First batch fermentation/dry hop

[msu05]

So I have my first batch fermenting in the basement right now. It's an all grain Bell's Two Hearted Clone. I thought I had a plan all mapped out before I started, but the more I read on here and in books/magazines I'm a little confused right now. The original plan was to primary ferment for 7 days and rack to secondary. Dry hop in secondary for 21 days then bottle. The guy at the LHBS said this should be fine, but is 21 days too long to dry hop? I've seen threads on here where guys are only dry hopping for 7 days or so. As of today, it was in the primary for 7 days and it has now been in secondary dry hopping for 8 days.

So my questions are:
Should I rack into another fermenter or bottle it to stop dry hopping?
Is cold crashing the only way to drop hop particles out of suspension?
Am I ok to continue as planned and let it sit with hops in secondary for another 2 weeks before bottling?

I'm just curious as to what others think. I've done my best using the search function to find answers to most of my questions thus far, but didn't find anything to answer this one. Thanks for suggestions.

 

[TipsyDragon]

well first i think you may of racked to soon. always check that fermentation is done before racking it anywhere. the extended dry hop time wont hurt anything at all. if anything it will give you more hop flavor and aroma. 7 days is just a minimum some people like to use. if your worried about bits of hops in your bottles put a hops bag over your siphon when you rack out of the carboy into your bottling bucket.

 

[Kahuna]

Fourteen days of primary after a week of primary may do the trick, depending upon the original gravity of the beer. That's a pretty standard schedule that will work for most 1040 to 1060 OGs. Just take a sample on consecutive days at the end of the secondary and ensure that it is not still fermenting.

Fourteen days of dry hopping will give you great aroma.

 

[msu05]

Thanks. The OG was 1050. Hydrometer reading was 1010 when I racked to secondary.