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Mikes Big Brewing Glossary - Beer terms Category: Food and Drink > Homebrewing beer Date & country: 08/09/2014, USA Words: 368

yeast starter
Essentially a small, mini-batch of beer, the sole purpose of which is to give your yeast culture a contaminant-free environment in which it can build up their strength and numbers. For detailed info on how I make yeast starters, go here.

zymurgy
The science of fermentation.

o-ring
A circular gasket, usually made of rubber. O-rings come in different shapes and sizes. On soda kegs, they are used to ensure a gas-tight seal on the main lid, the liquid and gas fittings, and between the dip tubes and the keg body. O-rings will eventually deteriorate, and must be replaced occasionally.

yeast nutrient
A brewing additive which adds free amino nitrogen (FAN), a substance which is essential for good yeast health. Think of it as fertilizer for your yeast. As with yeast engergizer, should not be necessary for beer wort, since malt already contains all of the essential nutrients for your yeast.

Wit
See Witbier.

Witbier
A pale, cloudy beer, brewed with a high percentage of unmalted wheat (and sometimes oats), and spiced with coriander and orange peel.

wort
Unfermented beer.

wort chiller
A heat exchanger which is used to rapidly reduce the temperature of the wort, after the boil. See immersion chiller; counterflow chiller.

yeast
A single-celled fungus, capable of fermenting (digesting) sugars, to produce alcohol, carbon dioxide, and other trace by-products. Brewers yeasts are broadly divided into two categories: ale yeast, and lager yeast. Within each category, there are many different strains, each of which imparts its own unique character to the finished beer, due to different levels of the trace by-products.

wheat malt
Wheat which has been malted (allowed to sprout, then dried). Wheat malt does not have the outer husk that is present on barley malt. Therefore, it must either be mashed with barley malt, and/or a lautering aid (e.g. rice hulls) must be added, to prevent a stuck sparge.

whirlpooling
The practice of spinning the wort in a circular motion in the kettle, after the boil is complete. This causes the trub and spent hops to pile up in the center of the kettle, allowing relatively clear wort to be drawn off from the side.

Weizenbock
A Weizen (German-style wheat ale) which has been brewed to Bock strength (OG of at least 1.066).

wheat
The second most common grain used in beer brewing. Malted wheat makes up at least 50% of the grist of traditional Weizen and Hefeweizen beers, and may also be added in lesser amounts in other styles (generally as an aid to head retention). Unmalted wheat makes up a substantial percentage of the grist in Witbier and Lambic.

victory malt
A toasted malt, similar to biscuit malt.

Vienna Lager
An amber or light brown lager, with a light toasted character.

water treatment
General term for any actions taken to modify the characteristics of the brewing water. May involve filtration, reverse osmosis, distillation, and the addition of various minerals and/or acids.

Weizen
A German-style wheat ale, with a fruity/spicy character imparted by unique yeast strains. Unfiltered versions are generally referred to as Hefeweizen.

ullage
See headspace.

Valley Mill
A roller mill designed for home brewing use, manufactured by Valley Brewing Equipment. Like the other mills available to homebrewers, the Valley Mill has a very loyal following. Similar to the Maltmill, but with a larger standard hopper, and parallel roller adjustment. (See mill wars.)

two-stage fermentation
The practice of racking the beer to a second fermentation vessel after activity begins to subside; this gets the beer off of the large sediment deposit that is typically present in the primary fermenter, and prevents the pick-up of off flavors from yeast autolysis. The beer is left in the secondary fermenter until it has completely fermented out and fallen clear. Two-stage fermentation is generally recommended for lagers and strong ales, where the beer is likely to remain in the fermentation vessel for some time prior to being bottled or kegged. For normal strength ales, two-stage fermentation it is optional, but can still help reduce the amount of bottle sediment, by minimizing the amount of sediment carried over into the bottling bucket.

top fermenting
See top cropping.

trisaccharide
A sugar molecule which consists of three linked simple sugars.

trub
Coagulated proteins and tannins which form during the boil (hot break), and during the subsequent cooling of the boiled wort (cold break).

turbinado sugar
Cane sugar which has not been fully refined. Still contains some of the natural molasses, giving it a golden color, and a rum-like flavor. Sometimes called raw sugar.

