Do you use a secondary fermenter

[Simmo5]

I'm new to homebrewing and have a few questions hopefully someone can help me out with.
What is the main reason why people use a secondary fermenter?
Is a glass carboy recommend for it? and does an airlock need to be applied?

Also for my first batch(Lager) i used a can kit, fermented for about 2 weeks and bottled. I tried my first after 3 weeks after bottling and it tastes fruity or green as i've been told.
Now I've been told to ferment for 3-4 weeks and use a secondary fermenter.
What were the Benifits of leaving it in the fermenter longer when the hydrometer says its finish?
Thanks for your time.

 

[MuddyCreek]

I personally like to get the beer off the trub. And I like to harvest and re-use my yeast. That's about the only reason I use secondaries. For me it also helps to set up a standard schedule that I can sort of formalize to say I have consistently brewed my beer in the same schedule etc.

I'll put together yeast starter to get an aggressive fermentation going in primary, leave it for a week and assuming the bubbling has stopped, I'll move it to secondary for two weeks to clear. Then cold crash for 2 days and keg. Depending on my current beer stockpile I'll either force-carb the keg or let it sit in the basement until there's room in the rotation.

Do I "have to" use the secondary? Probably not. It's just my system.

 

[crash1292]

yes...to store my mixed sanitizer

 

[Golddiggie]

I transfer some brews to an aging vessel when aging once fermentation is 100% complete and the brew is otherwise ready. I don't do it for the misconceived clarity you think you get from the transfer. I do it when I'll be aging with something that works BEST off the yeast. Or when I want to stop another flavor addition before adding another one (very rare). The vast majority of my batches simply go full term in primary before going to serving kegs.

All said and done, less than 10% of my beers ever go to another vessel, other than serving kegs, from primary. I make sure I have enough primaries to cover what I'll be brewing.

 

[mttfrog13]

I'm new to homebrewing and have a few questions hopefully someone can help me out with.
What is the main reason why people use a secondary fermenter?
Is a glass carboy recommend for it? and does an airlock need to be applied?

Also for my first batch(Lager) i used a can kit, fermented for about 2 weeks and bottled. I tried my first after 3 weeks after bottling and it tastes fruity or green as i've been told.
Now I've been told to ferment for 3-4 weeks and use a secondary fermenter.
What were the Benifits of leaving it in the fermenter longer when the hydrometer says its finish?
Thanks for your time.

The main reasons to use a secondary from what I understand is for clarity and to reduce any off flavor that could be created from leaving the beer on top of yeast for so long. Personally use a secondary for every beer except for belgian whites. The main reason I do it is just for clarity and because it can't hurt much if at all. The only time I would say that I would recommend definitely using a secondary is if you're dry hopping, or doing extended fermentations (beyond 2 months). I don't think hops like yeast too much. Really it's up to you.

Also from what I understand the main reason to do an extended amount of time in the primary is if it's a high ABV beer. There are tales of people even disturbing the yeast on the bottom a bit just to keep the yeast actively fermenting. The main reason to do extended time in a secondary is if the beer has complex flavors which is usually the case with high ABV beers due to so many grains being in them, or especially with spiced beers like pumpkin or christmas ales.