to Rack or Not to Rack IPA style

[NastyBoyBrew]

I've read of a lot of people on here doing one stage fermenting with beers that will not ferment as quickly as an IPA. I was wondering if anyone out there has done this with an IPA dry hopped at 10 days?

 

[BrewerBear]

I have dry hopped the primary more than once.

 

[SittingDuck]

Yup. Not all, but many of my beers have been dry hopped in the primary. They come out just fine.

 

[Grannyknot]

Doesn't an accurate Pliny recipe call for multiple dry hopping in both primary & secondary?

 

[bsap]

10 days in the primary as long as fermentation has finished is fine.

 

[NastyBoyBrew]

I apologize for not being more specific with my question. The reading that I have done on this forum indicates that a one stage fermented beer with sufficient clarification can be done at a month+ but (as far as I can tell) an IPA in fermentation should be dry hopped at around 10 days and fermented for around 2 weeks. Given the 2 week+ fermentation difference between the styles would the IPA be given enough time to clarify in the original fermentation stage?

 

[weirdboy]

Doesn't an accurate Pliny recipe call for multiple dry hopping in both primary & secondary?

There is no such thing as an accurate homebrew pliny recipe. The actual recipe changes all the time. Nowadays they are using hop extract for at least some of the additions. Do you use hop extract? Neither do I.

 

[weirdboy]

I apologize for not being more specific with my question. The reading that I have done on this forum indicates that a one stage fermented beer with sufficient clarification can be done at a month+ but (as far as I can tell) an IPA in fermentation should be dry hopped at around 10 days and fermented for around 2 weeks. Given the 2 week+ fermentation difference between the styles would the IPA be given enough time to clarify in the original fermentation stage?

Letting your beer sit longer in primary before racking it will most definitely improve clarity. As to when to use dry hops or how long to ferment...that is really more of a "when it's done" type of situation. I have had some IPAs that by design are higher alcohol and thus tend to take a little more time fermenting and conditioning before I add dry hops. For a typical IPA, I tend to wait a couple of weeks to be sure it's good and done fermenting, then I add the dry hops for a few days, and after that I worry about what I'm going to do next. One thing you that you should keep in mind, however, is that adding a significant amount of dry hops is almost always guaranteed to re-introduce some haze back into your beer. This is not necessarily the end of the world, but it's sort of a fact of life when you dry hop. So don't think that by leaving your beer in primary for a month, and then dry-hopping, that you have found some secret to making a clear IPA.

If you cold crash and use finings, can can remove a lot of the polyphenols that are introduced by dry-hopping. However, it is sort of a balancing act since, at least in my opinion, you are missing out on drinking your delicious IPA at the height of the hop aroma & flavor the more time you spend screwing around with that stuff.

 

[Odin_Brews]

I generally do 2 weeks fermenting then dry hop right in the primary for another 5-7 days.

 

[Brewskii]

I apologize for not being more specific with my question. The reading that I have done on this forum indicates that a one stage fermented beer with sufficient clarification can be done at a month+ but (as far as I can tell) an IPA in fermentation should be dry hopped at around 10 days and fermented for around 2 weeks. Given the 2 week+ fermentation difference between the styles would the IPA be given enough time to clarify in the original fermentation stage?

Recipes go out the window at flameout. Anything after that is a technique and will vary given natural circumstances. Principles and guide lines rule the cold side. Saying that you should dryhop at "x" days is wrong in principle because things change from one batch to the next and yeast will behave differently each time.

 

[NastyBoyBrew]

I think I'm going to try single stage fermentation and dry hop in the bucket at 10 days and bottle no more than 2 weeks after that. Thanks to everyone for the help and I'll let ya know how it turns out.

 

[C-Rider]

Just finished an Imperial IPA a few weeks ago. It sat in primary for about 15 days and then I added the dry hops. At around 21 days I bottled. So far all my beers are done by 21 days. I don't bother to do 2 SG tests. This one is just about done conditioning and is aobut ready for the drinkin' fridge.