Aging: In Secondary versus Bottle Conditioning, Etc

[SRFeldman79]

Can one of the more "senior" brewers explain the different benefits of aging in the secondary for an extended period of time, versus aging in the bottle/bottle conditioning?

I recently brewed a pretty big IIPA so I understand its going to take time to get it to a really drinkable level, but where should that aging be done? I've usually kept things in secondary for 2-3 weeks at the longest, mostly because of space issues - i've only got one primary and one secondary at the moment and brew as regularly as a I can with that restriction.

 

[TrojanMan]

The only difference is that using the secondary lets you "touch" the beer before it goes into the bottle.

Putting it straight into the bottle, you can't do anything with it until it hits the glass.


So, if you want to do anything like post-ferment dry hopping or using oak or anything, you have to do it in a secondary. More commonly, it's just a method to let a little additional sediment settle out. So, most people just do it for clarification. I've never left a beer in secondary for over 2 weeks but I'm looking at doing something with oak soon, so I'll need a longer secondary time with that.

EDIT: Maybe there's an effect on aging while its still uncarbonated?