Glossary of Brewing Terms
Glossary of Beer Terms
Find out what is IN Beer
Nutritional Information on A-B products
AFTERTASTE
A palate sensation that occurs after the beer has been swallowed.
ALE
Probably derived from the Norse "oel," which originally referred to fermented malt beverages that were not flavored by hops. By that definition, in the earliest times all such beverages would have been ale. When the use of hops as a flavoring agent became prevalent, such hopped brews were identified as beer. Today, beer usually identifies lager (specifically, bottom-fermenting brews) and the entire class of malt beverages in general, while the term ale usually applies to top-fermented brews.
AROMA
Fragrance, usually in a pleasant sense; applied to a beverage, it is the component of the odor that derives from the ingredients of the beverage -- as opposed to the bouquet, which results from by-products of the fermentation process.
BALANCE
The feature of a beer concerned with the balance of various flavors and sensations.
BALLING
Actual degrees of Balling (°B). Degrees Balling may be determined by a hydrometer or "Balling spindle," which floats in the liquid to a level corresponding to sugar content, or by a refractometer, where a beam of light is deflected in direct proportion to the amount of sugar.
BARLEY
A cereal grass with bearded spikes of flowers and its seed or grain. Barley is the most suitable cereal grain for making malt beverages; it provides starch, enzymes, flavor, foam, body and color.
BATCH FERMENTATION
The most common, traditional method of fermentation used to produce alcohol beverages, where each batch is fermented separately.
BEER
Describes an alcohol-containing fermented malt beverage in general and bottom-fermented brews in particular (also see "Ale").
BODY
The mouth-filling property of a beer. Taken to the extreme, stout has a heavy or full body; pale low-calorie beer may be thin or watery.
BOTTOM FERMENTATION
One of the two basic methods of fermentation for beer, characterized by the fact that dormant yeast cells sink to the bottom during fermentation. Beers brewed in this fashion are commonly called lagers or bottom-fermented beers.
BOUQUET
That portion of the odor caused by fermentation.
BREWER'S YEAST
Yeast specifically prepared for brewing beer. Two main types of yeast are used for making beer: one ferments at the top of the brew (top-fermenting yeast), and the other ferments at the bottom (bottom-fermenting yeast). Brewer's yeast may be gathered from the lees of the previous brew, or it may be purchased in dry or liquid form.
BREWKETTLE
A large vessel, similar in shape to a mash tun, made of copper or stainless steel, in which the wort is boiled for one to two hours by steam coils or through a jacketed bottom.
CARAMEL MALT
Malt prepared from fully modified sugar-rich barley that is lightly steeped, kiln-dried, re-steeped, and heat-dried again at temperatures of 150° to 170° Fahrenheit for one to two hours, thus converting the soluble starches within the grain into sugar as in mashing. The temperature is then increased to about 250° Fahrenheit. Caramel malt is available in pale (cara-pils) to dark colors and is used in small amounts (12 to 15 percent) to impart sweetness, aroma, and a coppery color to beer.
DRY HOPPING
The addition of loose, dry hops to the primary fermentor (after the wort has cooled to below 75° Fahrenheit) or to the secondary fermentor to increase the aroma and hop character of the finished beer without affecting its bitterness.
ESTERS
Volatile flavor compounds which form during fermentation through the interaction of organic acids with alcohols and contribute to the fruity aroma and flavor of beer.
FERMENTATION
In malt beverages, it is the decomposition of sugar into ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide, and other flavor compounds by the yeast (see Esters).
FILTRATION
The passage of a liquid through a permeable or porous substance to remove solid matter in suspension.
FIRST WORT
The first runnings of wort to be filtered in the straining vessel. It is richer in extract than subsequent runnings.
GRANT
A small vessel between the straining tank (tun) and the brewkettle from which the runoff of the wort is controlled and sampled.
HIGH (HEAVY) GRAVITY
The common practice of brewing and fermenting a concentrated brewhouse wort and adjusting this beer to its final "gravity" or composition at the end of the process. High gravity brewing permits better utilization of equipment and can increase the capacity of a brewery.
HOPS
The dried, ripe cones of the female flowers of a climbing-vine member of the nettle family. The resin from the cones is used for aromatic flavoring, bittering and preserving beer.
KRAEUSENING
A secondary fermentation whereby young fermenting wort (approx. 15--18 percent) is added to a fully fermented lager to accomplish a natural infusion of carbon dioxide.
