Fermentation Advice: Headspace in Secondary

That's what I'd do.

 

do not rack to a secondary that's what I would do I never use a secondary for ipa/pale ale

 

Forgoing the secondary is your best bet. You are correct that oxidation would be a problem.

Something to worry about in the short term is whether your beer has enough room for a vigorous fermentation in the carboy. You may want to attach a blow-off tube instead of the airlock so that it doesn't get clogged and explode everywhere.

 

No secondary for me either. I dry hop, lager all in primary. I think the notion of yeast autolysis may be somewhat of a foregone notion. The strong increase in brewing popularity has spawned an vast improvement in quality of ingredients, yeast especially. I think newer technology has produced superior products in comparison to days gone by that may require some periodic re-writing of traditional standards.

 

It's okay, but IMO 14 days is overkill, with most of the oils being extracted from the hops in about 5-7 days.

 

I only secondary big high gravity beers. And wait 21 days on the bottles before you really get into them. Rule of thumb is 3 weeks at 70F, but I can rarely make it!

 

Yes, I agree. according to a seminar from last years NHC conference, A lot of pro brewers are now saying 24-36 hours is where most of your hop character comes through. Conventional wisdom seems to point to 3-7 days.

 

If you have the means to do so:

Primary ferment until FG reached, dry hop in primary, after X days dry hop move carboy to cold condition (ie. chest freezer/kegerator) and let clear for 4-5 days before transferring to keg or bottling bucket.

 

A couple of things to consider:

Dry hopping for 14 days is very aggressive . . . you see some top IPAs (Pliny) done this way and I've had success with the longer time. But 5-7 is conventional wisdom.

The sooner you start dh'ing the sooner the hop aroma will fade. You have budgeted 2 weeks in the sec (or primary now) and then two weeks to bottle condition. Why not delay the dh'ing until you can complete its schedule to coincide to the bottling date? I look for every advantage to keep that aroma hanging around.

As mentioned, if you have the ability to cold-crash before bottling you will be rewarded with clearer beer. I find this step is worth the wait even when hop aroma is involved. Pretty sure West Coast/Torpedo uses some type of cc'ing. As a card-carrying hop-head I'm not too happy to have hop debris in my pours.

 

Bigger breweries go to pretty extreme measures to filter and clear their beer, ie. centrifuging. Home brew level I recommend DH 4-5 days at fermentation temp & then let the hops fall out over the course of an additional 4-5 days in cold condition. Total hops will sit in the beer 8-10 days but keep in mind the difference in reaction speed between warm & cold temps.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/dry-hop-duration.180167/#post-2440329
Here's a thread I started regarding Dry Hop Duration for more of the same kind of responses, if you're interested.

 

If I am doing a Pale Ale any reason to move into a secondary? Pros/Cons? I planned on fermenting in plastic but went with glass on the advise of a friend, if I do a secondary I will need to buy a second glass carboy, it is worth it?

 

Pros: Beer might clear slightly faster. There seems to be something about racking beer that encourages earlier flocculation.
Cons: Increased oxidation, increased risk of infection.

Personally, I only secondary when adding a special ingredient (like fruit) or when making a lager (in which case the lagering is a form of secondary).

 

1. I would add the dry hops as soon as the beer reaches final gravity (or close to it).
2. If you are going to crash in the carboy, I would wait and do it after dry hopping is done. That way, the yeast can stay active and clean up after themselves. But you could also crash (after fermentation and cleanup), followed by dry hop. There's no rule.
3. If you allow the yeast to clean up their byproducts while still in the carboy, you can start drinking as soon as it's carbonated. It may or may not improve with a little more age. But hop flavor and aroma will start to fade immediately. The rate that it fades will depend mostly on how well you keep your beer from getting exposed to oxygen before/during bottling, and also on the storage temperature.

 

OP, were you planning on saving the yeast cake for a future beer? That might change some of the advice a bit.

 

No reason not to. Where else would you cold crash?

For an IPA? Maybe a week or so past full carbonation. But the best answer is taste it and see.