i have a double ipa that i brewed a bit over two weeks ago. i plan on letting it sit in primary for about three to four weeks and then go straight into a keg until i serve it, sometime in the month of august, date yet to be determined.
can i throw the hops into a muslin bag and into the keg when i transfer it or should i wait until closer to the time i serve it?
thanks in advance.
I’d go ahead and drop them in about 2 weeks before you plan on tapping.
+1
I like to rack over them in the keg and start the cold crash while force carbonating. Works well for IPA’s. The shorter the process, the bettter the IPA. IMHO.
thanks guys.
If you brewed it two weeks ago, you should be drinking it three weeks from now, before that hoppy goodness starts to fade. ;)I’d put it in the keg next week with your dry hops, stick it in the kegerator and then wait a couple of weeks.
i know… ugg… i actually brewed it for a yet to be determined date in august for my not yet belated birthday party. and i’ve got a baby due any second, so i had to get the brew done ahead of time.
cheers!
I saw the note about drinking the IPA very soon after brewing to preserve all of that good hoppiness. I find a 3 month wait improves my IPA’s. In fact the a history of IPA says it was thought not to be as good as the brittish ales it was inspired by. After the long trek to India the unusaully large for the style hops, (used to preserve it for the travel) mellowed and gave it its unique flavor. I have IPA’s that are 5 months old and they are better than ever. So hopefully you will have awesome beer for the party. My standard IPA is over 85 IBU’s, with a Ruination clone in at 136. By the way the sales operations manager for Alaska Brewing Company (John Blakley) tells me the human palate is good up to about 105 IBU’s after that it is overkill. I am not sure but I do like hops!!!
I’m certain that the beer will still be very good. Some hop strains age better than others do. I have noticed that the citrusy types usually fade fairly quickly opposed to the piny, or woodsy types. English styles age better than American styles IMHO.
in this beer i used…
citra
apollo
chinook
simcoe
106 IBU
That looks pretty good to me. Were most of your additions late?
Yeah …british styles were historically brewed to withstand age. Sure. But American style need to be consumed fresh. If you need to wait three months to drink your IPA before it peaks you are doing something wrong. Either that or you don’t like the taste of fresh hops. 
How many great IPAs out there do you think pro breweries hold onto for 3 months? I’ll give you that answer: NONE. Not even english IPAs. In fact, all of them hope their IPAs are consumed before 3 month period, if possible.
My IPA is as clean as a whistle after about 1-2 weeks aging and is usually gone within 3-6 weeks.
+1
The fresher the better. I have noticed a decline in my IPA’s hop aroma and flavor only after 2 weeks from tapping the keg. By the seventh week of it’s life it is all down hill from there.
if i didn’t have a baby coming at any minute, i would have waited, but with that known, i had to get two beers brewed for my belated birthday party or serve what i can find on the shelf in mississippi and that’s the same now as it was 30 years ago.
.5 oz apollo @ 60
.5 oz chinook @ 60
.5 oz simcoe @ 60
.5 oz citra @ 60
.25 oz apollo @ 30
.25 oz chinook @ 30
.25 oz citra @ 30
.25 oz simcoe @ 30
.25 o apollo @ 15
.25 oz citra @ 15
.5 oz amarillo @ 5
1 oz citra @ 5
.5 oz apollo @ 5
.25 oz chinook @ 0
.5 oz apollo @ 0
.5 oz simcoe @ 0
1 oz citra @ 0
and i’m going to dry hop a couple weeks before i guess with apollo, simcoe & citra
Oh it will still be good my friend. Have no fear it will be good. Enjoy!
+1. especially if you dry hop it just before serving. No worries. My comments weren’t necessarily directed at you.
no worries. i’m sending one of of those BA Dipa’s your way soon. have to find that nice single bottle shipper i have.