First Batch: How long to leave in the secondary, and other first-time jitters.

[UnclePeaches]

I am a newbie working on my first brew.
Before and during my first batch I have read Papazian's "Complete Joy of Homebrewing," the HomeBrewTalk forums, and the instructions that came with my extract kit from Austin Homebrew Supply. It seems like every source has a different answer for each question I have. That being said, here is where I am and what I trying to figure out.

I brewed an extract batch of American Pale Ale. I forgot to strain the hops, but reading the forums told me it was okay. I took a hydrometer reading on day 6 & 7. Since they were the same, I followed the instructions from Austin Homebrew Supply and racked the beer to my secondary (sanitized 5 gal carboy.) About 12 hours later I noticed sediment at the bottom of the carboy. The beer has been in the secondary for about 4 days at around 67°- 70°.

I later read that:
A) many people say it is okay to leave hops in the primary.
B) The beer can/should stay in the primary for 2-3 weeks, even after consecutive days of unchanged hydrometer readings.


Since I can't go back in time and leave the primary alone I am trying to decide:
A) How long should I leave beer in the secondary before bottling?
B) Should I wait a few more days, then cold crash for a day, then bring back up to 70°, and then bottle?


Thanks in advance,
PJ

 

[Yooper]

You can leave it as long as you want. I'd say a week or two or three would be good. I like to bottle when the beer is pretty clear, as any more "stuff" that falls out would fall out in the bottle if you bottle too soon.

If you cold crash (I typically don't), no need to warm the beer up to 70. Just bottle it still cold. That will be fine.

 

[ongreystreet]

If it hit target OG for consecutive days and is now at 11 days, then your beer is done, and can be bottled at anytime. I wouldn't worry too much about cold crashing on your first brew. If you did a secondary, and let a good bit fall out there also, it should be pretty clear when it's done.

I have only bottled two batches, but I can tell you that your beer will look much much cloudier in your fermenter then it will after bottle conditioning. Your beer probably looks pretty cloudy right now, a week or so in the bottle and a few days in the fridge will make a huge difference.