Extra 2 weeks before bottling

[Meatymc]

Dropped a bit of a you know what having pitched my regular IPA this morning only to discover I'm now away for 2 weeks from the 14th - a week on Friday. I'd normally be dry hopping at the beginning of that week for 3 days, dropping to 2C for a couple and then back to bottling temp to bottle around the Sunday or Monday.

My question is is it best following my usual regime and leaving it at 2C for the extra 2 weeks or hold at 18C for the duration and dry hop etc when I get back?

[Kev888]

Probably either would work. I'd personally leave it at 18c until your return, with the beer essentially bulk maturing in that time (I'd move to a secondary FV first if the primary FV doesn't seal reasonably well). It should be fairly well progressed by the time you get back.

IMO, you might as well dry hop afterwards too, saving a couple of weeks of having the aroma dissipating.

[Meatymc]

To be honest the primary has a rubbish seal and the secondary is so tight a fit in the brew fridge I can't get an airlock on it - that's why I tend to turn things around sooner rather than later and probably miss out on the benefit of a longer maturation process by doing so. It doesn't help I suppose that I'm drinking the bloody stuff faster than I can produce it in terms of how long I normally let is sit twiddling it's thumbs but that's another story

[WalesAles]

Meaty,
What`s an airlock?

WA