Beer Terminology

Beer is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages around the world, especially in summers. Majority of the people who are fond of drinking alcohol also like the refreshing taste that beer offers! Though drinkers across the globe love to have a glass of beer, hardly a few of them are aware of all the terms that are related to the alcoholic beverage. Keeping this in mind, we have provided free glossary of beer in the lines below. Go through it and make yourself aware of each and every aspect of the drink.

 

 

Additive - Enzymes, preservatives and antioxidants added to simplify the brewing process or prolong shelf life

Adjunct - Fermentable material used as a substitute for traditional grains, to make beer lighter-bodied or less expensive

Alcohol, Ethyl Alcohol or Ethanol - A stimulating by-product of fermentation, which is the result of yeast acting on sugars in the malt

Alcohol by Weight - Percentage weight of alcohol per volume of beer, i.e., 3.2% alcohol by weights is 3.2 grams of alcohol per 100 centiliters of beer

Alcohol by Volume - Percentage volume of alcohol per volume of beer

Alcoholic - Warming taste of ethanol and higher alcohols

All-malt - Beer made exclusively with barley malt and without adjuncts.

Amber - A top or bottom fermented beer with an amber color

Aroma Hops - Varieties of hop chosen to impart bouquet

Astringent - A drying, puckering taste; derived from boiling the grains, long mashes, over sparging or sparging with hard water

Balling Degrees - Density of sugars in wort

Barley - A cereal grain malted for use in the grist that becomes the mash in the brewing of beer

Barrel - A unit of measurement

Black Malt - Partially malted barley roasted at high temperatures, gives a dark color and roasted flavor to beer

Body - Thickness and mouth-filling property of a beer

Bottom-fermenting Yeast - One of the two types of yeast used in brewing

Brewhouse - Collective equipment used to make beer.

Brew Kettle - Vessel in which wort, from the mash, is boiled with hops

Brewpub - Pub that makes its own beer and sells at least 50% of it on premises

Bung - Stopper in the hole of a keg or cask

Cabbagelike - Aroma and taste of cooked vegetables in beer

Carbonation - Sparkle caused by carbon dioxide, during fermentation or injected later

Caramel - Cooked sugar used to add color and alcohol content to beer

Caramel Malt - Sweet, coppery-colored malt that imparts color and flavor to beer

Cask - A closed, barrel-shaped container for beer

Cask Conditioning - Secondary fermentation and maturation in the cask

Chlorophenolic - Plastic-like aroma in the beer

Chill Haze - Cloudiness caused by precipitation of protein-tannin compound at low temperatures

Chill Proof - Beer treated to withstand cold temperatures without clouding

Clovelike - Spicy character of beer that is reminiscent of cloves

Conditioning - Period of maturation necessary to impart "condition" (natural carbonation)

Conditioning Tank - A vessel in which beer matures, after primary fermentation, and is naturally carbonated, through secondary fermentation

Decoction - Exhaustive system of mashing, in which portions of the wort are removed, heated and then returned to the original vessel

Dextrin - Unfermentable carbohydrate produced by the enzymes in barley Diacetyl - Volatile compound in beer that gives a butterscotch flavor

DMS - Taste and aroma of sweet corn, which results from malt

Dosage - Addition of yeast and/or sugar to the cask or bottle, to assist secondary fermentation.

Dry Hopping - Addition of dry hops to fermenting or aging beer

European Brewing Convention - EBC scale indicates colors in malts and beers

Enzymes - Catalysts that are found naturally in the grain

Ester - Volatile flavor compound naturally created in fermentation

Estery - Aroma or flavor suggestive of flowers or fruits

Fahrenheit (degrees) F = [(Cx9)/5] + 32.

Fermentation - Conversion of sugars into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide, through the action of yeast.

Final Specific Gravity - Specific gravity of a beer when fermentation is complete

Filter - Removal of designated impurities

Fruity/Estery - Flavor and aroma of bananas, strawberries, apples, or other fruits

Grainy - Tasting like cereal or raw grain

Grist - Brewers' term for milled grains or a combination of milled grains

Hand Pump - A device for dispensing draft beer using a pump operated by hand

Hang - Lingering bitterness or harshness.

Hard Cider - Fermented beverage made from apples

Heat Exchanger - Mechanical device used to reduce temperature of wort rapidly

Hefe - German word meaning "yeast"

Hogshead - Cask holding 54 imperial gallons (243 liters)

Hop Back - Sieve-like vessel used to strain out the petals of the hop flowers

Hops - Herb added to boiling wort or fermenting beer to give bitter aroma & flavor

Hoppy - Aroma of hops, excluding hop bitterness

Infusion - Simplest form of mash, in which grains are soaked in water

International Bitterness Units (IBU) - System indicating hop bitterness in finished beer

Keg - One-half barrel or 15.5 US gallons

Lagering Maturation for several weeks or months at cold temperatures

Lauter - To run the wort from the mash tun

Length - Amount of wort brewed each time the brew house is in operation

Malt Extract - Condensed wort from a mash

Malt Liquor - Fermented beverage of relatively high alcohol content  

Mash (Verb) - To release malt sugars by soaking the grains in water

Maltose - Water soluble, fermentable sugar contained in malt

Metallic Tastes - Tinny, bloodlike or coin-like taste, probably from bottle caps

Microbrewery - Brewery generally producing less than 15,000 barrels per year

Mouthfeel - Sensation derived from the consistency or viscosity of a beer

Musty - Moldy, mildewy character

Oxidized - Stale flavor of wet cardboard, paper, rotten pineapple, or sherry

Pasteurization - Heating of beer to stabilize it microbiologically

Pitch - To add yeast to wort

Plato - Refined Balling scale

Priming - Addition of sugar at the maturation stage, for secondary fermentation

Publican - Owner or manager of a pub.

Salty - Flavor like table salt; experienced on the side of the tongue.

Secondary fermentation - Fermentation occurring in a closed container, from several weeks to several months

Shelf Life - Number of days a beer will retain its peak drinkability

Solvent-like - Reminiscent of acetone or lacquer thinner

Sour/Acidic - Vinegarlike or lemonlike taste, caused by bacterial infection

Specific gravity - Measure of density of a liquid or solid compared to that of water

Sparge - To spray grist with hot water, to remove soluble sugars (maltose)

Sweet - Taste like sugar; experienced on the front of the tongue

Sulfurlike - Reminiscent of rotten eggs or burnt matches

Tart - Taste sensation cause by acidic flavors

Top-fermenting Yeast - One of the two types of yeast used in brewing

Tun - Large vessels used in brewing

Vinous - Suggestive of wine

Winy - Sherrylike flavor; caused by warm fermentation or oxidation in old beer

Wort - Solution of grain sugars, strained from the mash tun