Brewing Terms
The language of brewers.
Ninkasi
When you listen to two brewers talk, you could be forgiven for thinking they had made up their own language. There are terms still in use by brewers that fell out of favour decades or even centuries ago. But don’t despair, for I have listed down most of the often used terms, and tried to arrange them into related categories - not just an alpha list.
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.”
Brewing
I’ve tried to organise the terms in the order they appear in the process.
Grain - the source of all that is good. Grains used to make beer can include barley, wheat, rye, rice, corn and oats. Some experimentation is being conducted with other grains such as millet, quinoa and sorghum (for gluten free).
Grain Bill - the grains that make up your recipe. Some beers have complicated grain bills with up to 8 different grains, each in a different proportion to impact taste, sweetness, colour, bitterness, sourness and aroma in different ways.
Milling - The grinding of malt into grist to facilitate the extraction of sugars and other soluble substances during the mash 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 or cracked because they will later act as a filter aid during lautering.
Grist - Ground malt and grains ready for mashing.
Liquor - The name given, in the brewing industry, to water used for mashing and brewing, especially natural or treated water containing high amounts of calcium and magnesium salts.
Strike Water - the heated water you use to infuse the grains and extract the sugars, flavours, colours and starches.
Strike Temperature - the temperature the recipe calls for the strike water to be at before the grains are infused.
Mash - A mixture of ground malt and other grains or adjuncts and hot water that creates the malt sweetened wort.
Mask Temperature - the temperature the mash needs to be held at for the mashing process. Note that some recipes call for the temperature to be changed throughout the mashing process - this is called a step mash.
Mash Tun - The vessel in which grist is soaked in water and heated in order to convert the starch to sugar and to extract the sugars, colors, flavors and other solubles from the grist.
Mashing - The process of mixing crushed malt (and possibly other grains or adjuncts) with hot water to convert grain starches to fermentable sugars and non-fermentable carbohydrates that will add body, head retention and other characteristics to the beer. Mashing also extracts colors and flavors that will carry through to the finished beer, and also provides for the degradation of haze-forming proteins. Mashing requires several hours and produces a sugar-rich liquid called wort.
Mashing Out - The process of raising the mash temperature to ~75C (168F). The goal is to halt any enzymatic activity and prevent further conversion of starches to sugars.
Lautering - The process of separating the sweet wort (pre-boil) from the spent grains in a lauter tun or with other straining apparatus.
Sparging - An operation consisting of spraying the spent mash grains with hot water to retrieve the liquid malt sugar and extract remaining in the grain husks.
Brew Kettle - One of the vessels used in the brewing process in which the wort is boiled.
Hot Break - The flocculation of proteins and tannins during wort boiling.
Boiling - A critical step during the brewing process during which wort is boiled inside the brew kettle. During the boiling, one or more hop additions can occur to achieve bittering, hop flavor and hop aroma in the finished beer. Boiling also results in the removal of several volatile compounds from wort, especially dimethyl sulfide and the coagulation of excess or unwanted proteins in the wort (“hot break“). Boiling also sterilizes a beer as well as ends enzymatic conversion of proteins to sugars.
Irish Moss/Whirlfloc - Used as a clairifier in beer. Modified particles or powder of the seaweed Chondrus crispus that help to settle proteins in the kettle.
Flame Out - The moment the heat is removed from the boil kettle at the end of the boil.
Heat Exchangers - Used to cool hot wort before fermentation.
Trub - Wort particles resulting from the precipitation of proteins, hop oils and tannins during the boiling and cooling stages of brewing.
Wort - The bittersweet sugar solution obtained by mashing the malt and boiling in the hops, prior to becomming beer through fermentation.
Original Gravity (OG) - The specific gravity of wort before fermentation.
Carboy - A large glass, plastic or earthenware bottle typically used for fermentation.
Bung - A sealing stopper, usually a cylindroconical shaped piece of wood or plastic, fitted into the mouth of a cask or carboy.
