Too long ferment for an IPA?

I brewed an IPA not high gravity I forget but FG I think was around 1.012 and ABV around 5.5%, brewed it and put in primary and basically forgot about it other than to check FG and make sure it was done. It was done quick, maybe 5 days, but life intervened and I didn't get to bottle till it was sitting for 5 weeks before I bottled. Figured no need for 2dy and with that long on the primary I was pushing it on the yeast cake. Any thoughts/predictions on how this will impact? No dry hopping. I'm guessing from my limited knowledge that aroma might be reduced. Any thoughts? It's all academic I guess because I'll find out in a few weeks when I pop one, but I'm just curious. Also -- is it true IPAs are better when young, i.e. don't go bottle conditioning for a month?

Your beer will be just fine. Five weeks isn't pushing the yeast cake at all. Many of us don't ever secondary except in rare circumstances, but I won't get into that. Bottle and enjoy!

You most definitely just brewed some great beer! Bottle it up and enjoy it in a few weeks!

Cheers!

Well that's all comforting, I thought IPA's like lose their hop with time?? That's what I was worried about. Since my first batch I've learned patience and to let it sit, I was just worried I went too far in that direction because of the style....

My understanding is that IPAs were designed to make the 4-6 month sea voyage from England to India and still taste good. I think you're in the clear.

Hop aroma does fade quickly. That's a different question than the usual "is my beer ok that long in primary?"

You know, if you've not bottled it yet, you could dry hop it for 7-10 days. That would give you some nice aroma. It's easy to do and I'm sure someone here would be happy to give you some advice on which hops and how much to use.

First and foremost, your beer didn't ferment for that long, it fermented for as long as it needed to, which was probably about a week to 10 days, then it conditioned and made for a cleaner and crisper beer. Many of us leave our beers purposefully for about that time and bottle. Many recipes, even in BYO magazine, opt for the long primary/no secondary methods these days.

People have left their beers in primaries for 6 months or a year that way with no issues.

Many of us, like prpromin mentioned, dryhop the very last week of that time, in primary, then bottle.