I picked up a Brewers Best Extract Kit. Reading the instructions, as has been noted in hundreds of posts, they say either bottle or secondary conditioning.
I'm fairly new, I've got 10 extract kit batches under my belt and only one all grain batch.
But I wanted to note that the "leave in primary" recommendation vs racking to secondary only holds true in certain cases. While secondary is recommended for late post fermentation additions by most I have another to add.
Rack to secondary if fermenting primary in a bucket.
Though this may bring up another well-beaten dead horse, I don't believe the buckets are oxygen impermeable. I experimented with two batches of an amber. One I left in primary for about 4 weeks with the primary being a bucket. The other I left in primary with the primary being a PET carboy. I considered doing glass but the experiment was not glass vs plastic, it was bucket vs carboy.
I never opened either for FG readings in order to eliminate "intentional" oxygen exposure.
I took bottling day FG readings as follows: Bucket OG 1.065 FG 1.018. Carboy OG 1.068 FG 1.018.
So IMO both were complete and ready for bottling. While serial readings would have been proper, I was trying to eliminate variables.
Both were racked to a bottling bucket and bottled in 22oz bottles with 5oz priming sugar added to each batch.
After 4 weeks in the bottles the beer from the carboy is well-carbonated and flavorful. The beer from the bucket has minimal carbonation, no head, missing a lot of the flavors present in the carboy batch and much more "sugary" flavor. I'm not a "taster" I can't break down the flavors for you but I do know that the batches I've made in the bucket have not been as good as those in the carboy and after a side x side comparison of the same brew done on the same day and treated in the same manner, the carboy came out ahead.
While I recognize and admit there are a TON of extraneous variables present in this experiment and the results are anecdotal at best, I do recommend racking to secondary if primary fermentation is done in a bucket. When I've racked to a carboy for secondary clarification, I've had better results. What I feel is happening is when the yeast activity dies down the co2 production drops off and without a truly airtight container, you don't end up with the best final result. When I've bottled quickly from primary in a bucket, I've had good beer. But any time the beer has spent an extended period of time in bucket primary I have not had a final product worth sharing.
Long story short: if primary in a bucket either bottle or move to secondary, don't extend primary while in a bucket. If using a carboy as primary you may extend for beer clarification and eliminate secondary. If you don't care about clarity, bottle from primary without extended time in primary.
