Difference between revisions of "Beer Making Glossary"

Brewing, while very simple in principle, is actually very complex in practice. Knowing common brewing and beer terminology will help brewers understand brewing/beer literature, and allow them to communicate easily with other brewers. Using complex terminology also allows brewers to comes across as knowledgeable professionals in the presence of non-brewers.

A

Aftertaste: The overriding taste that you are left with after you swallow the beer.

Airlock: (Fermentation Lock): A one-way water trap fitted to a fermenter to allow CO2 out, without allowing air outside air (and the contaminants it contains) in.

Aroma:Smell

Attenuation: The amount of sugars converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast, usually expressed as a percentage. Attenuation figures can be expressed as "Apparent" or "Real" due to the fact that alcohol is less dense than water. A 1.050 wort fermented to 1.012 has an Apparent Attenuation of 75%, but a Real Attenuation of 63%.

B

Balance: Achieving balance in a beer means that no one factor (bitterness, alcohol, sweetness) overpowers the others.

Balling: A scale measuring sugar in solution. Figures are given as a percentage of sugar by weight. A reading of 10 means the solution is 10% sugar by weight. Scale is interchangable with Brix.

Bitter: A sharp, acid and often acrid taste. Sounds unpleasant but it is a valuable part of the taste of most beers and is required to balance the sweet malty flavours. Bitterness can be added to beer by the use of hops and roasted malts.

Bittering Hops: Hops that are added at the beginning of the boil, and thus exert more bitterness than flavor or aroma.

Blow off Tube: A tube that is inserted directly into the neck of a carboy, or attached to a carboy cap or rubber stopper, while the other end is immersed in water. Similar in concept to an airlock, while allowing extremely large krausens to evacuate the fermenter without explosive results.

Body: A beer's "body" refers to its weight on the palate, or how thick/thin it feels in your mouth. Body is generally dictated by how much unfermented sugar remains in the finished beer; the more sugar, the heavier the body.

Brew Kit: Beginner brewers often opt to purchase these kits, which typically include all the necessary equipment to get started from scratch.

Brew Kettle: The vessel in which the wort is boiled. It is typically made from aluminum, stainless steel, or enameled steel.

Brix: A scale measuring sugar in solution expressed as a percentage by weight. Interchngable with Balling.

C

Craft Beers:

Carboy: A large glass container with a small neck, typically used in brewing as a fermentation vessel and secondary clarification/conditioning vessel. Usually fitted with a carboy cap or rubber stopper, and an airlock.

Carboy Cap: A rubber/plastic cap that fits over the lip of a carboy, and has two differently-size nipples to which airlocks and/or small-diameter blow-off tubes can be attached.

D

Dry Beer: A beer low in residuals sugars. Common examples are Guinness Stout and American Light Lagers

E

EAC: A secret honoury term bestowed on an Elite group of homebrewers.  :)

F

First Wort Hop: The addition of hops during the sparge to increase the flavor that it usually lost in the boil.

Fermentation:' The act of yeast consuming sugars and creating Carbon Dioxide and alcohol as it main byproducts.

Fermentation Barrel (see also carboy):

G

Gypsum:

H

Head: The layer of foam on top of the beer, created by carbonation after pouring.

Hops: A vine-based plant that lends bitterness, flavor, aroma and preservative qualities to beer. Typically, the flowers are harvested from the vine and dried. Also available in pelletized form. Botanical name: Humulus Lupulus

Hop Sock (Grain bag): A small bag that hops are placed in to and then in turn placed in to the wort. This practice helps with siphoning and draining of the brew kettle. Also can be used small amounts of steeping grains.

Hydrometer: A device for measuring the density of a liquid. The hydrometer floats higher in a more dense solution. Wort is a sugar solution that is more dense than water. During fermentation alcohol is produced, which is less dense than water. By taking a hydrometer reading before and after fermentation, the amount of alcohol in solution can be obtained. Hydrometers are commonly calibrated to read a Specific Gravity of 1.000 in pure water at 60 degrees f. Triple Scale Hydrometers read Specific Gravity, Balling and Potential Alcohol %.

I

J

K

L

Liquor: Water

M

Malting:

Malted Barley:

Malt extract:

Mashing:

N

O

P

Plato:

Priming: The act of adding more sugar to the beer to aid in carbonation with in bottle conditioned beer. Also can be used to carbonate kegs if force carbonation is not preferred.

Q

R

Real Ale: Cask condition naturally carbonated none pasteurised beer.

S

Sanitizing: Specific Gravity: A ratio of the density of a liquid compared to water. Water has a Specific Gravity of 1. In brewing, Specific Gravity measures the amount of sugars dissolved in the wort and the remaining sugars and alcohol after fermentation. Yeast consume the sugars and produce alcohol, which is lighter than water. Specific Gravity is therefore less after fermentation. The difference can be calculated into alcohol percentage and yeast attenuation.

Sparge: Rinse

SRM: A rating of the color of a beer: 0-4 very light, 5-9 golden, 9-14 amber, 14-18 red,18-25 brown, >25 black

Steep(ing) The Process of soaking grain at a temperature of around 160°F (70°C) for 20 to 30 minutes to extract colour and flavour for use in extract brewing.

T

Thermometer: Measures the temperature of the wort/beer.

U

V

W

Water: The main ingredient in beer, wine, mead, and cider.

Wort:

X

Y

Yeast: A single celled organism that is the key to fermentation.

Z

Zymurgy: The technical term for art of brewing. Also the AHA magazine