Does my brew plan sound about right?

[Grizz]

Please let me know if my brew plan sounds about right.
I've got a double IPA fermenting right now (day 5) at 67 F. I plan to primary ferment for 14 days, then drop the trub/yeast (using conical). At that point I will add the dry hops and secondary ferment for another 7 days. Should I keep at 67 F the entire time? I would like to cold crash at the end to get the beer extra clear so what would be the best way to go about do that? Thanks guys!

 

[Cider123]

Please let me know if my brew plan sounds about right.
I've got a double IPA fermenting right now (day 5) at 67 F. I plan to primary ferment for 14 days, then drop the trub/yeast (using conical). At that point I will add the dry hops and secondary ferment for another 7 days. Should I keep at 67 F the entire time? I would like to cold crash at the end to get the beer extra clear so what would be the best way to go about do that? Thanks guys!

Keep it at 67F, sure. You should take a look at what your yeast will do at different temps. Your yeast may produce more esters at higher temps, you might want more esters, you might not. It's based on what you like. 67F is a good temp to ferment a lot of ales, so I would just leave it. I tend to like less funk so I ferment a bit lower (64-66F) for my ales, but I'll go higher on a belgian (with a yeast that likes those temps).

As for cold crashing, I'm assuming your kegging?
For nice, clear beer:
half a whirlfloc tab at 10 min left in the boil
ferment until FG is the same for at least 3 days in a row (2-3 weeks)
keg
chill overnight
1 packet dissolved unflavored gelatin
chill and carb until your at serving pressure
clear beer in a few days to a week

If your bottling, I'll pass that on to someone else. I don't know all the tricks there. Still use the whirlfloc and ferment until you have a stable FG.

 

[madscientist451]

The problem with your brew plan is that you are deciding what to do after a certain amount of days. Why 14 days at 67? What if the beer is done before that? What if its not done? A better plan would be to ferment at your chosen temperature until you are 70-80% attenuated then raise the temp a few degrees until the yeast is finished.
Some people like to dry hop when a small amount of fermentation is going on, others say your hop aroma and flavor gets wasted by the Co2 blow off.
Either way, why 7 days? What flavor profile are you trying to achieve? Will you get there in 5 days? Or 10 days? You need to taste the beer before you take the dry hops out to see what you have. Sure some recipes will say "dry hop for 7 days", but that's just a ballpark estimate, your tastes and your hops and your system will be different and you will have to experiment to get what you want.

 

[Grizz]

Thanks guys, I am going to bottle this one. I was planning 14 days assuming fermentation would be done 7-10 days and then let the beer sit on the yeast to clean things up a bit. Ok so when I'm at about 70-80% attenuation I'll turn it up to about 69-70 f for a few days, I'll take a sample today and see where it's at.

 

[Grizz]

Ok so I took a sample and right now I'm at 60% attenuation. OG 1.084 NOW 1.033. I'll recheck in two days and see where I'm at. Once I'm about 70%-80% should I ramp it up a few degrees over a period of a day or two or just set the thermostat and let it do it's thing?

 

[Gavin C]

1.033 with a hydrometer or refractometer?

 

[Grizz]

1.033 with a hydrometer or refractometer?

hydrometer

 

[Grizz]

Ok so now It's at 1.022 gravity 72% attenuation. Should I ramp up the temp to 70 f over a day or two or just set the thermostat to 70 and let it do it's thing? Does it even matter raising the temp over time?

 

[m00ps]

Temperature control becomes less important after the initial phases of fermentation. Its generally recommended to bump the temp up a bit (I usually just let it hit room temp) to help the yeast finish their fermentation

 

[TycoRossBrewing]

First off....why so long on the primary?? After seven days at 67 degrees it should be ready to go into secondary fermentation as the krausen should have fallen from suspension by then. Leaving the trub/yeast layer for two weeks could encourage autolysis....even at 67 degrees. Also, I would leave it in the secondary for another 4 days, dry hop it for about four days and then cold crash it for 4-5 daya at 38 degrees or so. I have done a similar cycle numerous times with a great degree of success.

 

[Hello]

First off....why so long on the primary?? After seven days at 67 degrees it should be ready to go into secondary fermentation as the krausen should have fallen from suspension by then. Leaving the trub/yeast layer for two weeks could encourage autolysis....even at 67 degrees. Also, I would leave it in the secondary for another 4 days, dry hop it for about four days and then cold crash it for 4-5 daya at 38 degrees or so. I have done a similar cycle numerous times with a great degree of success.

Yeast doesn't follow a timeline. I brewed an IPA on 5/25 and the yeast is not even done. There is still a good 3" layer of krausen using WY1272.

So, I say 10-14 days at least, lets the yeast do their job.

 

[TycoRossBrewing]

You are right, yeast itself doesnt have an EXACT timeline but it certainly works off of several factors that will influence attenuation, and these factors are predictable to an extent. Main rule of thumb for me is, with an ale of course, it to allow the krausen to drop if you arent worried about fusel oils. This typically takes about five days of so. I then wait another two days to give it time to really settle out and precipitate into the trub, yeast flocculation can actually been seen at this point if you are using stainless steel. At this point i might measure my gravity but through experience and trial and error i know that the wort has finished primary fermentation. I typically dont pull a hydrometer reading until im ready to crash, which is about 7--10 days after i rack into secondary. You are right though, yeast does not follow along a perfect timeline like a bunch of Goose stepping beer Nazis, but unless you are using yeast with a low viability, you will usually be good if you follow a similar timeline. It takes some practice to know when the beer is ready but this is a fairly common timeline if the yeast is healthy and the wort was prepared around a ph of 5.4

 

[TycoRossBrewing]

And then of course temperature plays a key role here too....yeast reproduce at a slower rate under cooler temps, while it spreads like wildfire if left to ferment at higher temeperatures ,especially during the respiration stage. When i did an experiment with brewing temperatures i started two batches at the same time....the batch i brewed at 62 degrees had a longer lag phase and was in primary for 9 days. The batch i left at 67 had a much short lag phase and was ready to rack into secondary on day five. Same recipe...brewed the same day, different timeline based off of temperature alone. I have yet to repeat the experiment with the only variable being yeast strain but my hypothesis is that yeast strains will also have a major impact. Apparently Belgian yeast have a shorter lag phases as well as a shorter respiration period. The shorter the respiration phase the higher the poly-phenols, the longer the respiration phase the cleaner your final product will be.