Holiday Travel Conflict With Brewing

[WolfieBrew]

I brewed my first batch on beer on 11/6/10. It is an Shoultz-Meyer Red Carmel Amber Ale. The recipe advises to leave in the primary for 2 weeks and then rack to the secondary. Once in the secondary, the recipe calls for dry hopping with Centennial Hops for 3 o 7 days. I was advised that I can leave in the primary for an extra week until I return. I am just wondering if it might be better to rack to the secondary and just dry hop for the full 7 days. If my trip expands, it could have up to 9 days of dry hopping. Any comments?

 

[Calder]

Providing it is in a sealed container with an airlock, you can leave it in the primary for a couple of months without worry. The only thing it will do is give you a clearer and cleaner tasting beer - I think you can live with that.

As for dry hopping. You can do it in the Primary, don't have to rack to secondary. If you want to save the yeast cake, you are probably best doing it in the secondary. I usually leave dry hops in for 2 weeks, and once for 4 months with no issues. Some people say you can get a grassy taste if they are left too long; as best as I can tell from what people have said, it is more from using leaf hops and the lighter flavored hops (Saaz, hallertau, etc).

 

[iron_city_ap]

Its really up to you and what you like. I think either would be fine. The longer you let the hops sit in the beer, the more aeromatic it will be. If you don't like hops, wait till you get back to dry hop so you can only let it sit a couple days. If you like hops, throw those bad boys in and let them sit however long you want.

 

[elkdog]

7-9 days is a fine time to dry hop, but as said above, you'll have a stronger hop aroma, so that should be your determining factor. Most everything I've read and done myself suggests 14 days as the upper limit for dry-hopping, and at that point you may get some grassiness. I don't bother to dry hop for less than 7 days, myself.

Otherwise, the extra time in primary won't hurt a thing.

 

[ultravista]

If Revvy see's this thread, he'll tell you to relax, don't wort, and have a home brew.

He may also mention something about secondaries being nonsense in most situations ...

 

[WolfieBrew]

Haha. Im on page 140. One could make a drinking game out of "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing." You would be fall down drunk before page 10. lol.

 

[Revvy]

If you opt for a long primary, then you just need to dryhop for your intended time, just before bottling. Even if you primaried for 2 months, if you plan to dryhop for 7 days, then add the hops and bottle 7 days later. So if you're travelling DH on the day you get back into town, and then bottle a week later. No biggie.