When does fermentation temps matter?

[Big Tex]

It also depends on the style of beer you're brewing... some commercial breweries will turn off the coolant to their fermenters at certain points in the fermentation process to let the temps raise naturally over time.

[Nyakavt]

I still am not convinced that it needs to be that controlled after the bulk of the fermentation is over.

Hey, it's your beer. Knock yourself out.

What's your concern? Yeast don't produce off flavors without consuming sugars or growing, and he's talking about moving the beer when the bulk of attenuation is complete. I haven't seen anything that would make me believe a warm maturation period is a bad thing. There are certainly arguments for autolysis, so I wouldn't let it get near the 80's. Are you worried about quicker staling? I can say that I've noticed some oxidized character in beer that is stored warm in the closet in as little as a month, but a week in the fermenter at room temp?

[Kaiser]

I agree that you’ll do no or only little harm to the beer by maturing it warm. You may even get better attenuation. But why don’t you see for yourself? Brew the same beer twice. The first one will get temp control only for the primary fermentation until the activity slows and the next one gets the fridge until it’s done. Then compare.

Kai

[Spidey]

I agree that you’ll do no or only little harm to the beer by maturing it warm. You may even get better attenuation. But why don’t you see for yourself? Brew the same beer twice. The first one will get temp control only for the primary fermentation until the activity slows and the next one gets the fridge until it’s done. Then compare.

Kai

+1 The increase in temp may also help clean up any leftover fermentation by-products. If you're fermenting it in glass, oxidation should be minimal since most of the oxygen should have been flushed out during the fermentation. RDWHAHB.