Yeast maturation

[VirginiaHops1]

I'm reading Palmer's book and he talks about the yeast maturation phase, after active fermentation is done. I don't have the book on me but I believe he recommends for ale around day 3 active fermentation is mostly done and to crank up the ferm temp by 5-10 degrees, to get maturation phase clean-up going. Because otherwise the yeast can go dormant after fermentation and won't clean the beer up as well.

I've seen people mention on here they raise their temps a little towards the end of fermentation, or in bottle conditioning, but his recommendation seems early and aggressive. My 2nd brew is a DIPA that's on it's 5th day today and I did raise the ferm temp a bit this morning, from 67 to 70. Maybe at a week I'll go a little higher. Anyone following his recommendations and noticing improvements in their beer? On my first beer I just set ferm temp at 68 and didn't mess with it the whole time.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Someone will come through with the science and/or timing but yes a post-fermentation free-rise in temperature a couple degrees for a couple days helps the yeast clean up by-products that you don't want in the final beer (diacetyl etc.). Doesn't mean your first beer will come out poorly I just think a good number of homebrewers do the post-ferment temp rise as standard practice for "clean-up".

 

[VirginiaHops1]

So I guess what I'm wondering is what do you guys consider post fermentation. I've seen people mention they raise it towards the end of their 2 week fermentation period. But Palmer seems to be basically saying do it on day 3, if I'm remembering what I read last night correctly. And how much do you raise it? A few degrees or 5-10 like he recommends? I know that a lot of this is trial and error, and as I brew more I'll play around and see what happens but interested in what effects others have noticed.

 

[JimRausch]

It really depends on the yeast, and what temp you're starting at.
For my lagers that I ferment at 48-50, I generally do a 5-10 degree rise about 7 days into fermentation.
With most ales that I'm fermenting in the low-mid 60's, I'll raise about 5 degrees and yes sometimes it will be after 3-4 days. I don't obsess about what things look like anymore(the advantage of brewing in closed buckets) but it would generally be when the krausen falls.