How Long should I Keep in Primary?

[pcancila]

Hey guys,

This past Saturday I brewed my second batch of beer. I went with the Hop Head Double IPA from midwest supplies. The brewing went well, I followed all the directions and learned what i could from my first batch of beer, which is still bottle conditioning.

I racked the 5g batch to my 6.6g carboy on saturday. By monday morning I had a good healthy fermentation going. the beer looks great!

My question is: I need to dry hop the beer according to directions and i wanted to know what your suggestions are as far as racking to a secondary? or just keeping in primary? also, what are the advantages of going to the secondary? the directions say 2 week fermenting, 2 weeks dry hop, then bottle. Do you agree with directions?

here is the quick directions i took from the recipe:

Quick Instructions
1. Steep crushed grains for 10-30 minutes at 155 degrees.
2. Add malt extract while brew pot is off the burner.
3. Bring to a boil and add 1 oz Chinook bittering hops. (60 Minutes)
4. Add ½ oz Cascade hops for the last 45 minutes.
5. Add ½ oz Centennial hops for the last 30 minutes of the boil.
6. Add ½ oz Cascade hops for the last 20 minutes of the boil.
7. Add ½ oz Centennial Hops for the last 10 minutes of the boil.
8. Add 1 oz Crystal hops for the last 5 minutes of the boil.
9. Cool, top up to 5 gallon mark and add yeast.
10. Ferment and after 1 week dry hop with 2 oz whole (leaf) hops in the sanitized muslin
bag (2 stage fermentation is recommended.)
11. Bottle.

Full Directions:
***********
"After 5-7 days of fermentation, sanitize the muslin bag in sanitizer
or boiling water then add the 2 oz whole (leaf) hops to the bag for the dry hop. Put the dry hop bag in
the fermenter and rack the beer on top of it. If you are using a single stage fermenting system, then
leave the beer in the fermenter for two weeks total and carefully add the dry hop bag to the primary
fermenter. Allow this to age for 7-10 days."
**********

So overall, i want to make sure i nail this beer. I am willing to be patient with this one as i am a huge IIPA fan.

-How long should i keep in primary before i bottle?

-when do i add the hops to dry hopp ( should i go to secondary or just keep in primary?

-how long should i wait to bottle?

-once bottled, how long should i let the beer condition?

I appreciate your responses!

Pete

 

[Grinder12000]

Typically - 2 weeks in a primary and 1 week in the secondary for people that use the 213 process. 2 weeks 1 week 3 weeks carbing.

Put the dry hops in as you rack into the secondary 1 week to 10 days for dry hopping - longer MIGHT get the hops stale ( ????)

one sad word of note. If you did not do a full boil you will not get the full utilization of hops

basically - if you boiled with 2.5 gallons of wort and then add water later. you will only get 1/2 the hops. this is why doing a full boil is so important with heavy hop brews.

IPAs are tricky brews that need water adjustments if you have hard water if you want full hops utilization.(5.2 buffer is a way to fix hard water).

Your beer will be good but probably not as hoppy as you hope.

Other questions. PERSONALLY - my IPAs are best young. A month after bottling is fine (for me). My PERSONAL opinion is the darker and more complex the brew the longer it needs to age. I had a 1 year old stout that was GREAT last night but my IPAs fade after 5 months.

 

[pcancila]

Grinder, thank you for the quick response.

I used a 5g boil. I have a 10g aluminum brew pot and a outdoor propane burner.

What are the benefits of going to the secondary. I feel like if i have a nice healthy fermentation going in my primary, why would i want to disturb it and risk contamination going into a secondary?

I am not really concerned with the clarity of my beer. I understand the secondary would help with that, however, would racking the beer over the dry hops in the secondary give me a better hop utilization than just dry hoping in my primary?

 

[MultumInParvo]

If your primary is still actively going I wouldn't rack to secondary yet.

A lot of people don't secondary at all. Other will argue that it'll help clear up the beer. I normally rack to secondary so I can reuse yeast.

If you have a hydrometer take a read today and then one tomorrow, if there is no movement at all, go ahead and rack.

Or just keep it there for another week or two. Won't hurt anything.

 

[Grinder12000]

What are the benefits of going to the secondary

Lots of talk on secondary's but no real answer - personal preference.

What kind of hops do you have pellets? If you don't have a secondary - just dump the hops into the primary ONCE the active fermentation stops. you want a nice quiet soak.

I think it is 50/50 on people that use a secondary and the ones that don't. I use one to free up a big carboy.

if you don't want to use a secondary one it will not hurt at all.