Beer Glossary

Any dedicated beer drinking FED should know what he or she is talking about before engaging in bar dialogue about the various properties of the local brew or you run the risk of having someone making you appear to be dysfunctional! With this in mind, we have provided a fairly comprehensive listing of beer terms below. The definitions have been derived from a variety of sources and are common terminology to beer aficionados worldwide. In the few cases where we refer to specific products, we are assuming that anyone using this publication already knows that Budweiser, Pabst, Miller and Heineken (or any others mentioned) are most likely registered trademarks of their respective owners…

Abbey Ales (Dubbel, Tripel, Singel).

Monastic or abbey ales are an ancient tradition in Belgium. "Abbey Ales" have great variance in character, but are strong in alcoholic content (6-10+ %)  Typically labeled Dubbel or Tripel, these conventions have many deviations. Dubbel is less alcoholic and often darker beer, while Tripel is often blond in color with a syrupy, alcoholic quality meant for sipping, not chugging! Singel is the lowest gravity version.

Acetaldehyde – A mild green-apple aroma produced in fermentation

Acrospire - The beginnings of the plant shoot in germinating barley.

Adjuncts – Barley substitutes used to lower brewing cost.  Produces lighter bodied beers.  Any non-enzymatic fermentable. Typically rice or corn, unmalted cereals,  grits, syrups, and sugars.

Aerate - To mix air into solution to provide oxygen for the yeast.

Aerobic - A process that utilizes oxygen.

Alcohol By Volume (ABV) – Volume of alcohol in total volume of beer as a percentage. Higher number = stronger beer.

Aldehyde - A chemical precursor to alcohol. In some cases, alcohol can be oxidized to aldehydes, creating off-flavors.

Ale - A beer brewed from a top-fermenting yeast with a relatively short, warm fermentation.

Aleurone Layer - The living sheath surrounding the endosperm of a barley corn, containing enzymes.

Alkalinity - The condition of pH between 7-14. The chief cause of alkalinity in brewing water is the bicarbonate ion (HCO₃^-1).

Alpha Acid Units (AAU) - A homebrewing measurement of hops. Equal to the weight in ounces multiplied by the percent of alpha acids.

Alt – Usually smooth as a classic lager with the taste of ale. Altbier is generally linked to Dusseldorf, Munster, and Hanover. Light to medium-bodied, less fruity, less yeasty, with lower acidity than a traditional ale. The name literally means “old beer” but comes from keeping ancient brewing processes, not product.

Amber – That reddish color usually found in ales and sometimes in lagers.

American Standard Lager – Most common beer style in USA. (Think Budweiser, Pabst, etc.) Light on hops and in body, high carbonation, pale to deep golden lager.

Amino Acids - An essential building block of protein, being comprised of an organic acid containing an amine group (NH2).

Amylase - An enzyme group that converts starches to sugars, consisting primarily of alpha and beta amylase. Also referred to as the diastatic enzymes.

Amylopectin - A branched starch chain found in the endosperm of barley. It can be considered to be composed of amylose.

Amylose - A straight-chain starch molecule found in the endosperm of barley.

Anaerobic - A process that does not utilize oxygen or may require the absence of it.

Attenuation - The degree of conversion of sugar to alcohol and CO2.

Autolysis - When yeast run out of nutrients and die, they release their innards into the beer, producing off-flavors.

Balling, Brix, or Plato – Different names for the standard the professional brewing industry uses to describe the amount of available extract as weight percentage of cane sugar in solution, as opposed to specific gravity. Eg. 10 Plato is equivalent to a specific gravity of 1.040.

Barley – The backbone of beer. A cereal grain. When sprouted-dried-roasted it turns into barley malt, the source of sugars for yeast to turn into alcohol. A darker roast makes a darker, usually deeper beer color and taste.

Barley wine – A very strong ale near the strength of wine.

Barrel – Standard measurement of beer shipments in USA. 1 barrel = 31.5 US Gallons.

Beer - Any beverage made by fermenting a wort made from malted barley and seasoned with hops.

Beerstone - A hard organo-metallic scale that deposits on fermentation equipment; chiefly composed of calcium oxalate.

