Dry Hopping for more than one week?

I went on a trip so started dry hopping 6 days ago. I am coming home but now, am being sent somewhere else so I won't be able to transfer my IIPA to keg until the 10th of September. That's a full 18-20 days.

Is this really bad? I know the hops drop eventually and maybe my beer will be more clear but I'd hate to get any other ill effects i know the one thing that comes to mind is that my beer will be less hoppy sooner so I should enjoy within the next couple of months. but, other than that, will that extended dry hopping really mess things up?

Should I have my friend throw the carboy in my beer fridge to drop the beer down to 40 Degrees F? That should help maintain some freshness even if I can't transfer it for anotehr 2 weeks.

Oh and it's completely pitch dark where i'm fermenting and maintains 60 Degrees F constant temp via an AC in the closet blowing out cold air constantly. So it's already pretty stable. FG is expected to be around 10% so maybe time will help this beer?

the main negative effect that i've heard of, with regards to extended dry-hopping, is that the beer can take on a grassy flavor as the vegetable matter in the hops starts to break down. folks say that a week is a good limit on dry-hopping.

throwing it in the fridge is probably a good idea - do it if you can.

I asked one of the local brewer here about "Dry Hopping" and how long to leave them.

He three (3) days or more than Twenty-One (21)? I did not understand...

So he clarified... After three days much of the oils have come out and you will not see much of a difference unless you leave them longer than 21....

Now I have not tested this but he does do this for a living...

DPB

the grassyness is also dependent on the particular hops

but you can dry hop much longer at cold temps without extracting those off flavors

have them put it in the fridge for you

Thanks. Fridge it is! yeah, I know the rule about IPAs staying fresher when kept cooler. Breweries do it and so do friends that are homebrewers. Colder = longer life for hoppy beers so I figured i would do that..will have to tell my friend to take it easy with that 6.5 gallon carboy. don't want to break it.

A couple of my IPA's developed a grassiness after only 7 - 10 days @ 63 - 68 degrees. I cut back my drop hop time to 5 days and I'm happier with the results. I've never gone longer than 10 days...

This is an all galaxy beer except for dry hopping. It's also 10.5% so it's going to be a big beer which means more hops. It's my first BIG IPA so no idea how it'll come out. Don't want to ruin that by getting grassiness due to my schedule sucking this month.

Grassiness seems like a bogeyman to me. I've dry-hopped at a variety of temps for varying amounts of time and have never gotten anything remotely grassy. People dry-hop in the keg for extended periods without issue. I think you're good to go.

I figured I'd chime in here instead of starting another dry-hopping thread.

Our first brew has been in primary for 11 days. Is it too late to dry hop? Moreover, can we just toss the hops directly into the fermentation bucket?

Never too late to dry hop. Toss 'em right in.

I've found the grassy flavor ages out in short order in the keg and at cold temps.

I almost always dryhop 10 days and sometimes up to 3 weeks. I've never had a beer get ruined by dryhopping too long, though I probably wouldn't push it over 3 weeks, but I have no reason for that other then fear of the unknown, and the traditional internet wisdom I've read.

grassy flavor is also the most 'volitale'.. if you make a cup of 'hop tea' with the hops at about 100F you should force off most of that.

TyTanium said:

Grassiness seems like a bogeyman to me. I've dry-hopped at a variety of temps for varying amounts of time and have never gotten anything remotely grassy. People dry-hop in the keg for extended periods without issue. I think you're good to go.

Click to expand...

I kind of feel the same way. I think some hops naturally taste grassier then others, and people are quick to cite the conventional wisdom of blaming a long dryhop.

Sea_of_Shells said:

Our first brew has been in primary for 11 days. Is it too late to dry hop? Moreover, can we just toss the hops directly into the fermentation bucket?

Click to expand...

11 days = you're fine. throw in the hops directly into the primary.

I doubt it will be a problem. The only time I had a grassy flavor was when I left the bag in the cornie for the entire time it was on tap, about 3 months.

Alright. Homebrewing friend went over to my place. Opened the airlock and texted me saying, "this smells fantastic!" then He moved it to my beer fridge which is around 40 degrees. I'll be back home in about 9 days to transfer to keg.

Lots of hop particles were still floating around..this should drop those out and perhaps, cold temps will not only preserve freshness and making racking easier but this long time might lead to a very nice clarity in the beer! Makes me wish I had made a bigger batch.