Am I shorting fermentation time?

[Josephryanevan]

Hey folks,
I see a lot of recipes that call for three weeks in primary. I've been doing about two weeks. One of those weeks, I am cold crashing or at least trying to. But I always wait until SG stabilizes for three days.

Anyhow, just curious if my flavors aren't developing or if there is some other magical process that happens in that last week.

Thanks

 

[ChelisHubby]

Your beer will likely improve if you do 2 weeks in the primary and then cold crash. If you are brewing Ipas and kegging then the difference will be small but if you are doing a dark beer and or something over 1.060 in starting gravity then you are more likely to notice a difference.

 

[kh54s10]

If you are getting the stable FG for 3 days before you are cold crashing you should be good to go. If you cold crash at one week, you could be making the yeast go dormant before fermentation is done. I do 14 days, or when the beer looks clear. Unless I get lazy, then it is longer. I don't cold crash.