Beer Yeast – Microscopic fungi (genus Saccharomyces) that makes beer be beer. When added to wort, it causes fermentation by converting sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Belgian Style Golden Ale - Pale to golden color and a light body for the kick (9% ABV). The benchmark is Duvel (Devil) from Belgium. Heavily hopped a floral aroma and a tangy, fruity taste. Three fermentations are generally used in the process, the last in the bottle, producing a champagne-like carbonation and a rocky head when poured. Best served chilled!

Belgian Style Strong Ale – Self explanatory alcohol content packs a considerable punch and should be approached with respect. A viscous, fruity Belgian yeast character and a degree of sweetness.

Belgian Style Red Ale – Also known as soured beer, their defining character is derived from being aged for years in well-used large wooden tuns, to promote bacterial action in the beer which gives it the sharp, sour appeal. Whole cherries are sometimes added to young beer to produce a cherry flavored Belgian Red Ale. Rodenbach is the main producer in northern Belgium. Distinctive and refreshing!

Belgian Style Amber Ale - Not a classic style but descriptive of various beers with a similar Belgian theme. Amber color, fruity and moderately strong ales (6%ABV) with a yeasty bite. Common examples are the Flemish beers DeKoninck and Straffe Hendrik.

Belgian Style Blonde Ale -A commercially minded Belgian ale, lighter in color and moderate in body and ABV. Fruity Belgian yeast taste with mild hops.

Biere de Garde – Earthy tasting type of French country ale. Usually brewed in spring and drunk in summer.

Bitter – A broad term designating a style of well-hopped ale.

Biotin - A colorless crystalline vitamin of the B complex, found especially in yeast, liver, and egg yolk.

Blow-off – An airlock arrangement consisting of a tube exiting from the fermenter, submerging into a bucket of water, that allows release of carbon dioxide and removal of excess fermentation material. (A vent).

Bock – A strong, usually dark lager in the German tradition.

Bottle (Cask) Conditioned Beer – Beer, usually ale, with yeast added after bottling to increase alcohol-carbonization level.

Brewpub – Combination Bar/Restaurant/Hangout where beer is brewed on premises. Usually less than 1,000 barrels per year. (First US brewpub opened in Yakima, WA in 1982)

British Mild – Originally the British working man’s session beer.  Now not so common. Malty, lightly hopped and low alcohol content.

Brown Ale – A malty, nutty style ale. Usually linked to New Castle, England, it is really a regional production throughout southern England.

Buffer - A chemical that stabilizes PH.

Cellulose - Similar to starch, works in a mirror aspect; cellulose cannot be broken down by starch enzymes, and vice versa.

Classic Belgian Ale Styles – Strong ABV, packaged in odd bottles with cork and wire cage closure, frequently consumed with considerable ceremony. (See Belgian Ales above).

Clone Purify – Isolation of a single cell pure beer yeast strain which is then cultured to produce enough for brewing.

Cold Break - Proteins that coagulate and fall out of solution when the wort is rapidly cooled prior to pitching the yeast.

Conditioning - An aspect of secondary fermentation in which the yeast refine the flavors of the final beer. Conditioning continues in the bottle.

Congeners – A wide array of organic alcohols, sulfur and compounds produced during fermentation (related to esters). Each produces distinctive characteristics from aromas to flavors. Green Apple, banana, vanilla and barnyard… to name a few.

Craft Beer/Craft Brewing – Associated with the loose alliance of brewpubs, micro-breweries and small regional brewers dedicated to repopulating the “beer-scape” with thousands of new beer choices.

Decoction - A method of mashing wherein temperature rests are achieved by boiling a part of the mash and returning it to the mash tun.

Dextrin - A complex sugar molecule, left over from diastatic enzyme action on starch.

Dextrose - Equivalent to Glucose, but with a mirror-image molecular structure.

Diacetyl – A congener responsible for that common butterscotch or butter flavor in beers.

Diastatic Power - The amount of diastatic enzyme potential contained in malt.

Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS) - A background flavor compound. Desirable in low amounts in lagers. Too much tastes like cooked vegetables. (Skunk Beer?)

