Dry Hopping - How Long Is TOO Long?

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Bouza

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I've got two 5 gallon batches in secondary carboys - both getting dry hopped. They have been sitting for two weeks now.
How long can I let them sit?
Ideally, I'd like to bottle this weekend.
However, I've got a 5 day old baby in the house. Can I wait another few weeks?
Thanks!
 
I had once dry hopped a wheat lager for the entire secondary fermentation (4.5 weeks). For an ale, two weeks is plenty. If your top layer has a gel over it, you have released all of the oils and it is time to bottle. In general, I try to bottle long before the gel forms.
 
I've got two 5 gallon batches in secondary carboys - both getting dry hopped. They have been sitting for two weeks now.
How long can I let them sit?
Ideally, I'd like to bottle this weekend.
However, I've got a 5 day old baby in the house. Can I wait another few weeks?
Thanks!

i'd get them bottled asap. you really don't want those vegetal off flavors that will develop from dry hopping too long.
 
I wouldn't go longer than 2 weeks. After that all the aromas you got from the hops will start to dissipate and you will pretty much have simply wasted the hops. I normally do only a week and get a really nice full hop aroma.
 
Normal dry hopping times are anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. Any longer than that and you can start to get vegetal flavors from the break down of the organic matter in the hops. Also, the longer you wait, the less hop aroma from the dry hopping will be left. The sooner the better at this point.
 
I've got an IPA that's been dry hopping for about a month. I usually go for 2 two week contact time. I've been waiting for a keg to free up. This is the longest I've ever dry-hopped. I'll report back in a couple weeks on the possible vegetal off-flavors.
 
Yikes! Looks like I'll have an emergency bottling session tomorrow. Time to start looking for enough bottles.
 
To throw another data point out there, I dry hop in my kegs and generally never remove the hops.

Before I dry hopped in my kegs I'd frequently leave them in for 2-3 months depending on my schedule.
 
Bouza if your anywhere near Cinti, OH or Northern KY to be exact I've got 4 cases of bottles you can have.

Wow! Thanks!
Not close. Just outside of Memphis.
I just pulled all the empties I had. Thankfully, my co-workers had given me a case of empties last week... soaking in OxiClean right now!
 
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