Dry Hopped to early?

[mattymc]

Hey Guys,

I am doing a Anchor Brewing Liberty Ale Clone and I have a few questions.

We brewed this up on Nov 22 and racked it to the secondary on Dec 05. When we racked to the secondary we added the dry hops (Cascade). I was planning on letting it sit for two weeks but I recently discovered that you show not let the dry hops sit that long. I heard it can both diminish the hop flavor and also product a "grassy taste".

So here are my questions:

- Is two weeks the normal secondary time (for your average beer -- nothing crazy)?
- Now that I have already added the dry hops early. How long would recommend I wait before I bottle it?

Thanks for the help guys (and gals)! Appreciate it!

Matty

PS - I know that most people here don't use a secondary (we can leave that to a different thread )

PSS - Don't worry this is not a "Oh no everyone I ruined my beer" thread. I just want to do what I can to make it the best I can.

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Recipe:

O.G. - 1.060
9.5lb pale malt extract
.25 carastan (light british crystal)
15 AAU Chinook (1 oz) - boil 1 hour
1 oz Cascade (Finishing)
1oz Cascade (Dry hop)
ale yeast
--

 

[HawksBrewer]

As long as your SG/FG was stable when racking to secondary, a week in secondary w/ the dry hops should be sufficient.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,one week dry hop has been good for mine too.

 

[mattymc]

I initially wanted it in the secondary for two weeks (not sure why -- to age it? I usually found when I brewed a few years ago that longer was usually better).

Is there a big difference in waiting the extra week (ie, if I didn't dry hop early?) and does that gain outwieght the loss of dry hopping too long?

 

[unionrdr]

I think it depends on the hop as to how soon the grassy stuff comes on. Some hops are piny,grassy,resiny sort of flavor/aroma anyway. But over 7-10 days dry hopping is the point of diminishing returns,ime/opinion.

 

[HawksBrewer]

As long as you have the proper amount of time in primary and/or secondary (at least 2-3 weeks for most low-mid gravity beers) you are fine. One week of "bulk aging" isn't going to do too much but it won't hurt either - unless you are leaving dry hops in for too long, then they will impart a grassy quality that is less than desirable.