Do I need to condition at 55 Degrees?

[Frank]

I am following an extract clone recipe for Sierra Nevada (honey) Porter and it has the following instructions:

"Ferment at 68F for 2 weeks, then transfer to secondary fermenter and condition cool (50-55F) for 3 to 4 weeks. Bottle and age at 50-55F for 3 weeks."

The reason I would rather not bring the temp down to 50-55F is because I would like to start another batch (Fat Tire Clone) and I only have 1 fermentation chiller and the majority of recipes call for just under 70F ferm temp.

What are thoughts on keeping with the same schedule (3 weeks secondary, 3 weeks bottles) but keeping the temperature at 68F instead of dropping down to 50-55F. Are there any possible negative outcomes? Why would they have the temp at 55F for 6 Weeks?
I am using Safale-US05 yeast.

 

[Pappers_]

I'm not sure why you would condition a porter at a lower temp. I would think 68-70 would be fine.

 

[Frank]

Yeah I wasn't sure either, but it is straight out of the clone brew book

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

Not saying it isn't possible but if you store your bottles at 50F they will have a hard time carbonating. 3 weeks at ~70F seems to be the way to go. What book is the recipe from?

 

[Frank]

I believe the recipe is from "North American Clone Brews". I don't actually have the book, the LHBS ran a copy of the recipe for me.

If I keep the temp at 68F, is it reasonable to expect that it would be ready after 2 weeks in the primary, 2 weeks in the Secondary, and 3 weeks in bottles?

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

Yeah I picked up those Clone Brews books when I started brewing. They're not exactly the "best" recipe books but they're OK.

2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, and 3 weeks in the bottle sounds like a good plan to me.

 

[Frank]

Thanks for the input, Drinks!