I’ve done both, and considering that I’m still a newbie to brewing (just over a year) I have no set pattern as to when I do or don’t. Just did a Belgian that, after 3 weeks, was crystal clear in the primary, fermented down to 1.010, and was ready for kegging without going to a secondary.
Sometimes I like to harvest the yeast to wash and use for another brew, so that’s why I will rack to a secondary after about 2 - 2.5 weeks in some cases.
When talking about oxidation, about how long does that take to occur? When I rack to a secondary, I’m very careful to have the transfer tube resting at the bottom of the secondary, so I tend to avoid “splashing”. I have 5 gallon Carboys that I use for my secondary vessels because that reduces a lot of headspace. Heck…I’ve even gone as far as to blast a little CO2 into the secondary before I seal it up with an airlock.
In my extensive experience (i.e., laziness), autolysis can indeed kick in for homebrewers after 10-12 weeks in primary. So then, yes, if you will be aging for many months, secondary is advised. But for 99% of beer styles and homebrewers, racking to secondary is not required.
[quote=“Denny”]
In those cases I’d use a secondary. Either a carboy or [u](my preference) a corny.[/u][/quote]
This is the winner!
IMO if you keg, a “secondary” is absolutely pointless unless you don’t have enough kegs for extended aging. I know some people like to have zero sediment in the keg, but this doesn’t really matter unless you’re transporting the keg. Even then, I’ve only had one case where the beer wasn’t clear after the first pour.
