Crash cooling after 2 days in 2nd ?

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Paraops

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So I'm sitting here, layed up after losing a wrestling match with a chainsaw, and was doing a bit of reading (Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide). He suggests that, maturation of ales of normal gravity, isn't required...aside from a day or two in secondary. He suggests crash cooling the beer (after 1-2days in secondary) and holding it in the low 30's for 7-10 days to facilitate yeast dropout. I'm following his advise with two 5Gal batches (Raspberry Red and Black Dog). My question is two fold.....When fermenting ales, does a week+ secondary really add any "maturity" to the beer and how significant is the effect of crash cooling on the beers clarity if one decides to crash the batch after 2 days or so in secondary as opposed to leaving the beer in secondary for 1+weeks and crash cooling the beer while force carbing?
 
It's very easy to decide for yourself whether maturation of beers is important: Drink the keg slowly. In my own mind, I've completely debunked the theory that "normal gravity" beers don't require maturation. All my beers with much specialty grain at all require maturation of 2-3 months before they are at their best.

As far as secondary and crash cooling, etc., my process on beers that do not otherwise need a secondary is to skip it completely. I ferment in a bucket for 3-4 weeks, check gravity, crash cool for a week at 35* or so and straight to the keg. I try to leave the keg at fermentation temps for another month at least before transferring to the keezer. In the keezer, many continue to improve for some time in the 40* range.

This has worked great for me, and it is super simple with minimal racking required.
 

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