Need advice on a fermentation schedule for Am. Pale Ale

[brewerTristan]

I just brewed this beer last night and I'm wondering what sort of fermentation schedule I should do. Normally, this wouldn't be much of a question for me, but I am going away on the 18th until the 30th, so this limits my options to some degree. I'm also dry hopping. Here are the options I'm considering:

A
7 days primary (Dec 9th to 16th)
14 days secondary w/ dry hopping (Dec 16th to 30th)
Keg

B
21 days primary (Dec 9th to 30th)
7 days secondary w/dry hopping (Dec 30th to Jan 6th)
Keg

C
21 days primary
Dry hopping in keg

Any other ideas? I should have decided this before hand, but I was itching to brew and knew I could figure it out afterwards.

[Brandon]

I would go with B or C. Option A is too short primary fermentation IMHO.

[TapItGood]

I would go with a combination of A B & C

[marnold]

One other option:

14-21 days in primary, then dry hop in there for a week before racking to a keg.

I'd probably do C myself, though.

[brewerTristan]

Ok well I'll rule out option A then. My primary fermentation must be 21 days then. I would go for 14 days, but I will be out of town. So I'll have to leave it until I return on the 30th.

I would go with a combination of A B & C

What would this combination look like?

One other option:

14-21 days in primary, then dry hop in there for a week before racking to a keg.

I'd probably do C myself, though.

I'm leaning towards C. Is there any harm in leaving the dry hops in the keg the whole time? What about the temperature? 42 F okay to dry hop at? I did this on an English bitter once and it turned out okay, though I didn't taste the dry hopping so much.

[brewerTristan]

On the same subject, I've also got a barley wine fermenting that started on December 2nd. I was planning on getting this bottled/to a secondary before I left, giving it 14-16 days in the primary, but I'm thinking this may not be long enough since it is a huge beer. Could I leave it on the primary until the 30th? That's nearly a month. Seems like a long time, but this beer is sure to fall under some exceptions.

[Mylo]

Dry hopping in the keg is fine. I do it all the time. Sanitize a hop bag and a stainless nut. Tie up the whole thing with dental floss, and grab the floss at the point where the hop bag will be just suspended off of the bottom of the keg. Then pinch the floss in the keg lid just below your fingers.

3 weeks in the primary is nothing, provided that you have a nice, healthy pitch to begin with. You can also do the suggestion from marnold - which I do often as well.


Mylo

[WhiteSoxFan]

I vote C, and I vote leave the BW in primary until the 30th.