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I've read somewhere that yeast is added for secondary.

  • Is yeast repitched as well?
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Apart from changing yeast and preserving flavor, there is also a third reason. if some beer style calls for sucrose, candi sugar et cetera, adding it directly to the boil may make yeast "lazy". Glucose, fructose and corn sugar tends to be fermented first, before maltose is. Worse, yeast that fermented a lot of easier sugars may lose the ability to process maltose, leaving you with a stuck fermentation. So allowing maltose be fermented, and only then adding easier sugars for secondary fermentation makes a lot of sense and may result with drier, more alcoholic final result.

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I don't know about three sugar additions and haven't explored Belgian styles that much, but I can see where the idea of primary-secondary-bottle conditioning with a yeast addition somewhere makes sense.

Some yeasts ferment sugars that lager/ale yeasts don't ferment. Brettanomyces is a slow-acting yeast, so people don't like to put it in the primary but do like to use it for conditioning.* But since it ferments sugars that aren't usually fermented by lager/ale yeast it is dangerous for bottle conditioning because you end up with more CO2 for the same amount of priming sugar if you bottle condition with a Brett addition. To get around this Brett will be added to the secondary to pre-condition before normal bottle conditioning ensues.

Another thing is possibly just an emergency intervention, but if you lager and kill your yeast off with cold you may want to add another yeast back for bottle conditioning.

To answer the bulleted questions:

  • Varies big time. Adjuncts can be added to the secondary, for instance, so you get some more sugar that way sometimes.

  • Probably varies, depending on style or preference, but with a second pitching there usually isn't much fermentable sugar left, so you don't go crazy. I'd probably make a quarter liter starter if I did a Brett addition to secondary.

  • One possibility, with Brett, is a more dry finish. It's noted for being somewhat sour, though this should be subtle in secondary fermentation. Sometimes bottled beers, even ales, contain added lager yeast for long-term storage and conditioning. I haven't tried this, but maybe lager yeasts in bottle conditioning give you a cleaner finish?

(*) I have only non-Belgian experience with it, but Brett is popular in some Belgian/lambic styles.

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What are the effects? Pretty much none, really.

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