LAGER
From the German word "to store." A generic term for any beer produced by bottom-fermentation yeast, usually by decoction mashing, as opposed to top-fermented beers, usually produced by infusion mashing, called ales. Lager brewing was introduced in the 184 0s and is now the predominant brewing method worldwide except in Britain, where top-fermentation yeast is dominant. Lagers constitute a category including Münchener, Vienna, Pilsener, Dortmunder, Bock, and Doppelbock.
MALT
Barley that has been steeped in water to produce sprouting, then kiln-dried.
MALTING
The process of converting barley into malt. It is divided into three stages: 1. Steeping -- the barley is immersed in water until a chosen moisture level has been reached. 2. Germination -- the wet barley is allowed to germinate under controlled condition s. 3. Kilning -- the germinated barley (green malt) is heat-dried and partly cooked.
MILLING
In brewing, the malt is ground into grist (or meal) to facilitate the extraction of sugars and other soluble substances during the mashing process. The endosperm must be crushed to medium-sized grits rather than to flour consistency. It is important that the husks remain intact when the grain is milled.
MUENCHENER
A bottom-fermented style of beer produced in the mid-19th century in the Bavarian city of Munich. The original Muenchener was dark. In 1928, the Paulaner Brewery introduced a paler version, called Helles, that has almost entirely overtaken the darker brew.
ORIGINAL GRAVITY
The specific gravity of the wort prior to fermentation. It is a measure of the total amount of solids that are dissolved in the wort.
PASTEURIZE
To subject packaged beer to a temperature of 142° -- 145° Fahrenheit for a specified time to destroy enzymes, yeast, and other bacteria.
PILSENER
A general name for pale, golden-hued, highly hopped, bottom-fermented beers. The original Pilsener was first brewed at the Bürgerlisches Brauhaus in the Bohemian town of Plzen (meaning green meadow) in 1842. It was then the palest beer available, and the style was soon copied worldwide.
PITCHING
The addition of yeast to cooled wort. The ideal pitching temperature for top-fermenting yeast is usually 58° Fahrenheit, whereas that for bottom-fermenting yeast is 45° Fahrenheit.
PRIMARY FERMENTATION
The first stage of fermentation lasting from two to seven days, during which time most of the fermentable sugars are converted to ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide gas.
REINHEITSGEBOT
A German law, the title of which signifies "pledge of purity" or "order of purity," governing the production and quality of beer in Germany. William VI, the Elector of Bavaria, decreed in 1516 that only water, malted barley, malted wheat, and hops could b e used to make beer. Yeast was not included but taken for granted. This law is still in effect today in Germany.
ROASTED MALT
Malt made from barley heated sequentially, starting at 320° Fahrenheit, and 419° Fahrenheit, and finally 437° Fahrenheit. The malt acquires a brilliant external appearance while the endosperm becomes black. Roasted malt is used to flavor and color stout and dark beers.
SECONDARY FERMENTATION -- "BEECHWOOD AGING"
The second, slower stage of fermentation, carried out in closed vessels at 44°-48° Fahrenheit for 22 days.
SPECIFIC GRAVITY
A measurement of the weight percent of dissolved solids in 60° Fahrenheit water, calculated in Plato (Balling). Used to calculate the amount of extract in wort or beer.
TOP FERMENTATION
One of the two basic fermentation methods characterized by the fact that dormant yeast cells rise to the surface during fermentation. Primary fermentation occurs at 59°-77° Fahrenheit and lasts for about one week.
TWO-ROW BARLEY
A variety of barley on which only the central spikelet is fertile, forming two rows of grains each. It is the variety most appreciated for brewing because its kernels are better developed, and the husk is thinner; however, it is generally lower in enzymes than six-row barley.
WORT
The bittersweet sugar solution obtained by mashing the malt and boiling in the hops before it is fermented into beer.
WORT RECEIVER
A cooling vessel into which the wort is poured after straining the hops.
YEAST
Microscopic, unicellular, vegetal organisms of the fungus family (Eumycophyta), distinct from bacteria since they possess a true nucleus. Brewing yeast (or brewer's yeast) is classified into three categories: bottom-fermenting yeast, top-fermenting yeast, or wild yeasts and other species. Brewer's yeasts are sensitive to heat and may be killed by exposure to temperatures of 125.6° Fahrenheit or above for 10 minutes or more. During the fermentation process, yeast converts the natural malt sugars into equal parts of alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. Yeast was first viewed under a microscope in 1680 by the Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek.