Racking and Dryhopping Questions

[IPAndrew]

I searched for this and couldn't find definitive answers for them...

I am currently brewing an IPA and am planning on racking it to a secondary container once fermentation finishes. I want to dry-hop the beer and here is my dilemma: I only want to dry-hop for a week or so, but I want to keep it in the secondary container for longer than that. Can I rack to the secondary and wait a week before dry-hopping or should I dry-hop immediately when I rack to the secondary and re-rack it after a week?

Second question, I have a little under 4.5 gallons in my primary fermenter and I have a 5 gallon carboy, will there be too much space? I've seen this topic before but I haven't been able to get a good read on how much space is too much. I read that if you rack a little before fermentation end that the O2 will be pushed out but it will cost me hop aromas. Is this the smart thing to do or should I not be worried about the air space.

 

[944play]

You can absolutely wait to dry hop.

Unless you need to harvest the yeast, I'd suggest not racking the beer and just dry-hopping in the primary.

 

[IPAndrew]

You can absolutely wait to dry hop.

Unless you need to harvest the yeast, I'd suggest not racking the beer and just dry-hopping in the primary.

Thanks, I'm using pellets so I figured if I racked it I could get rid of some of the sludge and it would make transferring it eventually to the bottling bucket easier.

 

[Shrewd_Alchemist]

Fr your first question, I've used a muslin bag to hold the hops and then just pull the bag out after whatever amount of time you want. If your beer isn't clear enough at that point then you can just put the airlock back on after you pull the bag of hops out.

I have also waited 2 weeks before I even start dry hopping the secondary. It's your call really. Since this is for an IPA, I would wait however long you think you need to and then dry hop that final week before bottling. That will give you the most fresh hop taste when it's time to drink.