Bung Hole - The round hole in the side of a cask or top of a carboy through which the vessel is filled and then sealed with a bung.
Air Lock - A one-way valve that is fitted onto a fermenter and allows carbon dioxide gas to escape from the fermenter while excluding air, wild yeasts, bacteria and contaminants.
Aeration - The action of introducing air or oxygen to the wort (unfermented beer) usually at the start of fermentation. Proper aeration before primary fermentation is vital to yeast health and vigorous fermentation. Aeration after fermentation is complete can result in beer off-flavors, including cardboard or paper aromas due to oxidation.
Pitching - The addition of yeast to the wort once it has cooled down to desirable temperatures.
Fermentation - The chemical conversion of fermentable sugars by yeast. The two basic methods of fermentation in brewing are top fermentation, which produces ales, and bottom fermentation, which produces lagers.
Primary Fermentation - The first stage of fermentation carried out in open or closed containers during which time the bulk of the fermentable sugars are converted to ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide gas.
Secondary Fermentation
The second, slower stage of fermentation for top fermenting beers, and lasting from a few weeks to many months, depending on the type of beer.
A renewed fermentation in bottles or casks and initiated by priming or by adding fresh yeast.
Closed Fermentation - Fermentation under closed, anaerobic conditions to minimize risk of contamination and oxidation.
Kraeusen - The head of foam which appears on the surface of the wort during fermentation.
Diacetyl Rest - Particularly used in largers to remove unwanted diacetyl flavours. The temperature is allowed to rise just before the end of fermentation to allow the yeast to reabsorb the diacetyl.
Dry Hopping - The addition of hops late in the brewing process to increase the hop aroma of a finished beer without significantly affecting its bitterness. Dry hops may be added to the wort in the kettle, whirlpool, hop back, or added to beer during primary or secondary fermentation or even later in the process.
Wet Hopping - The addition of freshly harvested hops that have not yet been dried. Wet hopping adds unique flavors and aromas to beer that are not normally found when using hops that have been dried and processed per usual.
Flocculation - The behavior of suspended particles in wort or beer that tend to clump together in large masses and settle out. During brewing, protein and tannin particles will flocculate out of the kettle or fermenter during hot break or cold crashing. During and at the end of fermentation, yeast cells will flocculate to varying degrees depending on the yeast strain, thereby affecting fermentation as well as clarity of the resulting beer.
Fining - The process of adding clarifying agents such as isinglass, gelatin, silica gel, or Polyvinyl Polypyrrolidone (PVPP) to beer at the end of secondary fermentation to floculate suspended matter, such as yeast, proteins or tannins.
Cold Crashing - The flocculation of yeast, proteins and tannins during beer cooling.
Racking - The process of transferring beer from one vessel to another, especially into the final package or keg.
Final Gravity - The specific gravity of a beer as measured when fermentation is complete. This allows calculation of the ABV.
Bottle Conditioning - A process by which beer is naturally carbonated in the bottle as a result of fermentation of additional wort or sugar intentionally added during packaging.
Cask/Keg Conditioning - Storing unpasteurized, unfiltered beer for several days in cool cellars of about 9-13°C (48-56°F) while conditioning is completed and carbonation builds.
Forced Carbonation - The beer is placed into a sealed container and carbonation achieved under high pressure. The CO2 is absorbed into the beer. Temperature and pressure affect the rate at which it happens.
Conditioning - A step in the brewing process in which beer is matured or aged after initial fermentation to prevent the formation of unwanted flavors and compounds.
Ingredients
Barley - A cereal grain derived from the annual grass Hordeum vulgare. Barley is used as a base malt in the production of beer and certain distilled spirits, as well as a food supply for humans and animals.
Adjunct - Any unmalted grain or other fermentable ingredient used in the brewing process. Adjuncts used are typically either rice or corn, and can also include honey, syrups, and numerous other sources of fermentable carbohydrates. They are common in mass produced light American lager-style beers.
