when to move to secondary

ive had a batch of irish stout going since wed night. when is the right time to move to the secondary fermenter and how long do I leave it in there?

 

Most on here will say you never bother moving to secondary--and they will be even more adamant about not moving it for a dark beer like an Irish stout. Just leave it in primary until ready to bottle. I used to use one week in primary then two weeks in secondary as a basic rule of thumb, but now I leave most for three weeks in primary then bottle. With many dark beers I find I can bottle them after two weeks.

 

But what about lagers? dont you need to move them off the trub or is that just what im thinking up?

 

For long-term cold lagering (either in keg, secondary or even bottles), yes.

Prior to that, no.

No way I'd bother racking a stout to a secondary unless I was adding cherry puree.

 

Never move a beer anywhere till it's done fermenting. Only your hydrometer will tell you when it's ready. Leave it in the secondary till your ready to bottle. No real rush.

 

To answer your question....if you are going to use a secondary you want to make sure your gravity readings are stable, or at FG. Rack to secondary and leave it for as long as you'd like. If it's only a couple weeks then just leave it in primary for an extra couple weeks rather than bothering with a secondary.