going to brew a chinook ipa my question is the step before i bottle. directions say to transfer to a secondary for conditioning for 2 to 4 weeks then adding the dry hops for 1-2 weeks. then bottle. my question is this can i leave it in the primary for the entire time including adding the dry hops and skip the transfer to the secondary. i was thinking 3-4 weeks then add the dry hops for another 1-2 weeks then bottle. would this be OK or should i follow the directions
Only reason your idea would not work is if you wanted to save the yeast cake for future use. If you do, you don’t want all that hop matter in it.
i have no idea how or what to do with a yeast cake is this something i am going to want to do in the future
After you rack your beer out of primary, you can save the slurry in the bottom of the fermentor and it contains tons of great fresh yeast. Lots of people use this yeast for their next or a future batch of beer. Do some research on yeast harvesting and a whole new world will open up to you. Save you money too!
Yes, skip the secondary. I took most of us a year or more of brewing to realize the secondary is not necessary for most beers.
As a matter of personal preference I always transfer to a secondary approximately 1 week after placing in the primary. For an IPA there shouldn’t be a need to ferment 3 to 4 weeks…assuming your fermentation temps are correct and your fermentation takes off within a day or two. I just brewed a IIPA (Pliny the Elder clone) and reached my target FG after that 2 week period. Also, be careful how long you dry hop for…generally only 5-7 days is needed. If you let it go longer than that, you risk getting an unwanted grassy taste in your beer.
So after your 2 weeks in the primary/secondary, bottle it and leave it for a month. A lot of recipes say it’s ready to drink after two weeks. Technically it will be but I’ve found it best to wait that extra 2 weeks for optimal bottle conditioning. Of course you’ll prob figure that out on your own…I know I did because I couldn’t wait to start drinking my beerski. :cheers:
I am also currently fermenting an IPA which I am going to dry hop for the first time. From what I have gathered from this great forum and from books, I am going to ferment in primary for two weeks, skip the secondary, dry hop for 5 - 7 days in primary, Bottle condition for a month. Mmmmm…dry hopped IPA’s! Good luck with the chinook. I did a warrior / chinook IPA last fall and it tasted great. Now back to citra.
sounds good. You may want to try it after 2 weeks in bottles to see if it is carbed. IPAs are generally best fresh.
I’d taste it after 2 weeks in the bottle. The dry hop will lose it’s potency over time. The trick to a great IPA is to know when the beer reaches its peak flavor then dry hop it a week before that to add the super hoppy goodness!
Since it’s going in bottles, there is a 2 week wait for carbonation. My IPAs tasted best around 2 months so I dry hop at 5 weeks, 1 week DH, then 2 weeks bottle.
I always transfer to secondary. I know a lot of people here don’t, but one thing you will notice a few days after transferring to secondary is that A LOT more yeast and trub will fall out after the transfer. To me it seems like the physical act of siphoning over to secondary alone stirs up the yeast and trub and then it just falls out leaving you with a MUCH clearer beer for bottling or kegging.
Just my $0.02.
thanks for all the info this gets kind of confusing and a long wait to get my first beer to my mouth thanks agian
No doubt. We’ve all been there. The best way to get beer to your lips is to keep a pipeline of brew going. Get a few fermenters and stagger batches a couple of weeks apart. Plan ahead so that if you’re going to lager, you’ll have enough beer to last the extra month it takes in lagering phase.
[quote=“aolson”]I always transfer to secondary. I know a lot of people here don’t, but one thing you will notice a few days after transferring to secondary is that A LOT more yeast and trub will fall out after the transfer. To me it seems like the physical act of siphoning over to secondary alone stirs up the yeast and trub and then it just falls out leaving you with a MUCH clearer beer for bottling or kegging.
Just my $0.02.[/quote]
The same amount of solids will fall out of solution whether you have it in 1 or 2 vessels over the same period of time.
If you keep the siphon tube off the bottom of the fermenter when transferring to the bottling bucket you will leave all the yeast/trub behind.
1/2" of beer left behind in 2 vessels (1" total), or 2/3" of beer left behind in 1?
