Question about utilizing secondary fermentation.
We did an Imperial Blonde Ale (we scorched the LME so its more of a brunette ;D )
This is the first time we’re using a secondary fermenter,
our OG was around 1.071 and after a check, its at 1.061.
Secondary fermentation is more for clarity, right?
We added a DME in the boil to bring the range up to 7.75-8.75%
[/size]How much of a raise in our ABV can we expect?Does clarity affect the specific gravity?
If I understand the question, I think you are asking if fermentation continues after you switch to a secondary. Yes it does, and as you mentioned, it also helps finish the beer, allowing all of the yeast to drop and clear up (no, clarity itself doesn’t have a direct relationship to the gravity).
However, in my experience most of the fermentation is done in the primary. There is no rule as to how long to ferment in primary, but I find in general it’s about 3 weeks to a month, then I switch to secondary and cold crash. If I understand your post correctly, you’ve brewed and fermented and gravity has gone down 10 points, giving you an ABV of just over 1%. I would say you have a long way to go before switching out of primary. Again, unless I am reading this wrong, you should have a much lower gravity before switching out of primary in my opinion. How long have you been fermenting?
Specific gravity when we transferred was 1.016, sorry I mistyped that.
You might be interested in what John Palmer, author of How to Brew, says about secondary right here on this forum…
“Therefore I, and Jamil and White Labs and Wyeast Labs, do not recommend racking to a secondary fermenter for ANY ale, except when conducting an actual second fermentation, such as adding fruit or souring. Racking to prevent autolysis is not necessary, and therefore the risk of oxidation is completely avoidable. Even lagers do not require racking to a second fermenter before lagering. With the right pitching rate, using fresh healthy yeast, and proper aeration of the wort prior to pitching, the fermentation of the beer will be complete within 3-8 days (bigger = longer). This time period includes the secondary or conditioning phase of fermentation when the yeast clean up acetaldehyde and diacetyl.”
The entire answer is here…https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=15108.msg191642#msg191642