Fermantation

I brewed my first batch beer and it has been fermenting for 5 days. My airlock is no longer bubbling and I have a two stage fermentation process. Is this the time to transfer my beer or should I wait the 6-8 days? First time brewing

It never hurts to give it a full week. You could take a gravity reading. If it's where you want it, go ahead and rack.

What are you brewing? Is there a specific reason you are going to transfer to a secondary? If there is not I would strongly encourage you to leave it in the primary for about 3 weeks. You can experiment with secondary later on down the line.

I have brewed several hundred batches and can count on my fingers the number of times I have used a secondary. It is really only necessary if you are racking on to fruit, bulk aging for a really long period of time (many months), or something like that.

In the primary your beer has created a nice blanket of CO2 to protect your beer. When you move to a secondary you are removing that blanket so you need to take precautions. It is a good idea to use the correct size vessel for secondary so that it is full up into the neck. This will help to prevent oxygen from damaging your brew.

Good Luck and welcome to the forum!

First batch and you already have a two stage process? You know it will clear up if you bottle it or just leve it sit in the fermenter an extra two weeks right?

Depends on what you are brewing. The old standard for regular gravity beers was 1/2/3--one week in primary, two weeks in secondary, three weeks in bottle. Often the exception happened more than the rule. These days the thinking is to just leave it in primary until it is finished (many feel 3 weeks is fine for average beers) and then rack to bottles and let it condition for three weeks.

Some will tell you "No less than one month in primary and then bottle." Others will tell you "Never, ever, ever transfer to secondary." Absolutes are seldom accurate and the nice thing about home brew is that it is yours and you can do whatever you want with it. I used secondaries for years and then decided to stop because it isn't often needed for things I brew. However, my brewing schedule has been such that I have had to move things into secondary just to make room in my larger fermenters.

When should you use a secondary?
1) When you need to secondary.
2) When you want to secondary.

When should you refrain from using a secondary and leave it in primary?
1) When you don't need to secondary.
2) When you don't want to secondary.

Just remember rule one comes first--the needs of the beer come first. We have to have priorities.

Thanks for the advice. First time ever brewing and I made a brown ale. The kit I bought suggested a primary and secondary process and it seems everyone does it differently. Priorities in beer is key!!!