Brettanomyces - A genus of single-celled yeasts that ferment sugar and are important to the beer and wine industries due to the sensory flavors they produce. “Brett” can cause acidity and other notes often perceived as leather, barnyard, horse blanket and just plain funk. These characteristics can be desirable or undesirable.
Ale Yeast - Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a top fermenting yeast that ferments at warm temperatures 15-21C (60-70 F) and generally produces more flavor compounds.
Lager Yeast - Saccharomyces pastorianus is a bottom fermenting yeast that ferments in cooler temperatures 7-13 (45-55 F) and often lends sulfuric compounds.
Extract Beer - A beer made with malt extract as opposed to one made from barley malt or from a combination of malt extract and barley malt.
Malt Beer - A beer made from malted grains.
Gruit - An old-fashioned herb mixture used for bittering and flavoring beer, popular before the use of hops. Also a style of beer made with gruit.
Isinglass - A gelatinous substance made from the swim bladder of certain fish that is sometimes added to beer to help clarify and stabilize the finished product.
Lactobacillus - A bacteria most often considered to be a beer spoiler, in that it can convert unfermented sugars found in beer into lactic acid. Some brewers introduce Lactobacillus intentionally into finished beer in order to add desirable acidic sourness to the flavor profile.
Malt - Processed barley that has been steeped in water, germinated on malting floors or in germination boxes or drums, and later dried in kilns for the purpose of stopping the germination and converting the insoluble starch in barley to the soluble substances and sugars in malt.
Malt Extract - A thick syrup or dry powder prepared from malt and sometimes used in brewing.
Maltose - The most abundant fermentable sugar in beer.
Pediococcus - A bacteria usually considered contaminants of beer and wine although their presence is sometimes desired in beer styles such as Lambic. Pediococcus strains can produce diacetyl, which renders a buttery or butterscotch aroma and flavor to beer, sometimes desired in small doses, but usually considered to be a flavor defect.
Saccharomyces - The genus of single-celled yeasts that ferment sugar and are used in the making of alcoholic beverages and bread. Yeasts of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces pastorianus are commonly used in brewing.
Chemistry
Acid Rest - A step done early in the mash around 35C (95F) by traditional brewers to lower the pH of the mash.
Acetaldehyde - A chemical and bi product of fermentation that is perceived as green apples in both aromas and flavor.
Alpha/Beta Acid - Naturally occurring soft resins in hops. Alpha acids are converted during wort boiling to iso-alpha acids, which cause the majority of beer bitterness. During aging, alpha acids can oxidize (chemical change) and lessen in bitterness. Beta acid contributes very little to the bitterness of beer and accounts for some of its preservative quality.
Alpha and Beta Amylase - Important enzymes in brewing beer and liquor made from sugars derived from starch. Different temperatures optimize the activity of alpha or beta amylase, resulting in different mixtures of fermentable and unfermentable sugars.
Attenuation - A simple measure of the extent of fermentation that wort has undergone in the process of becoming beer. Using gravity units (GU), Balling (B), or Plato (P) units to express gravity, apparent attenuation is equal to the original gravity minus the final gravity divided by the original gravity. The result is expressed as a percentage and equals 65% to 80% for most beers.
Astringency - A characteristic of beer taste mostly caused by tannins, oxidized (phenols), and various aldehydes (in stale beer). Astringency can cause the mouth to pucker and is often perceived as dryness.
Burton Snatch - The aroma of Sulphur indicating the presence of sulphate ions.
Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) - Also known as chalk, sometimes added during brewing to increase calcium and carbonate content.
Calcium Sulfate (CaSO4) - Also known as gypsum, sometimes added during brewing to increase calcium and sulfate content.
Carbohydrates - A group of organic compounds including sugars and starches, many of which are suitable as food for yeast and bacteria.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - The gaseous by-product of yeast. Carbon dioxide is what gives beer its carbonation (bubbles).