two row malt
Malt which has been made from two row barley. Two row barley has larger kernels, a lower protein content, and a lower husk content than six row barley. This gives two row malt a slightly higher extract potential than six row malt, and makes it less prone to causing chill haze. Most high quality brewers malts are two row malts.

terminal gravity
See final gravity.

thermometer
Thermometers commonly used in home brewing fall into three broad categories

toasted malt
Malt which has been heated in an oven or kiln, to impart a toasted flavor. Biscuit malt and victory malt are commercially available toasted malts.

temperature rest
In all-grain brewing, refers to bringing the mash to a specified temperature, and holding that temperature for a specified period of time.

table sugar
See sucrose.

tannins
Phenolic compounds which are naturally present in grain husks, and hops. Excessive tannins can result in a harsh, astringent flavor, and can also contribute to chill haze by combining with proteins in the beer to form a precipitate at low temperatures. All-grain brewers can keep tannin levels under control by not using sparge water that is too hot, and reducing the pH of the sparge water by adding small amounts of food-grade acid.

Sweet Stout
A sub-style of Stout characterized by a sweet taste. The sweetness is usually achieved by the addition of lactose (a.k.a milk sugar), which is not fermentable by brewers yeast. Because of the use of lactose, also sometimes referred to as Milk Stout.

stupid brewer tricks
A phenomenon which occurs on on-line brewing forums with a regularity exceeded only by the mill wars threads. Basically consists of everyone posting their worst brewing experience, and/or most stupid mistake while brewing a batch.

sucrose
A disaccharide, consisting of a fructose and glucose molecule linked together. Also known as common table sugar. Most sucrose is made from sugar cane or sugar beets. See beet sugar; cane sugar.

sugar
A class of organic compounds, having a sweet taste. Simple sugar molecules such as glucose and fructose (known as monosaccharides) can be linked together in chains of 2, 3, or more units, to form more complex sugar molecules (disaccharides, trisaccharides, polysaccharides). Once the chains grow beyond a certain length, the substances no longer taste sweet, and are known as dextrins. Longer still, and they are classified as starches.

Stout
A very dark (almost black), very roasty flavored ale. The dark color and roasted flavor is imparted by roasted (unmalted) barley, and/or roasted malt. Believed to be a descendant of the original (historical) Porter style.

stuck sparge
In all-grain brewing, the inability to get any liquid to flow through the grain bed during the sparge. Generally only an issue with mashes containing a high percentage of wheat, or unmalted adjuncts. Rice hulls can be added to the mash, to reduce the risk of a stuck sparge.

stewing
The process by which crystal malts are produced. Whole damp malt is heated to saccharification temperatures, allowing the amylase enzymes which are naturally present in the malt to convert the starches into sugars. The malt is then kilned (heated), to dry it and impart color and flavor.

sterilize
To kill all microbes present in a substance (or on a surface). Typically requires the use of an autoclave.

sterile filtration
The filtering of beer through a filter with pores so fine that all yeast and bacteria are removed. Sterile filtration is sometimes used by commercial breweries, as an alternative to pasteurization. The drawback of sterile filtration is that it can remove some desirable characteristics (flavor and body) from the beer.

Steam Beer
A trademark of Anchor Brewing, used to refer to their flagship brand. See California Common.

steeping
The soaking of crushed specialty grains in hot (approximately 160

step infusion mash
A grain mash in which multiple temperature rests are employed, and the temperature boosts from one rest to the next are accomplished by carefully measured additions of boiling water.

step mash
A grain mash in which multiple temperature rests are employed.

starch haze
A haze in the finished beer which results from the presence of unconverted starch. Starch haze differs from chill haze in that it is present regardless of whether the beer is chilled, or at room temperature.

starch conversion
In all-grain brewing, the process which converts starches in the malt into fermentable sugars. Conversion occurs under the influence of amylase enzymes present in the malt, which chop up the large starch molecules into smaller sugar molecules.

starch
Organic compounds consisting of very long chains of linked sugar molecules. Starch is the primary component of the grains most commonly used in brewing. Starch is converted (broken down) into sugars by amylase enzymes, during mashing. Starch is not directly fermentable by brewers yeast (though certain bacteria can digest it).

