when to move to secondary

[travis2008]

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?

 

[cluckk]

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.

 

[LuNchBoX1371]

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

 

[BigFloyd]

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.

 

[TipsyDragon]

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.

 

[BansheeRider]

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.