I've read a couple places that its best to limit your time in the fermentor during the summer because of the challenge with keeping it under 75 degrees. 12-14 days was recommended.
I did a double IPA 12 days ago, racked to carboy about 5 days ago, and have kept the house at 74 or below since (except for last night when we lost power for 6-8 hours). When I racked, I dry hopped.
first question - when can I bottle? The gravity was down to 1.011 when I racked and the target it 1.010. So either its finished at 1.011, or if it drops further then it has to have hit the target gravity. At these temps, I'm sure the fermentation is over by now. The complication is the dry hops, some are still floating at the top of the carboy, but there is .75 inch of trub at the bottom. So can I bottle as is, or do I need to wait for the hops to clear - and how long?
second question - how important is temp control once in the bottles, and for how long in temp critical? We are going on vacation next w/e and the house won't be left at 74 while we are gone. I've had some bottles in long term storage for a couple years and thru a few weeks of 80-85 degree temps in the house and they didn't spoil or taste bad after - so it seems that temps are less critical once bottle stored. But does temp matter during the first couple weeks of bottle conditioning?
I did a double IPA 12 days ago, racked to carboy about 5 days ago, and have kept the house at 74 or below since (except for last night when we lost power for 6-8 hours). When I racked, I dry hopped.
first question - when can I bottle? The gravity was down to 1.011 when I racked and the target it 1.010. So either its finished at 1.011, or if it drops further then it has to have hit the target gravity. At these temps, I'm sure the fermentation is over by now. The complication is the dry hops, some are still floating at the top of the carboy, but there is .75 inch of trub at the bottom. So can I bottle as is, or do I need to wait for the hops to clear - and how long?
second question - how important is temp control once in the bottles, and for how long in temp critical? We are going on vacation next w/e and the house won't be left at 74 while we are gone. I've had some bottles in long term storage for a couple years and thru a few weeks of 80-85 degree temps in the house and they didn't spoil or taste bad after - so it seems that temps are less critical once bottle stored. But does temp matter during the first couple weeks of bottle conditioning?