specific gravity
The density of a solution, compared to pure water. Specific gravity (or SG) is the most commonly used measure of the sugar content of a beer wort. A specific gravity of 1.050 means that the solution in question is 1.050 times as dense as pure water. Specific gravity is measured with a hydrometer.

spray malt
Same as dried malt extract.

spray-dried malt extract
Same as dried malt extract.

specialty grains
Typically used to refer to any malts which are added to the grist (or steeped in the brewing water in extract brewing), to impart special colors and/or flavors. Crystal/caramel, toasted, and roasted malts are specialty grains.

sodium chloride
Common table salt, chemical formula NaCl. Sometimes used as a water additive, when brewing certain styles of beer.

sparge
In all-grain brewing, the part of the process where the converted sugars are rinsed from the grain mash.

soda kegs
Stainless steel kegs, typically 5 gallons in capacity, originally designed for use in the soft drink industry. Often referred to as corny kegs. Soda kegs are a popular method for packaging homebrew.

six row malt
Malt which has been made from six row barley. Six row barley has smaller kernels, and (frequently) a higher enzyme, protein, and husk content than two row barley. Six row malt may be desirable when brewing beers which contain large quantities of unmalted adjuncts -- the high enzyme content aids conversion of the adjuncts; the adjuncts dilute the protein level; and the higher husk content helps prevent a stuck sparge (adjuncts are frequently sticky).

small beer
A low gravity beer brewed from the second runnings of a mash, after the first runnings have been used to brew a stronger beer.

silica gel
A hard, glassy substance made from specially processed silica (sand), which contains microscopic pores. Sometimes used as a beer clarification agent; can also be used as a dessicant (moisture absorber), due to its extreme attraction for water.

single-stage fermentation
The practice of carrying out the entire fermentation in a single vessel. For beers which will be ready to bottle or keg within a couple of weeks (i.e. average gravity ales), a single-stage fermentation is all that is required. See also two-stage fermentation.

set mash
See stuck sparge.

SG
See specific gravity.

session beer
A moderate strength beer, which can be consumed in fairly large quantities (due to its low alcohol content), without totally wiping out the drinker. Guinness Stout (draft) is a terrific example of a session beer.

secondary fermenter
The vessel to which the beer is transferred after most of the fermentation activity has subsided.

secondary fermentation
The second part of a two-stage fermentation, where the beer has been racked off of the sediment in the primary fermenter, to a clean vessel (the secondary fermenter). Use of a secondary fermenter allows the beer to be bulk aged without risk of picking up off flavors from the yeast and trub; it also typically results in less bottle sediment.

second runnings
The lighter, more dilute runnings which come out of the lauter tun after the addition of sparge water. In a parti-gyle scheme, the first runnings are used to brew a very strong beer (e.g. a Barleywine), while the second runnings are used for a lower gravity beer (i.e. a small beer).

Scottish Ale
Malty ale, with low hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma. May have some peat smoke character.

sanitizing solution
A dilute solution containing a small amount of a chemical sanitizing agent, mixed with water. Typically used for soaking equipment, or applied to equipment by wiping or spraying.

Schwarzbier
A very dark (almost black), somewhat roasty, malty lager beer. Sort of like the lager equivalent of a Dry Stout.

Scotch Ale
A strong, malty Scottish Ale. Typically has a caramel character, and usually has low hop bitterness, and little or no hop flavor or aroma. May have a peat smoked character.

saccharification rest
In grain mashing, a temperature rest which allows amylase enzymes in the malt to convert starches into sugars. The saccharification rest is typically in the 149-160

Saccharomyces cerevisiae
See ale yeast.

Saison
A type of Belgian Ale, pale in color, with a high carbonation level and an abundance of fruity esters. May be spiced.

sanitize
To render most (but not necessarily all) microorganisms inactive. May be accomplished through chemical sanitizing agents (e.g. bleach, Iodophor, alcohol), or heat (e.g. pasteurization, boiling). See also sterilize.

