Fermentation Finishing and Cold Crashing

It couldn't hurt.

I think it's generally a good idea to allow some extra time for cleanup. Tasting you hydrometer sample can give you an idea about whether it's necessary. I package very few beers in less than two weeks from the brew date.

How clear is the beer? And how clear do you want it to be? I'd let that determine whether or not to cold crash an ale.
Cold crashing won't cause you to lose all of the yeast, i.e. you'll still have enough for carbonation.

 

Here is the science behind why you want to leave your brew in the primary another week or so. I am farily sure your beer will not be ready to drink until approaching the 6 week mark, so what's the rush?

I am a big fan of cold crashing. For best results go as low as possible (low 30s) and several days to a week will clear it up. I regularly use gelatin for more clarity. Remember, you've got weeks to go before drinking, so why not use this time productively. I've left beer in the 30s for 3 weeks and had absolutely no problem with bottle carbing . . . plenty of yeast hang around for the job.

 

Whirfloc doesn't do anything to make yeast flocculate. (It only/mostly affects proteins.) So it can be a piece of the puzzle for ultimate clarity, but cold crashing in addition can help too. As for time... I'd say at least a few days generally, but it depends somewhat on the yeast strain, exact temp, etc. I'd say let your eyes be your guide on that.

 

Here are a couple of vids I watched today on cold crashing with gelatin.

 

Vikeman pretty much nailed it.

I would only add that a lot of us like to let the beer rise more or less slowly up from 62-64F at pitch time to 66-68F over the course of that first week, and some of us also like to bring the beer up to about 72F for a day or two at the very end. This is just for insurance, really, to help the yeast remain active enough to ensure full attenuation and to facilitate 'clean up' of diacetyl and other products of fermentation. Basically, you're just speeding up processes that would be likely to occur at lower temperatures.

As for cold crashing and bottle conditioning: it shouldn't affect carbonation. It doesn't take much yeast to ferment that little bit of priming sugar in each bottle, and you should have plenty left even after cold crashing. If you're worried about it, just remember: there are people who bottle condition lagers that have been "cold crashing" for three months or more.

 

It wouldn't hurt to let the temp come up a few degrees in the next couple days.
Personally I would let it be at least another week before thinking about bottling - I personally won't go under 2 weeks, and I find that 3 weeks yields a better beer when finished.

 

Letting the temperature free-rise a few days after krausen fall is OK; however..keep the temperature below the yeast's max temperature. Me keeps the temp on the low end throughout.
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Primary three weeks or
Primary two weeks + one week 2ndary (if you're so inclined to add an completely unnecessary step)
Package.

Done and done.

What's the rush?
More better to wait awhile.

 

3 weeks primary is my happy place, 2 days cold crash to settle out the yeast and then either dry hop it or bottle.

 

Everyone is going to have their own processes and opinions but one thing everyone agrees on is your beer needs 2wks minimum in primary, and would probably be better with a 3rd wk.

I usually run about 14 days in primary before cold crashing and adding gelatin. For IPA/APA, I generally start temps around 66*. After 2-3 days I begin increasing temps 2* at a time finishing around 72*F. Then cold crash. After about 3 days, I allow the temps to rise back up.

Contrary to some earlier opinions, I only cold crash to ~50*F. Main reason I do this is Mitch Steele talking about how flocculant yeast are and 50*F is enough to make them floc out. But I like to dry hop at 68* so it takes less time for the beer to get back up to temp. I keg now but I never had a prob with carb'g in bottles.

I'm a big fan of cold crashing. I think all that extra yeast in a beer is what gives it that 'homebrew taste'.