Secondary too early?

[elvestinkle]

So I've been brewing for over a year now but I worry that I went and made a n00b mistake, so I'm posting it here.

I brewed up an all-extract IPA, and because I racked it onto an already established yeast cake, it chugged like crazy, and the krausen was gone by day 2. I let it sit for another 5 days, and then took a gravity sample. It was right on target (1.012), so I racked it into secondary on top of some whole leaf Chinook. Now, I intend to let it sit for the full 2 weeks--1 week left to go--but I worry that I might have ruined my beer.

The gravity sample tasted amazing, and I'm not worried about bottle bombs. Would the yeast in secondary be enough to finish the conditioning process, or will it be sub-par? I did seem to get a bit of extra yeast in the secondary.

I am probably never going to dry-hop in secondary again!

 

[Yooper]

First, two weeks is right on the verge of too long on the dryhops. I like to dryhop for 3-7 days right before packaging, which ensures no "grassy" or vegetal flavors from leaving the beer on the dryhops too long. I know that others have done it, but I think you'll find that going no longer than 7-10 days at the most will give you the best hops flavor/aroma.

Yeast can impact the dryhopping negatively, but not with that small amount. I wouldn't worry about that.

Conditioning is generally done before you rack to secondary (more properly called a 'bright tank' in a brewery.) There are plenty of yeast still in suspension though, if you racked too soon, so don't worry about it overmuch.

 

[Scooby_Brew]

I really don't see what your point is. You kept your beer in the primary for a week, you got the right FG reading, then you racked it to the secondary and dry-hopped. Now you want to keep it in secondary for a week or two. Sho why worry? I think you are golden, unless I misunderstood something.

 

[elvestinkle]

I really don't see what your point is. You kept your beer in the primary for a week, you got the right FG reading, then you racked it to the secondary and dry-hopped. Now you want to keep it in secondary for a week or two. Sho why worry? I think you are golden, unless I misunderstood something.

I keep reading about people who rack too early, and I worried that I was one of them. I know, RDWHAHB, but this is the first time I've ever used a secondary stage, so I'm flying by instrument.

I know that others have done it, but I think you'll find that going no longer than 7-10 days at the most will give you the best hops flavor/aroma.

Excellent. This means I can bottle right now if I want to! And boy howdy, do I want to!