Batch #7. I have an English IPA in the primary and have a few questions. This is my first experience dry-hopping. How long should I keep in primary, how long to dry hop, and should I bother with a secondary or just dry hop into primary? I have read through the forums and see a lot of differing opinions (1,2,3 rule; longer fermentation=better; dry hop gets grassy after a week; etc.). Anyone have experience with all this in an English IPA?
1lb. Medium Crystal mashed at 150 for an hour
10lbs. Pale LME
1oz Challenger @60min
1oz EKG @20min
.5oz EKG @10 min
.5oz EKG @2min
1 pack Burton salts
Wyeast 1098 -British Ale
Dry hopping 2oz Fuggle whole hops
I’ll generally primary for about 7-10 days, rack to secondary for around two weeks and dry-hop for the last week. The main thing is to let fermentation finish prior to racking to secondary. That’s what works for me when it comes to average gravity beers anyway. Big beers generally benefit from extended primary and secondary fermentation. Regardless, I think a week is plenty for dry-hopping.
If you are kegging then dry hop in the keg. Using a low alpha hop like Fuggle, I recommend dry hopping for two weeks in the keg.
If you are bottling then dry hop in the primary after most (<90%) of the fermentation has taken place, and bottle immediately after dry hopping. I would dry hop in the primary for 7 days. Plan on discarding the yeast.
If you do dry hop in the keg, do you then wait to force carbonate the beer until after you remove the hop bag? Essentially, are we talking about using the keg for racking, then carbonating it after a week or so?