Primary/Secondary Timing Advice Wanted DIPA

Bsfmaximus · Jul 26, 2016

I would love some specific advice for fermenting. I research and as with everything, there are a dozens of opinions. I thought I'd throw out there what I am doing and get some opinions. Are there any general rules that brewers follow for primary/secondary/dry hopping schedules for IPA/DIPA?

I've got a DIPA with an OG of 1.085, I pitched two pouches of US 05 and it has been chilling in my basement around 67 degrees for a week. I would like to transfer to a secondary and to dry hop. What are some suggestions for timing?

I've recently been told to dry hop no more than 3 days. Any insight on that? Does that mean my entire secondary should only be three days?

Redlantern · Jul 26, 2016

Opinions are like - well we all know that one.

Have had great luck anywhere between 3 and 5 days before keg/bottle, longer if cold crashing. Last batch was 4 days in dry hop and then 9 in cold crash and it came out incredible. Seems to make little difference to me really.

I cannot comment on longer than 5 days at typical fermenting temps, but 3 days, 5 days, seems to not matter a whole lot.

Bsfmaximus · Jul 26, 2016

Thanks, Red. I meant to ask about cold crashing. My last IPA I only cold crashed for a day then kegged. Do you keg or bottle? Will a longer cold crash better condition and clear my beer?
You were talking solely about secondary fermentation timing? I'm curious since I am doing secondary and will cold crash, if I need to do primary for more than a week (or two at this point).
I know what you're saying about opinions! Its nice to get the experiential insight without the strong opinions though.

Redlantern · Jul 26, 2016

Both keg and bottle. Only occasionally do I do a secondary fermenter - not really needed for an IPA.

Normally, I will crash for 3 days. Any longer will only be done out of forgetfulness or necessity (vacation)

It seems anyway that the laws of diminishing returns kicks in after three days or so. After three, it does not clear all that much more - if at all. I am to understand the hops themselves will break down eventually and add a whole other flavor if they are in the liquid too long, but it is hard to say if I ever experienced that - and if so, it did not matter the times I did.

TravelingLight · Jul 26, 2016

Sometimes I do a secondary, sometimes I do not. It really depends on the beer and what kind of mood I am in at the moment.

I give virtually all of my beers two weeks in primary, 14 days. Then sometimes I'll rack to secondary and dry hop then but sometimes I just dry hop in primary.

One of the primary reasons I move to secondary to dry hop is for my closed transfer system when I rack to the keg. I do primaries in buckets (haven't gotten a 6.5 gallon carboy...yet). And when I dry hop, I try and keep it completely free of oxygen exposure until the time the beer hits my glass out the tap. I can't do a closed transfer with my bucket. Ergo, I rack to secondary, dry hop then, and the beer is virtually oxygen free until I'm pouring a pint.

For cold crashing, I usually tag team it with cold crashing and fining with gelatin. The last IPA I made (which ended up being the clearest beer I've done yet) was cold crashed for 24 hours or so. Then I dumped in my gelatin and let it clear up cold for a couple days. So my cold crash was about 3 days total, with two of those days including gelatin for fining.

You asked about dry hop timing as well. I *usually* shoot for 4-5 days. But I've gone 7 days before with no off flavors. I've also recently started keg hopping my IPAs and hoppy beers. My current keg (IPA) got an ounce of citra leaf hops in the keg (bagged and tied off for removal if necessary) but it's still in there and I haven't gotten any off flavors yet. There's probably only a few pints left in that keg but it's been on tap for a month now and the citra has been in the keg the whole time. (Granted, it's likely hanging above the beer level now, but I'm not opening it to lower or remove it since the keg is almost kicked anyway)