Carbonation - The process of introducing carbon dioxide into a liquid (such as beer) by:
pressurizing a fermentation vessel to capture naturally produced carbon dioxide;
injecting the finished beer with carbon dioxide;
adding young fermenting beer to finished beer for a renewed fermentation (kraeusening);
priming (adding sugar to) fermented wort prior to packaging, creating a secondary fermentation in the bottle, also known as “bottle conditioning.”
Chill Haze - Hazy or cloudy appearance caused when the proteins and tannins naturally found in finished beer combine upon chilling into particles large enough to reflect light or become visible.
Dextrin - A group of complex, unfermentable and tasteless carbohydrates produced by the partial hydrolysis of starch, that contributes to the gravity and body of beer. Some dextrins remain undissolved in the finished beer, giving it a malty sweetness.
Diacetyl - A volatile compound produced by some yeasts which imparts a caramel, nutty or butterscotch flavor to beer. This compound is acceptable at low levels in several traditional beer styles, including: English and Scottish Ales, Czech Pilsners and some German styles. However, it is often an unwanted or accidental off-flavor.
Diastatic - Refers to the diastatic enzymes that are created as the grain sprouts. These convert starches to sugars, which yeast eat.
Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS) - At low levels, DMS can impart a favorable sweet aroma in beer. At higher levels, DMS can impart a characteristic aroma and taste of cooked vegetables, such as cooked corn or celery. Low levels are acceptable in and characteristic of some Lager beer styles.
Endosperm - The starch-containing sac of the grain.
Esters - Volatile flavor compounds that form through the interaction of organic acids with alcohols during fermentation and contribute to the fruity aroma and flavor of beer. Esters are very common in ales.
Fermentable Sugars - Sugars that can be consumed by yeast cells which in turn will produce ethanol alcohol and c02.
Fusel Alcohol - A family of high molecular weight alcohols, which result from excessively high fermentation temperatures. Fusel alcohols can impart harsh or solvent-like characteristics commonly described as lacquer or paint thinner. It can contribute to hangovers.
Germination - Growth of a grain as it produces a rootlet and acrospire.
Lightstruck (Skunked) - Appears in both the aroma and flavor in beer and is caused by exposure of beer in light colored bottles or beer in a glass to ultra-violet or fluorescent light.
pH - Abbreviation for potential Hydrogen, used to express the degree of acidity and alkalinity in an aqueous solution, usually on a logarithmic scale ranging from 1-14, with 7 being neutral, 1 being the most acidic, and 14 being the most alkaline.
Phenols - A class of chemical compounds perceptible in both aroma and taste. Some phenolic flavors and aromas are desirable in certain beer styles, for example German-style wheat beers in which the phenolic components derived from the yeast used, or Smoke beers in which the phenolic components derived from smoked malt.
Residual - Sugar Any leftover sugar that the yeast did not consume during fermentation.
Saccharification - The conversion of malt starch into fermentable sugars, primarily maltose.
Specific Gravity - The ratio of the density of a substance to the density of water. This method is used to determine how much dissolved sugars are present in the wort or beer.
Tannins - A group of organic compounds contained in certain cereal grains and other plants.
Advanced Processes
Decoction Mash - A method of mashing that raises the temperature of the mash by removing a portion, boiling it, and returning it to the mash tun. Often used multiple times in certain mash programs.
Infusion Mash - A method of mashing which achieves target mashing temperatures by the addition of heated water at specific temperatures.
Inoculate - The introduction of a microbe such as yeast or microorganisms such as lactobacillus into surroundings capable of supporting its growth.
Lagering - Storing bottom-fermented beer in cold cellars at near-freezing temperatures for periods of time ranging from a few weeks to years, during which time the yeast cells and proteins settle out and the beer improves in taste.
Lauter Tun - A large vessel fitted with a false slotted bottom (like a colander) and a drain spigot in which the mash is allowed to settle and sweet wort is removed from the grains through a straining process. In some smaller breweries, the mash tun can be used for both mashing and lautering.
