Does everyone here use secondaries?

I am in the middle of my first batch. I have a 5gal carboy and a plastic bucket. Is it really worthwile to perform a secondary fermentation in another carboy. I can understand the purpose would be to seperate the beer from the yeast at the bottom. Does this make a noticible difference in beeer quality. I think i will go ahead and get a second carboy but i will get a 6.5 gallon and use my current 5 gallon for secondary? Sound good? Also when do you put beer from primary to secondary, or does it depend on several things? Thanks in advance!

I was lucky enough to have my girlfriend (at the time) get me a starter kit with two glass carboys, so I've always used a secondary fermenter. Aside from just getting it off the yeast, it becomes convenient if, for some reason, you aren't able to bottle your beer when you originally planned (which I guarantee WILL happen). If left in the primary, the yeast cake would break down eventually and impart off-flavors. I think using a secondary also helps the beer clear better. In addition, if you rack from a bucket or 6.5 gallon carboy into a 5 gallon secondary, the amount of airspace above the beer is dramatically increased, which is helpful. I can't really speak to advantages over not using a secondary, because I've always used one.

Hope this helps!

BREW ON

Read this thread . . . which seems to be about the same subject.

Always...

so far never, and I've made some Dang good beers. the bottle is my secondary. I do get a little more sediment in the bottle, but that doesn't bother me.

I've used a secondary for every batch I've brewed so I don't know if it makes a difference or not. I think it does because it gets the beer off the yeast.

I think that doing a secondary is worth the extra time. Dang good beers without a secondary. Dang great beers with a secondary.

I've done some of each. I'm not the best brewer, but the beers seem to taste about the same (quality wise), except the ones that went into secondary's are clearer (duh). I don't care about clarity, so it's okay for me to do most of my batches in primary alone, I think.

yes always...............

Sounds like this would make a good poll. I personally have never used a secondary and like my beer just fine. I'm also not interested in clarity considering most of mine are fairly dark anyway. That being said, I can't judge whether or not it would make it better 'cause I never used one. Like a lot of things with brewing it comes down to personal preference.

My "House Beer" gets two weeks in the primary and straight to bottle. It is a damn fine brew, for my taste maybe the best I've ever had, and while I have tinkered with the formula, I have never considered using a secondary for it. This said, I do use a secondary for a lot of things. There are few absolutes in this home brewing, but one of them is you go with what works for your taste.

I always use a secondary for a few reasons:

Cuts down the head space from my 6.5 gallon primary.

Gets the beer off the yeast.

Clarifies the beer.

Most importantly, it frees up my primary for my next batch!