what temp to maintain after fermentation complete ?

[beekeeperman]

My1st batch of Irish red ale extract seems to be near done fermenting on day 8.
Fermometer is at 66 right now but could keep it around 60 in the basement
if that would be a better holding temp till bottling in a couple weeks
from now probably.
Any input for this newbe is appreciated.

 

[ballsy]

1st- the only way to know if it is close to "done" is by taking a gravity read, do not go by airlock activity. When it doesn't change reading b/w a 3 day period then it is officially "done", HOWEVER yeast are always continuing to "clean up" the beer which is why so many advise to leave in bucket for roughly 3 weeks despite already reaching FG. Moving to 60 deg temp should be ok, but pending basement temps, be careful if ale yeast b/c it may slow them down if too cool. You can look up the yeasts temp preferences, if you're in range you should be fine.

 

[harebearva]

Different brewers have their own preferred temp regimes. For me, once primary fermentation is complete, I let the temp free rise up to the upper end of fermentation temp for the yeast strain your using then old it there for a week to let the yeast clean up. It shouldnt affect flavor, the flavor profile of the beer is pretty much set in the first few days of primary fermentation. After the free rise, you can let it set at that temp or lager it (ales too) for the remainder of primary to help clear the beer. I would let it stay in the primary at least 3 weeks total... sometimes 4. IMHO

 

[mbbransc]

I up the temps to ~72* once fermentation is complete and let it sit a week before cold crash, racking, and dry hopping (at 68*). My beers are generally in bottles at the 3wk mark. 2wks later, I'm drinking.

But everyone develops their own processes.