Dry Hopping..... how long?

[Harbrook]

Hi.
The beer I'm currently making is the Festival pride of London Porter..
After 5 days primary fermentation you add the dry hops for another 5 days and after that it says to check the FG and bottle.
It looks like my beer will take a little longer to reach the FG and I am worried about leaving the hops in longer than recommended. I don't want to get the flavour balance wrong.
I'm new to this so just trying to follow instructions as best as possible.
Would you recommend after 10 days, syphoning over to a secondary and leaving the trub and hops behind or leaving it longer with the hops still in?
Many thanks for any light you can shed on this....

 

[mashinary]

Don't worry about it. You can dry hop for weeks with no ill effects.

 

[Harbrook]

Don't worry about it. You can dry hop for weeks with no ill effects.

does this not then throw out the balance of flavours intended?

 

[mashinary]

does this not then throw out the balance of flavours intended?

Not really. You're only going to get so much aroma out of the dry hops. Nothing magic or tragic is going to happen on day 5 vs day 14. You're better off letting the fermentation finish.

 

[flars]

Don't worry about it. You can dry hop for weeks with no ill effects.

Some hops can begin producing a grassy flavor if left in the beer too long. Seven to 10 days will draw out the maximum aromas from most hops. Three to 5 days can be sufficient in most beer styles.

 

[mashinary]

Some hops can begin producing a grassy flavor if left in the beer too long. Seven to 10 days will draw out the maximum aromas from most hops. Three to 5 days can be sufficient in most beer styles.

Yup. This beer is still fermenting though, so there will be some CO2 doing scrubby things. Personally I've never had a beer get grassy, with leaving in dry hops for over a month. I've gone even longer in the keg with no ill effects.

The amount, type and time would change a simple answer in to complex answer that would just confuse a new brewer. A few more days dry hopping a fermenting beer isn't going to ruin anything.