I'm currently brewing a five-gallon batch of dry hopped IPA (it's my second homebrew ever). I put it into secondary fermentation on Tuesday, and added one ounce of Citra hops. The recipe and instructions very explicitly state that I should bottle exactly seven days after dry hopping. Something came up, and I will be gone next Tuesday, thus, unable to follow the recipe exactly. My question is this: is it better to bottle two days early (before I leave), or two to three days late (after I get back)? I realize that I should have just left it in primary fermentation instead of transferring and dry hopping, but the mistake has been made, and I'm trying to mitigate the damage done to the brew. Thanks in advance!
Either way you're fine really. Some people dry hop for two weeks. A few extra days or a few days short really won't matter. I've heard too long can give a grassy flavor. I should preference this as I am a newbie as well and all the information I have provided is purely based on reading way too much information trying to find the exact answer and there isn't really one.
If you have another ounce of Citra lying around, I would pull the first dry hop addition now and replace it with a second. Citra is pretty potent, but 1 ounce is on the light side for an IPA. Also, because of its potency, I get all the aroma I want out of it in the first 5 days anyway.
Thanks for the responses, y'all! Second question: will taking it out of secondary early have any negative effect on the final alcohol content, clarity, or anything else?
I think you've got your questions out of order. Definitely need to take your gravity readings to make sure fermentation is wrapped up. That's the primary concern. Then if fermentation is complete, as folks have stated above re: dry-hopping, you're all good.
I would rather leave it in the primary longer than early. As mentioned above which is 100% right you want to make sure it's done fermenting. Use the hydrometer to determine that. If you're a newbie I would just keep it in the primary toss in hops and then bottle. Once you get the process down then start adding steps.
You need to be more specific about your time frame & specs. For example, how long did you ferment in primary?? 2 weeks? If so, then you're almost w/o fail completely fermented out AND the yeast picked up the byproducts. Also, you ask about side effects, I try not to transfer the beer unless I have to. So, if you do transfer & then transfer yet again, you will be introducing oxygen which will damage the overall & flavor stability. As for clarity, you'd have to add something which you aren't so that's moot. Also, what temp are you dry hopping at? In my experience, I find that dry hopping an IPA w/ anything less than 3oz is not effective - sensory wise. That might sound like a lot, and I thought so too when I first started, but it made such a HUGE difference! I tend to dry hop around 68F but there's a LOT of variability & room for experimentation. But hey, that's part of what homebrewing is all about!! Prosit & congrats on your second brew!!
