How important is temperature for secondary?

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joel.e

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I've always fermented in the house somewhere so this never came up but I just got an old fridge and am using this as my fermentation chamber. I usually primary for 1 week and secondary for 1 week but I use 15 gallon buckets so only one will fit in the fridge at a time. So my question is... what are the limits of temp once fermentation is complete??

Thanks:mug:
 
the colder it is the faster it will clear, the warmer it is the faster it will "age".
So it depends on what you are going for.
I only use a clearing tank if I'm dry hopping or putting it on something like oak or friut or what ever. So I leave it at ferment temps. Which for me is 63-68*. Then I crash cool (35*) for 4 days and then keg and carb.
 
FSR402 said:
the colder it is the faster it will clear, the warmer it is the faster it will "age".
So it depends on what you are going for.
I only use a clearing tank if I'm dry hopping or putting it on something like oak or friut or what ever. So I leave it at ferment temps. Which for me is 63-68*. Then I crash cool (35*) for 4 days and then keg and carb.

What does crash cooling do for you? I have a batch of dark ale that I made from extracts. I will going out to sea for 7 months and I'd like to take part in some before I go. :mug: I fermented it for 7 seven days in the primary. It has been in the secondary for 4 days and I leave in 20 days. So if you got some secret squirrel stuff going on I'd like to know about it.:D
 
Bob8690 said:
What does crash cooling do for you? I have a batch of dark ale that I made from extracts. I will going out to sea for 7 months and I'd like to take part in some before I go. :mug: I fermented it for 7 seven days in the primary. It has been in the secondary for 4 days and I leave in 20 days. So if you got some secret squirrel stuff going on I'd like to know about it.:D

No secret, the crash cool makes most of the yeast and proteins drop out. So it makes the beer clear.
 
Temperature in the secondary is not nearly as important as temperature in the primary. However, since you can control the latter and not the former, I advise leaving your beer in the primary for at least a couple weeks.


TL
 
I agree with TexLaw. The only caveat is that beer prefers stable temperatures so choose a place where the temperature doesn't vary wildly every day.

GT
 
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