Secondary Fermenter Temperature — Colder?

[KidMoxie]

My American Pale Ale has been fermenting away nicely for the past few days and I'm certain I'll be racking to secondary within a few days (after SG gets stable).

I'm curious: I've been keeping my primary stable at ~68°F using a 10 gallon utility bucket filled with water and 100-Watt fish tank heater; can I unplug the heater (I'd like to save the power) and just keep the secondary in the water bath? I live in Southern California, so the low will only be in the high 40's at worst, with the water bath probably averaging ~60°F.

I'm also going to be dry hopping 2oz of Cascade hops--will the lower temperature be good/bad for this purpose?

Also of note: I'm using Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) yeast. Though the yeast should theoretically be finished fermenting at this time.

 

[helibrewer]

I prefer to keep the temperature stable until the beer is dry (has reached final gravity, verified by a constant reading over several days). Then, if you choose to, rack it. Unplug the heater and just let the beer reach equalibrium, the water bath will help buffer temperature changes. Temp doesn't have a significant effect on your dry hopping.

Cold temps (below 40F) can assist with clearing the beer but time can accomplish the same thing.

You don't want the dry hops to sit in there for extended aging so if you are going to use time to clear your beer, you might want to hold off on the dry hopping until you see that the beer is almost settled. A couple weeks is reasonable for the dry hopping contact.

You have time to wait for other folks opinions on this so be patient

 

[Krane]

The lower limit suggested temperature for US-05 is 59*f so I assume you would be okay as long as it doesn't go below that. Keep in mind, lower temperatures mean slower fermentation, so the yeast take longer to do their job. While they might be done converting sugar, they clean up other undesirable products produced during fermentation as well, which leads to better beer. Make sure your gravity readings are stable before transferring to secondary.

Consider not transferring as well. It is not essential for dry hopping and could possibly harm your beer if not done properly. While it isn't that difficult to do, I would skip this step.