Moved beer to secondary, should i have used a hydrometer?

Moved beer to secondary, should i have used a hydrometer to test the alcohol percentage before i moved it?

You would not be testing for the alcohol level, you would be checking that the fermentation had ended. You need to take 2 gravity readings, one then another 2 days later. If the numbers are the same, fermentation is done. You then have several options. Bottle the beer, transfer to secondary for clearing or leave in primary for clearing.

So, yes you should have taken hydrometer readings. It is not the end of the world though. If fermentation is still occurring it will finish in secondary. This is not optimum but you will get beer. With no other problems it will probably be good beer.

If your looking for an ABV percentage, one measurement before fermentation and one after fermentation is all you need. So if that is what you are trying to figure out, just take a reading when you transfer out of the secondary. If you are bottling, take the final reading before adding priming sugar.

AndrewD said:

If your looking for an ABV percentage, one measurement before fermentation and one after fermentation is all you need. So if that is what you are trying to figure out, just take a reading when you transfer out of the secondary. If you are bottling, take the final reading before adding priming sugar.

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You might even lose a few more gravity points during conditioning, so right before adding priming sugar is the best time to measure it!