kyle6357

Recipes 

If needed (I know some say skip the secondary)....opinions?

What do you mostly use if you do a secondary? Glass/plastic carboy?

dadshomebrewing

Recipes 

i do secondary when i'm going to be on the road for a while to make sure i get stuff off the yeast cake... gives me a little wiggle room in the calendar if things get hectic.

and i use glass.

and i'm probably the only person who will come in here with a reasonably valid reason for doing secondary fermentation, except dry hopping, and adding fruit.

if i'm going to be home for a few weeks, and i'm sure of it, i don't bother

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'Tis himself

In the fermenters: nada

In the bottle: Out of Camber Amber Ale / California Cream of 3 Crops / Wize Ole Dunkel

In the fridge(and the glass): Pilsner-Urquell(AG) / Brew Free or Die Pale Ale / Christmas Cranberry / Wizened Hefe / Mead (2) / Full Sail Pale Ale / No Quarter Porter / Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown Ale (on the South Side of Chicago)

On Deck:

histo320

Recipes 

I only use a secondary when I am adding flavor. I have used it before when leaving town for a few extra days but other than that I only use a primary and I have had 0 problems.

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Bottled - Yellow House IPA
Bottled - Citra IPA
Bottled - Redlight Ale (American Amber Ale)
Bottled - Pineapple Ale

masterfool101

Recipes 

Not to sound completely rude, but why not just read some of the 1000 threads on here that deal with that? You obviously know that many here say skip the secondary ...surely you read why, and when to use a secondary.

For the record, the verdict is out on whether to use glass or plastic as a secondary fermenter. Glass aficionados talk about oxygen impermeability and the ability to fully clean the carboy. Plastic people talk about the dangers of glass, and the price.

Secondaries are used most often for adding flavoring agents (fruit, oak, dry hopping, etc)

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Nothing Beats a Fool's Luck . . . and I am the Master Fool.

tonyscha

Recipes 

I just started brewing 5 gallons, on my first one right now. I racked it to secondary tonight, while so many post say not required, I think alot of people do it to keep an eye on their beer . I am looking for mostly clarity in my beer, so I decided to get a secondary.

I took pictures of my secondary adventure.

http://akschaefer.com/2013/01/23/new-beer-kit-part-2/

pjj2ba

Recipes 

The only opinion that matters is yours and your taste buds. A secondary is not needed, neither is an extended primary. Both however work perfectly fine. The final products will be slightly different though with the two methods. Therefore, YOU ultimately have to decide which you prefer.

This article give a nice comparison of the two methods and what people thought of the taste compared side by side.

BYO experiment

Plastic for IPAs for easy hop removal, otherwise glass. Anymore though my ales go into a keg within 10 days of brewing, and no more than 3 weeks for lagers

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On Tap: CZ pilsner, Pale Ale, OKZ (std Amer. lager)
Kegged and Aging/Lagering: Imperial Alt, CAP, Kolsch, Saison, CAP, GDR pils
Secondary:
Primary: Kolsch, OKZ, CZ pils
Brewing soon: Saison, IPA
Recently kicked : ( Bock, Baltic Porter, Ger. Pils, Lite IPA,
Pilsner Urquell Master Homebrewer (1st NYC 2011, 2nd NYC 2012)
P U crowns winners in its inaugural master HB competition