Dark/Dunkelweizen - Dark wheat beers get their character from darker malts in the non-wheat ingredients, producing a richer, darker colored beer, along with fuller malt flavors. Dunkel weizens maintain the floral, estery qualities of pale weizens. They are produced with or without secondary fermentation and can be clear or cloudy  depending upon the preference of the brewer.

Enzymes - Protein-based catalysts that effect specific biochemical reactions.

Endosperm - The nutritive tissue of a seed. E.g. carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids.

Esters - Aromatic compounds formed from alcohols by yeast action. Typically fruity, spicy or earthy in nature.

Ethanol - Type of alcohol in beer formed by yeast from malt sugars. (Grain Alcohol)

Extraction - The soluble material derived from barley malt and adjuncts. Not necessarily fermentable.

Extreme Beer Movement – Craft brewers dedicated to expanding the boundaries of brewing through replication of ancient or historical brewing processes, production of ultra-strong or ultra-aged beer, esoteric flavors and the development of unique beer drinking experiences.

Fatty Acid - Any of numerous saturated or unsaturated aliphatic monocarboxylic acids, including many that occur in the form of esters or glycerides, in fats, waxes, and essential oils.

Fermentation - The total conversion of malt sugars to beer, defined here as three parts, adaptation, primary, and secondary.

Finings - Ingredients such as isinglass, bentonite, Irish moss, etc, that act to help yeast to flocculate and settle out of finished beer.

Flemish Style Brown Ale - Complex dark beers from the area near Oudenaarde in Flanders. Medium to full bodied beers with high bicarbonate in the brewing water to give a frothy texture; a complex mix of yeasts and malts; blending of aged beers; and aging in bottle before release. Frequently a hint of olives, raisins, and brown spices with a distinctive sweet and sour character.

Flocculation - To cause to group together. In yeast, it is the clumping and settling of the yeast out of solution. (Clears the beer)

Framboise – A fruited lambic in the Belgian style with raspberries added.

Fructose - Commonly known as fruit sugar, fructose differs from glucose by have a ketone group rather than an aldehydic carbonyl group attachment.

Fusel Alcohol - A group of higher molecular weight alcohols that esterify under normal conditions. When present after fermentation, fusels have sharp solvent-like flavors and are thought to be partly responsible for hangovers.

Gelatinization - The process of rendering starches soluble in water by heat, or by a combination of heat and enzyme action, is called gelatinization.

Germination - Part of the malting process where the acrospire grows and begins to erupt from the hull.

Glucose - The most basic unit of sugar. A single sugar molecule.

Glucanase - An enzyme that act on beta glucans, a type of gum found in the endosperm of unmalted barley, oatmeal, and wheat.

Gravity - Like density, gravity describes the concentration of malt sugar in the wort. The specific gravity of water is 1.000 at 59F. Typical beer worts range from 1.035 - 1.055 before fermentation. Original gravity measures the alcohol potential for a beer. Final gravity measure sugars left behind after fermentation.

Grist - The term for crushed malt before mashing.

Gueuze (gauze) – A lambic with additional fermentation in the bottle.

Gruits – Medieval era ales brewed with herbs instead of hops or the mix of herbs used to make these ales. (The benefit of Hops had not been discovered yet!)

Hardness - The hardness of water is equal to the concentration of dissolved calcium and magnesium ions. Usually expressed as ppm of (CaCO₃).

Hefe – German word for yeast.

Hefeweizen – Wheat beer in a German style with an aroma and taste of cloves. (US Hefeweizens generally lack these characteristics.) Hefe weizens are refreshing, highly carbonated beers ideal for quenching summer thirsts. They undergo secondary fermentation. Hefe on the label denotes that the bottle contains yeast sediment. Alcohol content is typically 5-5.5% ABV.  They have a medium to medium-full body. Hop flavors play a very insignificant role in the flavor profile.

Hops - Hop vines are grown in cool climates and brewers make use of the cone-like flowers. The dried cones are available in pellets, plugs, or whole.

Hopback - A vessel filled with hops to act as a filter for removing break material from the finished wort.

Hot Break - Proteins that coagulate and fall out of solution during the wort boil.

Hot Water Extract - International unit for the total soluble extract of a malt, based on specific gravity. HWE is measured as liter*degrees per kilogram, and is equivalent to points/pound/gallon (PPG) when you apply metric conversion factors for volume and weight. The combined conversion factor is 8.3454 X PPG = HWE.

