My second batch, I’m brewing the NB Black IPA recipe. Had a vigorous ferment going on for the first four or five days. Gave the basement a hint of a sweetish, hoppy scent. Which was a pleasant change of pace from the normal dirty laundry smell.
Anyway, had it in the primary for two weeks and now it’s been in the secondary for two weeks. The recipe says keep it in the secondary for two to four weeks.
So within that window how do you decide when it’s bottling time? What I mean is, what are some of the pros and cons for the longer vs. the shorter time, or something in between? Does it have a noticable effect on the outcome, or maybe it doesn’t matter?
One more question: this recipe has a bag of hops to be dry hopped. Does that mean I just empty the bag right into the carboy? I don’t need to boil them or put them in a mesh bag or something?
Thanks for your help.
For the secondary, always lean on longer than shorter. Since you’re already 4 weeks in, fermentation is done at this point. Now you’re just aging. The higher the OG, the longer you’ll want to let it rest.
If the recipe says 2-4 weeks in secondary, then do 4 weeks. It would be perfectly acceptable to bottle now if you wanted, the beer will taste great, but the extra two weeks will amaze you at how well the flavors even out and mature.
As for the dry hop, you should have done that when transferring to secondary.
If you’re going to let it sit for two more weeks, go ahead and dry hop now.
No need to boil or sanitize so long as you haven’t already opened the bag and had it sitting out for a while.
The mesh bag isn’t necessary, but I would recommend it. It’ll be easer to remove and have much less sediment on bottling day.
Depending on the temperature of your secondary, I would be careful dry hopping for any longer than 10 days. It can start tasting a little grassy if you dry hop for too long at higher temps. I typically dry hop in my secondary for 5-10 days maximum at around 70 degrees or so. I just toss the hops right in and cold crash the secondary prior to bottling. Any floating hop particles sink to the bottom like stones after the cold crashing.
:cheers:
[quote=“panduji68”]Depending on the temperature of your secondary, I would be careful dry hopping for any longer than 10 days. It can start tasting a little grassy if you dry hop for too long at higher temps. I typically dry hop in my secondary for 5-10 days maximum at around 70 degrees or so. I just toss the hops right in and cold crash the secondary prior to bottling. Any floating hop particles sink to the bottom like stones after the cold crashing.
:cheers: [/quote]
I like to go about 10 days with pellet hops and I don’t cold crash. All the top stuff will cling to the side while your racking. I have gone up to 16 days dry hop with no off flavors at 68deg.
I’d bottle it if the gravity is where you want it. Next time just primary it for a month, adding the dry hops along the way…the less transfers the better! You really only need to secondary if you are adding more fermentables at that point (like fruit or sugars).
:cheers:
