I am about to brew my first batch this weekend and was wondering how important it is to put my beer in the secondary after it has sat in the primary? Isn't the secondary just to clear it up? My first brew will be a nutbrown ale so i'm not sure if i really want it clear or not. Also i have an ale pail and a carboy. Which should i use for my primary or does it matter? I would think i wouldn't want to use the ale pail because you can't really see inside. And is it bad to periodically open the fermenter while it's fermenting?