Russian Imperial Stout
A very strong, dark (nearly black), intensely roasty and malty ale. So named because it supposedly was originally brewed (in England) for export to Russia.

roller mill
A grain mill in which the kernels are crushed, by passing them between rotating rollers. A roller mill is the preferred method for crushing malt for brewing, because it breaks the kernels open, without shredding the husks. (Intact husks are required for a trouble-free sparge.)

RO
See reverse osmosis.

roasted barley
Unmalted barley which has been roasted until it is burnt. Roasted barley is the ingredient which gives many Stouts their dark color, and sharp, roasted flavor.

roasted malt
Malt which has been roasted at high temperatures, to impart a dark color and roasted flavor. Chocolate malt and Black Patent malt are the two most common types of roasted malt.

RIMS
See Recirculating Infusion Mash System.

rice
Cereal grain, used as an adjunct in some American Light Lager beers. Provides fermentable sugars, while lightening the color and body of the beer.

rice hulls
The fibrous outer casing of the rice kernel, normally removed in processing. Rice hulls are frequently added to mashes containing a high percentage of wheat or unmalted adjuncts, to help form the filter bed during sparging; this can help prevent a stuck sparge.

rice syrup
A sugar syrup produced from rice. May be used by extract brewers, to achieve an effect similar to that of using rice as an adjuct in a grain mash.

Reinheitsgebot
German beer purity law, which was originally enacted in the year 1516. The Reinheitsgebot states that beer may only contain water, malt, hops, and yeast.

rest
See temperature rest.

reverse osmosis
A means of water purification, in which a special membrane is used. The microscopic pores in the membrane allow water molecules to pass through, but remove impurities. Reverse osmosis water from a properly functioning reverse osmosis unit is nearly as pure as distilled water.

Recirculating Infusion Mash System
Commonly abbreviated as RIMS. A mashing system in which a pump is used to continuously recirculate the liquid part of the mash through the mash bed. Mash temperature is maintained by passing the liquid over a heating element; the heating element is cycled off and on to maintain the desired mash temperature.

regulator
A device which is used to reduce the pressure of CO2 coming from a tank (typically around 800 PSI), to the pressure required to carbonate or dispense beer (typically 5 to 30 PSI).

raw sugar
See turbinado sugar.

real ale
Ale which is dispensed in the manner of classic English pub ale, from an unpressurized cask. The beer is served either via a gravity feed, or via a beer engine, which draws the beer from the cask.

real attenuation
The actual percentage of the sugars originally present in the wort, which have been fermented by the yeast. Real attenuation is lower than apparent attenuation (which is what your hydrometer measures), because alcohol is lighter than water.

racking
The act of transfering wort or beer from one vessel to another, usually via a siphon.

racking cane
A device which makes it easier to rack, without picking up trub and/or yeast from the bottom of the vessel being transferred from. Consists of a length of rigid plastic or metal tubing, with a stand-off device at the end, which keeps the intake above the sediment layer.

rauch malt
Malt which has been smoked, usually over a beechwood fire.

Rauchbier
A smoke flavored beer, brewed using rauch malt.

proteolytic enzymes
Enzymes in malt, which break proteins down into simpler proteins and amino acids.

PSI
Pounds per Square Inch. A measure of gas pressure.

quick-disconnect
The mechanism which allows keg fittings to be connected and disconnected quickly and easily. Consists of a keg fitting on the keg itself, and a mating connector on the gas or beer line to be connected to the keg. When the quick-disconnect is not connected, spring-loaded valves in the keg fitting and connector prevent any liquid or gas from flowing. When the quick-disconnect is connected, the mechanism causes both valves to open.

proteinase
See proteolytic enzymes.

protein
Organic compounds consisting of linked amino acids. Proteins provide body, and improve head retention.

protein rest
In all-grain brewing, a temperature rest in the 120-135F range, intended to break down proteins in the malt to simpler proteins and amino acids. With most modern (well-modified) malts, a protein rest is optional.

priming sugar
Sugar which is added at bottling (or kegging) time, to facilitate natural carbonation of the beer, as the sugar is fermented by the residual yeast. Pretty much any fermentable sugar can be used as priming sugar -- corn sugar (dextrose), cane sugar, malt extract, and honey are all commonly employed.