Protein Rest - A short mash at 45-55˚C (113-131˚F) used to activate enzymes in the malted grains that break down protein chains. This is achieved by mashing in at a lower temperature than usual do the protein rest. It usually takes between 15-30 minutes. After that the temperature is then raised to the normal mash temperature.
Steeping - The soaking in liquid of a solid so as to extract flavors.
Step Mashing - A mashing method wherein the temperature of the mash is raised by adding very hot water, and then stirring and stabilizing the mash at the target step temperature.
Vorlauf - At the outset of lautering and immediately prior to collecting wort in the brew kettle, the recirculation of wort from the lauter tun outlet back onto the top of the grain bed in order to clarify the wort.
Whirlpool - A method of collecting trub and hop material in the center of the kettle by stirring the wort until a vortex is formed.
General
Alcohol - A synonym for ethyl alcohol or ethanol, the colorless primary alcohol constituent of beer. Can also refer to methanol, a dangerous type of alcohol that is present in small quantities in beer and wine.
ABV - Alcohol by Volume. A measurement of the alcohol content of a solution in terms of the percentage volume of alcohol per volume of beer. Alcohol ranges for beer vary from less than 3.2% to greater than 14% ABV. However, the majority of craft beer styles average around 4.2% - 5.9% ABV.
Alcoholic
Of or containing alcohol. e.g. an alcoholic drink.
A person with a disabling disorder characterized by compulsive uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Autolysis - A process in which excess yeast cells feed on each other producing a rubbery or vegetal aroma.
Barrel
A standard measure in the U.S. that is 31 gallons (~117L).
A wooden vessel that is used to age/condition/ferment beer. Some brewer’s barrels are brand new and others have been used previously to store wine or spirits.
Body - The consistency, thickness and mouth-filling property of a beer. The sensation of palate fullness in the mouth ranges from thin- to full-bodied.
Cellaring - Storing or aging beer at a controlled temperature to allow maturing.
Draught Beer - Beer drawn from kegs, casks or serving tanks rather than from cans, bottles or other packages. Beer consumed from a growler relatively soon after filling is also sometimes considered draught beer.
Growler - A jug-like container used to carry draught beer bought at the tavern or brewey. Growlers are usually 2L or ½ gal in volume and made of glass.
Head Retention - The foam stability of a beer as measured, in seconds, by time required for a 1-inch foam collar to collapse.
Hydrometer - A glass instrument used to measure the specific gravity of liquids as compared to water, consisting of a graduated stem resting on a weighted float.
Immersion Chiller - A wort chiller most commonly made of copper that is used by submerging into hot wort before fermentation as a method of cooling.
International Bitterness Units (IBU) - The measure of the bittering substances in beer. This measurement depends on the style of beer. Light lagers typically have an IBU rating between 5-10 while big, bitter India Pale Ales can often have an IBU rating between 50 and 70.
Lace - The lacelike pattern of foam sticking to the sides of a glass of beer once it has been partly or totally emptied.
Mouthfeel - The textures one perceives in a beer. Includes carbonation, fullness and aftertaste.
Musty - Moldy, mildewy character that can be the result of cork or bacterial infection in a beer. It can be perceived in both taste and aroma.
Oxidation - A chemical reaction in which one of the reactants undergoes the addition of or reaction with oxygen or an oxidizing agent.
Oxidized - Stale, winy flavor or aroma of wet cardboard, paper, rotten pineapple sherry and many other variations.
Plato - A scale used to measure density of beer wort in terms of percentage of extract by weight.
Priming - The addition of small amounts of fermentable sugars to fermented beer before racking or bottling to induce a renewed fermentation in the bottle or keg and thus carbonate the beer.
Reinheitsgebot - The German beer purity law passed in 1516, stating that beer may only contain water, barley and hops. Yeast was later added after its role in fermentation was discovered by Louis Pasteur.
Sediment - The refuse of solid matter that settles and accumulates at the bottom of fermenters, conditioning vessels and bottles of bottle-conditioned beer.