Secondary Fermentation and sugar

[Freezestat]

Two questions here.

First, can someone tell me what secondary fermentation is and why it is done?

Second, if I plan to ferment my wort and then put it in a 5 gal cylinder and attach the co2, do I still need to pitch the sugar. It is my understanding the sugar will help with co2, but If I am kegging it, will I need this? Will my alchol be less if this is not done?

 

[marubozo]

1. When you hear the term secondary fermenter thrown around in homebrewing sites and texts it's really a bit of a misnomer. What most people are referring to is simply moving their beer from the primary vessel and sticking it into a 'secondary' vessel. But all of the fermentation happens in the primary (or should). There are cases where you can do actually do a secondary fermentation, but that's almost never what people are talking about.

Do you have to move your beer into a secondary? Absolutely not. Most new brewers do it because they get impatient and want to feel like they are doing something in the process or to have their beer displaying in something sexier than a plastic bucket. Other people like to dry hop in a secondary, and it's usually recommended to do so when adding fruit as well. But for most beer styles there's no requirement to do so. You'll find mixed answers and some people use a secondary as a way to help clear their beer, while others never secondary and can still make perfectly clear beer. So, the choice is yours, but ultimately there shouldn't be any fermentation going on in a 'secondary' if that's what you're wondering.

2. The sugar added is to produce the carbonation in bottles, or in naturally carbed kegs. If you will be hooking up a keg to CO2 anyway you can completely forget the sugar and carbonate the beer with just CO2.

Oh, and welcome!