How long is too long in secondary

[TravelingLight]

I'm brewing my first this weekend. Doing an extract IPA recipe that I created myself, i.e., not using a kit. Was not planning on doing secondary but now I am thinking I will. Here's the deal: I plan on kegging this beer because I can and I don't want to deal with cleaning, sanitizing, filling, etc. 50 bottles. Here is the issue: my kegerator isn't quite done yet. And I haven't gotten my keg yet. Ideally I wanted the kegerator to be finished and already have my keg when I brew. But this weekend is an ideal time to brew. My buddy who is a longtime homebrewer suggested that if I wasn't able to keg it and throw it in the kegerator when primary was done that I could just move it to secondary and let it sit until I had the keg/kegerator ready. Any thoughts on this? How long is too long in secondary? I guess ultimately I'm asking if there is a point of diminishing returns. Thanks for any advice.

FWIW, if it helps in giving me an answer, here's my recipe:
6.5# Light LME
1.5# Wheat DME
1# Corn sugar
Boil hops: Warrior, Cascade, Citra, Centennial (6 oz. total)
Dry hops: Cascade. Citra, Centennial (3 oz. total)

 

[andy6026]

I just tasted my first sample of an ale that was left in a cold-crashing secondary for 6 weeks. The holidays came and I got lazy. I was expecting it to taste like arse... but it turned out no different than the other 5 gallons that were only in secondary to cold crash for a few days (I split a 10-gallon batch).

Cue the folks that'll tell you to leave it in primary...

 

[TravelingLight]

I just tasted my first sample of an ale that was left in a cold-crashing secondary for 6 weeks. The holidays came and I got lazy. I was expecting it to taste like arse... but it turned out no different than the other 5 gallons that were only in secondary to cold crash for a few days (I split a 10-gallon batch).

Cue the folks that'll tell you to leave it in primary...

Thanks for the heads up. Curious: what would be the difference/pros/cons to just leaving it in the primary for an extended period of time? I assume transferring to secondary for an extended period would be to get it off the cake? Although I don't know why? I feel like I've read something about the yeast cake giving off flavors and such if the beer is left on the cake too long after the yeast has done all its work.

 

[Gavin C]

You can keg and carbonate a beer outside of a fridge. Just requires a higher psi.

Nice bonus here is that you can dry hop in the keg while the beer is carbing up safely in a light free O2 poor environment. Ideal for an IPA.

 

[TravelingLight]

You can keg and carbonate a beer outside of a fridge. Just requires a higher psi.

Nice bonus here is that you can dry hop in the keg while the beer is carbing up safely in a light free O2 poor environment. Ideal for an IPA.

Right, I know that. But I don't have my keg yet (or CO2 tank) either. So that's out. I could carb it with my buddy's keezer. But, again, don't have the keg yet either. So I'm just looking at extended secondary. Thanks for the heads up though!

 

[m00ps]

I feel like I've read something about the yeast cake giving off flavors and such if the beer is left on the cake too long after the yeast has done all its work.

That was the general consensus decades ago when it sounds like homebrewers didnt have access to quality yeast. Autolysis isnt really a concern for most fermentation timeframes.

I would keep it in primary and just dry hop it in there to minimize oxygen exposure as much as you can. A secondary wont hurt most beers (potentially expose to infection) but it will negatively impact an IPA. If you have the ability to keg though, doing a secondary in a purged keg and hopping it in there is a great option

 

[m00ps]

IPAs shouldnt take any longer than 2-3 weeks to finish fermentation. Youll want to get them packaged up and drinkable as soon as you can to take advantage of the fresh hop character

 

[TravelingLight]

IPAs shouldnt take any longer than 2-3 weeks to finish fermentation. Youll want to get them packaged up and drinkable as soon as you can to take advantage of the fresh hop character

Thanks, m00ps. As you probably remember, I'm using some of your methods on this beer. Particularly w/r/t dry hopping. Hypothetically speaking, if I wanted/needed to leave this beer in primary longer than normal (i.e., longer than the yeast needs to fully...work(?)) and was planning to do two "stages" of dry hopping (e.g., dry hop one week before racking, then again 3-4 days before racking), should I still follow the "one week before racking" and "3-4 days before racking" schedule for my dry hopping?

 

[DevilNuts]

I've had a witbier sitting in secondary for around nine months - came out fantastic.

 

[m00ps]

Thanks, m00ps. As you probably remember, I'm using some of your methods on this beer. Particularly w/r/t dry hopping. Hypothetically speaking, if I wanted/needed to leave this beer in primary longer than normal (i.e., longer than the yeast needs to fully...work(?)) and was planning to do two "stages" of dry hopping (e.g., dry hop one week before racking, then again 3-4 days before racking), should I still follow the "one week before racking" and "3-4 days before racking" schedule for my dry hopping?

Yeah. Always count down according to your planned packaging date. So I normally do 2 weeks for IPAs, 3 weeks for most other non-"big" beers. For dry hopping an IPA, I would do like day 7-8 and day 11-2 then keg. For a dry hopped saison or something, it would be closer to day 15-16 and day 18-19 if I were doing multiple dry hops

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

I'm brewing my first this weekend. Doing an extract IPA recipe that I created myself, i.e., not using a kit. Was not planning on doing secondary but now I am thinking I will. Here's the deal: I plan on kegging this beer because I can and I don't want to deal with cleaning, sanitizing, filling, etc. 50 bottles. Here is the issue: my kegerator isn't quite done yet. And I haven't gotten my keg yet. Ideally I wanted the kegerator to be finished and already have my keg when I brew. But this weekend is an ideal time to brew. My buddy who is a longtime homebrewer suggested that if I wasn't able to keg it and throw it in the kegerator when primary was done that I could just move it to secondary and let it sit until I had the keg/kegerator ready. Any thoughts on this? How long is too long in secondary? I guess ultimately I'm asking if there is a point of diminishing returns. Thanks for any advice.

FWIW, if it helps in giving me an answer, here's my recipe:
6.5# Light LME
1.5# Wheat DME
1# Corn sugar
Boil hops: Warrior, Cascade, Citra, Centennial (6 oz. total)
Dry hops: Cascade. Citra, Centennial (3 oz. total)

If I'm understanding this correctly, I would do 12-14 day to ferment up to 21 is fine. Then xfer to another bucket until keg is ready. Dry hopping should only be for 1-2days anyway as research suggest oils are completely extracted after 6-8hrs. See Oregon State paper. So just wait until the keg is ready to dry hop.

Edit: I already see the comments coming. Last 3 beers I made doing a 8hr dry hop (along with 2 whirlpools at 175F/140F) are the juiciest I've ever made. 2-4oz dry hopping only...also.

 

[ballsy]

Any time in secondary is too long, just do primary only.