secondary fermenter confusion

I've done a bunch of reading on this subject, on this site as well as john palmers book. I was planning on fermenting my first beer (Midwest autumn amber ale) for about a week, then moving it to the secondary for a couple weeks, watching the hydrometer readings of course (supposed to ferment to about 1.010-1.012) and then bottle. This is pretty much what the instructions that came with the kit recommend as well. I've been reading that in some cases there is no need for secondary, and just let the beer ferment in the primary for about 2-3 weeks (waiting for consistent grav readings, and then bottle)

In everyone's opinion here, is there any real need to secondary this, even if the kit instructions recommend it?

If I don't secondary it, I could use my better bottle carboy to start on Edwort's apfelwein, which would then mean I need to pick up another airlock...

so, what does everyone have to say?

You will get both answers here. Some people like to rack to a secondary and some like to run longer primary fermentations. The gravity readings don't tell the entire story about what's going on in the fermenter. When you reach your expected gravity, I would still let the beer sit for a while.

MY general preference is 14 days in primary and another 14 in secondary. If I wasn't going to rack to a secondary, I would let it sit in my primary for 30 days. I never take a hydrometer reading during the fermentation process. I take one before I pitch my yeast and another on bottling day...

there are very few beers I move to a secondary on. I don't much care about clearing so if you are like me feel free to skip it. You do get some flavor benefit from additional time away from the trub, but it isn't a huge difference to me.

Primary 3 weeks cold crash for 3-4 days and then bottle/keg


Irish red , looks pretty clear to me without any finnings

For the beer you describe you don't need to move it into a secondary. As others have stated, in most cases this isn't necessary and is usually a matter of personal preference.

So far I've been racking into better bottles as a secondary just so I can free up my buckets to start another batch. Since I don't have a half dozen buckets sitting around it's just easier to wait 10-14 days and move it into another vessel so I can work on something else in the bucket.