but for me, that's too much work.

With 1056, I personally set it at 66 to begin with and then ramp it up to 70 when it slows and finally about 74 to let it sit for a few weeks. I don't have much of a reason other than I think yeast are more active at warmer temperatures and once they are mostly done, I want them to be as active as possible. Whether its keeping in suspension longer or 'cleaning up' better. Of course, this is all pretty much just my opinion.

Soooooo...

Leaving it in the primary for three weeks at 65°F, that's a good plan?

It works for me, then cold crash for a few days to help drop the yeast.

Eskimo Spy said:

Soooooo...

Leaving it in the primary for three weeks at 65°F, that's a good plan?

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That's how I roll :rockin: