Post Primary temp requirements

First, let me say thanks for all the advice I have found on this board. I have been brewing for about 6 mos and would be no where without this board.

I did a search on this topic and found some info, but would like to get some clarification.

I have a Hefe in primary at 62 deg F. It is nearly complete with its primary fermentation. My issue is that I am about 1-2 weeks from having a free corney keg and I wasn't planning to go to secondary. I am maintaining 62 deg F via an igloo cooler and swapping out frozen water bottles one to two times a day. This is a bit of a pain considering I travel out of town frequently.

So my question is, when is it ok to move my Hefe to a room temperature environment (70 deg F)? Once I am confident that fermentation is complete (via gravity reading)?

Secondary question, would moving the Hefe into my chest freezer (steady at 50 degs) be a better option than room temp?

sorry for the long post and thanks in advance!!

I would think at this point you should be fine moving it to room temp. I would leave it there for at least a few days to allow the yeast to finish everything they are doing. After it has been at termial gravity for a few days, you could move it to the cooler...or not, whatever.

After the yeast has finished doing its thing I would think you would be fine to move it to a 70*F environment. As long as there isn't a huge temperature jump you'll be just fine.

I would put it in the freezer, all my beers get kegged then conditioned in a freezer set at 55f.

I always let my beers warm up to room temperature when they are almost done fermenting. It doesn't hurt anything; in fact, it can be quite beneficial: the beer will attenuate more fully and the yeast will be faster to take up any fermentation by-products.

ArcaneXor said:

I always let my beers warm up to room temperature when they are almost done fermenting. It doesn't hurt anything; in fact, it can be quite beneficial: the beer will attenuate more fully and the yeast will be faster to take up any fermentation by-products.

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I agree. I do the bulk of fermentation around 65, then let it warm up to around 70 just over a week in. I seem to be getting better attenuation.

Thanks everybody for the quick response.

I'm really pumped about this batch, my gravity sample (4 days in to primary) tasted great. I never take readings that soon, but the fermentation was really explosive (had blow hose thankfully) and I couldn't resist. It was already down to 1.014.