unsure when to transfer out of primary fermenter

So its my first brew, (and first post!) and im wondering when do I transfer my brew out of my carboy (and into another one or into bottles)? Its been 8 days since its gone in, and after taking a gravity reading 2 days ago and today it seems to be keeping steady. I read that I should leave it in for 7-14 days and once the gravity reading stays constant. So therefor I'm thinking it is ready to bottle.
BUT, then I read something else which says I should divide the OG reading (1.028) by 4 (28/4=7) and wait till the hydro reading is that number (1.007), and I'm not sure if that will ever happen since the hydro reading has been at 1.015 for the past 2 days.

So what should I do? If I could bottle now, would there be any reason to leave it in the carboy?
THanks!

A steady hydro reading over a few days that's near your expected final gravity usually means that it's finished active fermenation. Technically you could bottle it as soon as it's done, but that doesn't mean you should. Most of us wait at least 3 weeks from brewday to bottle because the beer tastes so much better if it ages for a bit after it's finished fermentation. The yeast will use the extra time to clean up off flavors produced during the reproductive and active fermentation phases.

You could just leave it in the fermenter for the rest of that time, or you could siphon it to a secondary carboy for 2 weeks before bottling, since it seems to be finished with active fermentation. I prefer to use the secondary so I can get another batch going in my primary bucket, but lots of folks just leave it in the primary for 3-4 weeks. Either way the beer gets time to mellow and age. Your patience will be rewarded.

if you have a secondary, i would transfer it. then over the next two weeks everything will settle and you'll have much less trub to worry about come bottling time.

plus it frees up your primary to brew another batch

DeathBrewer said:

if you have a secondary, i would transfer it. then over the next two weeks everything will settle and you'll have much less trub to worry about come bottling time.

plus it frees up your primary to brew another batch

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+1 to this

Also you can read some more opinions here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/when-go-primary-secondary-if-all-43014/

Congrats on your first brew!

ifishsum said:

Most of us wait at least 3 weeks from brewday to bottle because the beer tastes much better if it ages for a bit after it's finished fermentation.

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I havent tasted it yet, but it smells like cheap **** beer. You are saying this could still change by leaving it in there longer?

Yes the taste (and smell) will almost certainly improve with time.

gambrewne said:

I havent tasted it yet, but it smells like cheap **** beer. You are saying this could still change by leaving it in there longer?

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Yes, the longer your beer ages (to a point, based on the style of beer), the better it will taste. The yeast go through a couple of stages and one of the stages is when they "clean up".

gambrewne said:

I havent tasted it yet, but it smells like cheap **** beer. You are saying this could still change by leaving it in there longer?

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Oh yessir, I remember cracking the lid of my primary to peek at my first and it smelled like beer that had been recently thrown up. (Yes it smelled like vomit)

Tasting it in the bottles is a MUCH different story
-Me