The question of whether or not to secondary is probably about as controversial as the question of wet or dry BBQ, but also not what the op was asking...
For me, with the exception of wheat beers, I always transfer to a secondary / conditioning carboy after fermentation is done. My typical schedule is 7 days primary fermentation, 21 days secondary conditioning, then bottle/keg. My primaries are temp controlled, my secondaries are not, so its room temp. I've never CO2 purged a secondary, but I also rack carefully and avoid any splashing or surface disturbance. I dry-hop in secondary. Seeing how much extra yeast falls out within 48 hrs of secondary from the disturbance is justification for me enough. I'm frequently complimented on my clear beers, and asked if I filter. I know hot/cold breaks are important too, but the more yeast that settles out before bottles / kegs the better as far as I'm concerned. My bottles always carb well, and I don't usually have much of a yeast cake left in them. The yeast cake from the secondary however, is often harvested for future batches; its clean, flocculent and viable, with much less break and trub then the primary cake.
To (finally) answer the op's question, I've had session brews sit in secondary for 3 months when I've not had a keg available (or I've been too lazy), without any flavor issues. My strong brews often spend at least that in secondary.
Topic: How long in the secondary? (Read 10237 times)
