brewinhard wrote: This gives the yeast time to complete fermentation as well as condition the beer (clean up after itself after producing any unwanted byproducts).
As well as time for the yeast to drop out and give you a cleaner finished beer. Since you are bottle conditioning, you want the beer going into the bottle to be pretty clear, there will still be yeast in there, but if it is hazy, you'll have a thick layer in the bottle and make it tough to pour a clean glass. I generally just let it go, and use my hydrometer to get a measure of my alcohol rather than judge when it's done.
