So how important is having a secondary fermenter.

I'm seeing alot of opposing opinions.

I used to secondary Every beer I made with good results. then I started hearing about the no secondary...and "in my opinion" Leaving the beer on the yeast and letting it clear in Primary has improved the beer and taken a step out of my brew practice.
that being said, there are beers that I do secondary, IPA's to dry hop, and fruit beers for the SWMBO. I normally leave a beer in primary for 3-4 weeks ...maybe a little longer with Belgians.
in short....not very important to have a secondary, unless you want to dry hop your beers

Good. Just knocked 40$ off my next order.

I've never used a secondary. Too much risk of getting an infection. Of course, I only brew ales. If you are planning to do a lager, then that's another story.

Yeah, I stopped using a secondary as soon as I heard about people getting good results without one. If I were going to dry hop or use fruit, I would then but until then it's just 3-4 week primaries for me.

Depends on what you are brewing and what you are doing... if you are aging beer, lagering, or re-using yeast, then having a secondary will really help...

If you are just brewing basic ales, then you probably don't need one... I have a carboy I use as secondary, but I use it less than 10% of the time...

Is Moving Beer To A Secondary Necessary?

HBT taught me that a secondary is USUALLY not needed. There are exceptions, as with anything in life, but in general, you can primary for a few weeks, then the trub will be like cement at the bottom of the carboy (well, maybe not really cement, but at least fairly firm) so when you rack to pail or keg it will be clear sailing for the most part.

B

The only reason I use a secondary is because it came with the kit I originally got . Seriously, I don't see much of a need to secondary any more. I do fruit and all in the primary now (though if the fruit is particularly messy, I may rack into a secondary for a few days just to get more of the gunk out). I'll put one in the secondary to age from time to time, but only if I need to free up a primary and I don't have a keg available to age in.

Not necessary, I only use mine to dry hop if I need the yeast from the primary or need to cold crash or for some other odd reason.

If you have temperature control for your fermentations, you don't need a secondary fermenter at all. Just keep the fermenter cool during the clarifying period after fermentation and rack off the beer when reasonably clear. If you don't have temperature control or a cool place, then the need to get the beer off the yeast becomes a little more of a concern. But, all the bad things that can occur due to a transfer to secondary really have diminished the use of that step. Keep everything cool and there will be little problem with keeping the beer in the primary until it has cleared.

devils4ever said:

I've never used a secondary. Too much risk of getting an infection. Of course, I only brew ales. If you are planning to do a lager, then that's another story.

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I brew lagers and I don't secondary. Ferment for 10-14 days, leave it alone for week more than move carboy to freezer and lager away for another 3 weeks on yeast Transfer to keg, carbonate and serve. Great beers by the way! The only reason I would consider secondary is a long term storage, like 9% ABV Maibock I have fermenting right now, this one will need to age till my birthday party wich is 3 months away.

I technically don't "secondary" very often. HOWEVER, I do like to move my beers to kegs fairly quickly. I like to go no more than 2 weeks for ales and 3 weeks for lagers.

If I were still bottling then I probably would still be using a secondary so I could do bulk aging off of the yeast. For most of the styles I brew, I don't like the subtle flavors I get from leaving the beer on the yeast for longer times. Since I'm try to brew beers that are exactly how *I* want them to taste, I let my taste buds guide me and then do what experimentation has shown me gives more beers that are closer and closer to that perfect beer for me

mabrungard said:

If you have temperature control for your fermentations, you don't need a secondary fermenter at all. Just keep the fermenter cool during the clarifying period after fermentation and rack off the beer when reasonably clear. If you don't have temperature control or a cool place, then the need to get the beer off the yeast becomes a little more of a concern. But, all the bad things that can occur due to a transfer to secondary really have diminished the use of that step. Keep everything cool and there will be little problem with keeping the beer in the primary until it has cleared.

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what temp would you set it at?
i kept the temp at 64degrees for 12 days. and have been slowly droping the temp.

also, will the lil yeast rafts on the top drop down?

If you keep the yeast at its recommended temp or lower, there should be less chance of autolysis. For ales, typically a temp of 68F or below. For lagers, a temp of 50F and below. Colder temps will cause yeast to drop more quickly from suspension and the beer clears quicker. Be careful though, too quick a temp drop can stress the yeast and cause them to excrete stress chemicals into the beer. That came from Zanisheff and White's new yeast book. Supposedly dropping temps on the order of a degree or two per day is safer to protect from the yeast stressing.

A "second" fermenter is VERY important so you can ferment more than one at a time. A "secondary" fermenter is not essential.