Is secondary fermentation the same as bottle conditioned?

[neldred]

I've got a BIG belgian style (it's kind of a high ABV dubbel that should come in around 9.5% - 10.5%), and it needs to be conditioned for a long while. Putting it into a secondary (I still haven't done this yet with any brew yet BTW) seems like it would be more convenient, but I'm going to bottle eventually anyway so if it's the same I might just skip the secondary. Or is the point of the secondary also more clear beer? And how long is it safe to stay in a sealed secondary?

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Secondary fermentation vessel is really a misnomer unless you are adding fruit or another fermentable to it, however, they can be called bright tanks or clearing vessels to clear the beer. As long as yoor practices are sanitary you could leave the beer in the secondary for a very long time. One of the reasons to rack to a secondary is to get the beer off of the yeast cake to prevent autolysis if it will be bulk aged for an extended period of time. So, yes the secondary will help to clear the beer, and if you are going to bulk age you can leave it in the secondary for quite some time if you choose to, however, if you do an extended bulk aging period, you will more than likely have to add more yeast to carbonate your beer when racking to bottle.

 

[nebben]

When talking about beer, secondary is a clearing process. You are best to do this in bulk instead of in the bottles. You don't want the secondary sealed, because there is the chance there might be some more activity happening, even if it is small.

You can leave it in secondary until it clears to your desired level, or rack off of the lees and into another container (tertiary at this point) for further aging. With more alcohol comes a longer aging period to allow things to improve. It is hard to say what you should do in this case, but as long as you want to clear it, keep it in secondary.

Be advised that you might need new yeast to pitch at bottling time, if you have let the beer age and sit around for many weeks/months at that ABV.

 

[neldred]

So, yes the secondary will help to clear the beer, and if you are going to bulk age you can leave it in the secondary for quite some time if you choose to, however, if you do an extended bulk aging period, you will more than likely have to add more yeast to carbonate your beer when racking to bottle.

Thanks. It sounds like this is what a lot of the Belgian brewers are doing? It seems like from what I've read most or all of them add additional yeast before bottling. I wonder if that contradicts the clearing of the beer? Would it need to be a full pouch of yeast intended for 5 gallons?

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Thanks. It sounds like this is what a lot of the Belgian brewers are doing? It seems like from what I've read most or all of them add additional yeast before bottling. I wonder if that contradicts the clearing of the beer? Would it need to be a full pouch of yeast intended for 5 gallons?

Normally the amount of yeast added for bottling is a similar amount, however, most of the fermentable sugars have been consumed, and the yeast you are adding are not really going through an aerobic reproduction cycle, they are simply there to gnaw on some of the sugars to produce carbonation, therefore, you aren't really going to end up with a dense yeast population that will cloud the beer nor a thick cake at the bottom of each bottle. Just remember with your gravity to ensure you add a yeast that will tolerate the ABV level in your beer otherwise you won't get any carbonation.