Secondary fermentation in keg

[stevemay55]

Brewed Westmalle Tripel clone several months ago. Racked to keg a month ago. Going to do a secondary fermentation in the keg to add more yeasty deliciousness. Besides adding the yeast should I also add corn sugar to kick off the secondary fermentation? If so how much? Thanks in advance.

 

[pvtpublic]

Why wouldn't you add everything in at first? Are you just trying to boost abv? I don't understand what the point is. I'm not trying to be rude, just confused. And honestly, I don't know why anyone still uses a secondary for beer anymore.

 

[NiwotBrew]

So, two things here.
A secondary fermentation is really just more time in a fermentor without all the junk that was in the primary fermentor, and is mostly considered an unnecessary step.
Many beers from Belgium say “re-fermented in the bottle” which is bottle conditioning. If you would like to naturally carbonate in the keg- go for it. And you could add yeast and about a half cup of priming sugar (calculators available that would refine that number).

 

[pvtpublic]

So, two things here.
A secondary fermentation is really just more time in a fermentor without all the junk that was in the primary fermentor, and is mostly considered an unnecessary step.

Yes, I'm aware of why we used to do secondary, but you wind up making problems with the end product. I think that it was more of a step for meads and wines that was roped into the beer making world. The yeast needs time to clean up after itself. There's no risk of autolysis in that short amount of time. With a secondary, problems can arise with off flavors, particularly acetaldehyde and diacetyl.

Many beers from Belgium say “re-fermented in the bottle” which is bottle conditioning. If you would like to naturally carbonate in the keg- go for it. And you could add yeast and about a half cup of priming sugar (calculators available that would refine that number).

Also yes, that would mean bottle conditioned. And I totally agree with the method you've described, it's probably the best way to go about it, actually.

 

[stevemay55]

So, two things here.
A secondary fermentation is really just more time in a fermentor without all the junk that was in the primary fermentor, and is mostly considered an unnecessary step.
Many beers from Belgium say “re-fermented in the bottle” which is bottle conditioning. If you would like to naturally carbonate in the keg- go for it. And you could add yeast and about a half cup of priming sugar (calculators available that would refine that number).

 

[stevemay55]

Thanks. The reconditioning in the bottle idea is what I’m trying to recreate. Nice to see people still following Belgian brewing processes.