Secondary Fermenter

I am looking at the recipe kits from Austin Homebrew Supply. I do not have a secondary fermenter. On their website it says under their basic beer kit: "This 1-stage fermentation equipment kit works with canned beer kits only. By adding the optional 5 gallon glass carboy or plastic better bottle upgrade, this kit will also work with our Gold Seal recipes, Classic series recipes, and AHS extract and mini-mash recipes. The second fermenter must be added to brew our recipes with this kit."

I was under the impression that only one fermenter was necessary for any of these recipes. What is the purpose of a secondary fermenter?

I would start by doing some light reading here...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/when-go-primary-secondary-if-all-43014/

The secondary, or properly called a Brite Tank, is traditionally a vessle to aid in clearing the beer....But many of us don't secondary our beers, instead we opt to leave them in Primary for 3-4 weeks instead, then we bottle...

Many of us find that long primary as opposed to racking to secondary improves the taste and clarity of our beers, by allowing more time for the yeast to clean up the byproducts of fermentation.

Some people will leave their brews in the primary for a longer period of time while others will use a secondary. I leave my beer in the primary for one month before bottling/kegging. You don't need a secondary.

Secondary fermenter is a misnomer unless you are adding something fermentable post primary. Fruit for instance.

In general it is used as more of a conditioning tank, or brite tank, to allow the brewer to take the beer off the initial cake to avoid potential issues and further aide in clarity of the product prior to packaging.

Some swear by them. Others watch them collect dust while they are empty.

Just to tack on... in some styles of beer, a little sediment is desired, so racking to secondary would be a poor choice for these. Wheat beers, for instance.

But hey, if you want a crystal-clear wheat beer, then go for it. In the end, it's your beer.

Thanks for these posts. I was worried about needing a secondary, but now I think I will just go a month or so in my primary before bottling.

Is it ok to go a month in my primary if I am using an Ale Pail?

ScottyT said:

Is it ok to go a month in my primary if I am using an Ale Pail?

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I do all the time.

You will require a secondary for the mere fact that ONE BREW IS NOT ENOUGH!!!
If you get the secondary, use it as another primary.
-Me

JoeMama said:

You will require a secondary for the mere fact that ONE BREW IS NOT ENOUGH!!!
If you get the secondary, use it as another primary.
-Me

Click to expand...

Or another bucket or 5, they are cheaper these days.