New here beer question.

While these are our opinions based off anecdotal evidence, some opinions and anecdotal evidences are better than others. The most current body of homebrewing literature would side with the no secondary for non-bulk aged or added ingredient beers.

If a secondary is used there should be care taken to purge the secondary vessel of O2, and purge the transfer line with CO2, and transfer with CO2.

I would agree that if you are trying to harvest the yeast that transferring off of it before adding hops or other ingredients lose to the vessel is desired.

As stated above, autolysis is not really an issue for homebrewers unless you are pitching old and unhealthy yeast in the first place (been there, done that).

As far as clarifying is concerned, a beer on a yeast cake is going to clear as much as one off of the cake, pulling trub and yeast over is an issue of racking process, not of primary/secondary. Keep your racking cane above the yeast cake, don't pick up your primary and walk around with it before racking from it, use CO2 over an auto-syphon.

 

Well, I still want my participation trophy. Or if not, at least a safe space to be sad about it.

 

It doesn’t. Time, temperate, fining and filtering are how you drop beer bright. And centrifuging in pro brewing. If anything, transferring has a negative effect because it kicks all the trub up, but it probably has no effect. I’ve seen the same wort fermented/ conditioned in fermenters/brites and unitanks. They all clear on the same schedule.
The advantage for secondary in pro-brewing is that the geometry and chilling capabilities of fermenters is better suited for fermentation and the geometry of brites, and sometimes their max pressures, are better suiting for carbing and packaging. And transferring to a brite opens up fermenter space. None of that matters to the average homebrewer.

 

Grab a beer, sit in the corner with a 5 gallon carboy, hug it tight, and cry until it is full.

 

You guys are funny, and. It seems really anti secondary. Seeing this is a semi free country I'll agree to disagree even tho many of your points are not what I experience as a home Brewer or as a very part time pro assistant.

All the best.