IPA fermentation schedule (freshness vs yeast cleanup)

[luizffgarcia]

Hey guys, i am experimenting with different fermentation schedules and i would like to your your opinion about this.

Until now i was following a friends's advice and doing the following for my IPAs:

- 5 days at 17c (62.6f);
- 2 days at 20c (68f) and dryhop at day 7;
- 5 days at 20c while dry hopping;
- 2 days cold crash and keg or bottle;

I usually use the following yeasts: S-04, US-05, WLP001, WLP090.

So it is a total of 14 days from boil to keg, and in all my batches the fermentation is completed and FG is reached before day 7.

Now what i am wondering is if there would be any benefits in giving the yeast more time to clear up the fermentation byproducts, i know this is usually a good practice but since we are talking about IPAs here the more time in the fermenter vessel the less hop character we get in the final product, right?

I appreciate any advice, i currently have two batches fermenting which i plan on leaving alone for 2 weeks before dry-hopping instead of only one week.

 

[Yooper]

Remember that the "clean up" phase lasts no longer than about 24 hours from the time the beer reaches FG. It's not that fermentation ends and then the clean up starts- it all goes on at the same time and the timing from things like the lag phase, active fermentation, etc, all overlap.

 

[luizffgarcia]

Remember that the "clean up" phase lasts no longer than about 24 hours from the time the beer reaches FG. It's not that fermentation ends and then the clean up starts- it all goes on at the same time and the timing from things like the lag phase, active fermentation, etc, all overlap.

Thanks Yooper, so you would say that if my fermentation is consistently done and FG reached at day 7, there will be no benefit whatsoever in leaving the beer in the fermentor past day 9? Other than dry-hopping i mean

 

[Yooper]

Thanks Yooper, so you would say that if my fermentation is consistently done and FG reached at day 7, there will be no benefit whatsoever in leaving the beer in the fermentor past day 9? Other than dry-hopping i mean

Assuming you're not using yeast strains that may produce a ton of diacetyl (certain lager strains especially), then the only advantage I can think of is for clarity. For me, S05 is a poor flocculator, and it takes longer to clear and drop out (but I rarely, if ever, use it). Some yeast strains will drop out like a rock shortly after FG is reached (like S04) and will be totally clear by day 5-7 anyway.

 

[luizffgarcia]

Assuming you're not using yeast strains that may produce a ton of diacetyl (certain lager strains especially), then the only advantage I can think of is for clarity. For me, S05 is a poor flocculator, and it takes longer to clear and drop out (but I rarely, if ever, use it). Some yeast strains will drop out like a rock shortly after FG is reached (like S04) and will be totally clear by day 5-7 anyway.

Thanks for your input, i guess there is no reason to change my current methods then