first batch

into day five ,making an american real ale ,its an extract ,coopers brand ,looking good so far ,fermenting is slowing down ,im thinking maybe will get to rack into secondary tommorrow ,almost beer time ,oh yea.

I have been doing all extract brews for almost a year now and I have never used a secondary. I bottle about 14 days after I brew. My beers have tasted good. I have chill haze but never anything flouting. From what I have read, I get the impression that the secondary is really unneccessary till you start partial mash or all-grain brewing.

i think it is a nice way to familiarize yourself w/ racking tho as u will be doing it quite alot. and dont suck on the F**king syphon hose!

I've always used a secondary for all of my beers. I think it makes a big difference in the clarity and gives it some time to condition. I always have a ton of sediment come out of my beer in the secondary. It doesn't seem to matter if it was extract or AG- I always do it the same way.

I follow the "1-2-3" rule- 1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, 3 in the bottle- drink! I usually leave the beer in primary more like ten days, though- just because of my work schedule. I usually bottle about 3-4 weeks after brew day.