1 month in primary before dry hopping - too long?

[vitale232]

Hey guys,

We're supposed to get a bunch of rain this weekend, so my girlfriend and I are going to brew our 3rd batch. So far we've had success with a pale ale kit, and seem to have a tasty red ale headed for bottles.

For this weekend, we're going to brew a black IPA. We got the recipe from this site - Darth Vader Black IPA.

We've got all the ingredients and are ready to brew, but we just realized the timing might not work out. We'll both be out of town from Dec 17th-Dec 31. So, if we brew this weekend, the beer will likely have to sit in the primary for about a month. At that point we would dry hop it for a week, and bottle it. That's 5 weeks on the yeast.

Everything I've read seems to indicate sitting on the yeast isn't a big deal, but 5 weeks was just outside of most of what I read. Do you guys think this plan of attack will make a good beer? We definitely don't want to mess it up - this is the priciest set of ingredients for us, yet.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[duboman]

IMO there is no worry with your proposed schedule but if it concerns you, rack the beer to a secondary vessel upon your return and dry hop in that.

 

[vitale232]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. We went ahead and brewed it on Sunday. Seems like it's going to be quite a delicious brew - super stoked. The brew went flawlessly until the end, when I forgot to aerate the wort after pitching. So maybe it's better the yeast will have a little extra time to get after some sugar.

 

[Revvy]

Many of us dry hop during extended primaries. 5 weeks on the yeast is nothing. Just leave it alone. And when you get back Dryhop for your week. People have left their beers in primary for a year with no issues. And many of us leave out beers a minimum of a month. So really there's nothing to worry about. And not real need to rack.

 

[unionrdr]

Agreed. I've had beers in primary 5 weeks with no isues.

 

[vitale232]

Awesome. This is good news. I'm really enjoying brewing - it's getting to be a smoother operation for me each time. Awesome indoor hobby!

I'm thinking next up, it's an oaked double IPA. This should be liquid gold.

Thanks for the words, folks.