Hydrolysis - The process of dissolution or decomposition of a chemical structure in water by chemical or biochemical means.

Infusion - A mashing process where heating is accomplished via additions of boiling water.

International Bittering Units (IBU) - A more precise unit for measuring hops. Equal to the AAU multiplied by factors for percent utilization, wort volume and wort gravity.

Invert Sugar - A mixture of dextrose and fructose found in fruits or produced artificially by the inversion of sucrose (e.g. hydrolyzed cane sugar).

Irish Moss - An emulsifying agent, Irish moss promotes break material formation and precipitation during the boil and upon cooling.

Isinglass - The clear swim bladders of a small fish, consisting mainly of the structural protein collagen, acts to absorb and precipitate yeast cells, via electrostatic binding.

Krausen (kroy-zen) - Used to refer to the foamy head that builds on top of the beer during fermentation. Also an advanced method of priming.

Kristallweizen - Kristal weizen is a non-hazy weizen ale. Kristall on the label of a weizen indicates it has been filtered prior to bottling to remove solids. They lack the yeasty/spicy character associated with hefeweizen beers, and have a cleaner and more delicate flavor. Floral-fruity aromas and alcohol content of 5-5.5% provide a medium to medium-full bodied character.

Lactose - A nonfermentable sugar, lactose comes from milk and has historically been added to Stout, hence Milk Stout.

Lager - A beer brewed from a bottom-fermenting yeast and given a long cool fermentation.

Lag Phase - The period of adaptation and rapid aerobic growth of yeast upon pitching to the wort. The lag time typically lasts from 2-12 hours.

Lauter - To strain or separate. Lautering acts to separate the wort from grain via filtering and sparging.

Lipid - Any of various substances that are soluble in nonpolar organic solvents, and that include fats, waxes, phosphatides, cerebrosides, and related and derived compounds. Lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates compose the principal structural components of living cells.

Liquefaction - As alpha amylase breaks up the branched amylopectin molecules in the mash, the mash becomes less viscous and more fluid; hence the term liquefaction of the mash and alpha amylase being referred to as the liquefying enzyme.

Lupulin Glands - Small bright yellow nodes at the base of each of the hop petals, which contain the resins utilized by brewers.

Maillard Reaction - A browning reaction caused by external heat wherein a sugar (glucose) and an amino acid form a complex, and this product has a role in various subsequent reactions that yield pigments and melanoidins.

Maltose - The preferred food of brewing yeast. Maltose consists of two glucose molecules joined by a 1-4 carbon bond.

Maltotriose - A sugar molecule made of three glucoses joined by 1-4 carbon bonds.

Melanoidins - Strong flavor compounds produced by browning (Maillard) reactions.

Methanol - Also known as wood alcohol, methanol is poisonous and cannot be produced in any significant quantity by the beer making process.

Mash - The hot water steeping process that promotes enzymatic breakdown of the grist into soluble, fermentable sugars.

Modification - An inclusive term for the degree of degradation and simplification of the endosperm and the carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids that comprise it.

Peptidase - A proteolytic enzyme which breaks up small proteins in the endosperm to form amino acids.

pH - A negative logarithmic scale (1-14) that measures the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution for which a value of 7 represents neutrality. A value of 1 is most acidic, a value of 14 is most alkaline.

Phenol, Polyphenol - A hydroxyl derivative of an aromatic hydrocarbon that causes medicinal flavors and is involved in staling reactions.

Pitching - Term for adding the yeast to the fermenter.

Points per Pound per Gallon (PPG) - The US homebrewers unit for total soluble extract of a malt, based on specific gravity. Describes the change in specific gravity (points) per pound of malt, when dissolved in a known volume of water (gallons). Also written as gallon degrees per pound.

ppm - The abbreviation for parts per million and equivalent to milligrams per liter (mg/l). Most commonly used to express dissolved mineral concentrations in water.

Primary Fermentation - The initial fermentation activity marked by the evolution of carbon dioxide and Krausen. Most of the total attenuation occurs during this phase.

Priming - The method of adding a small amount of fermentable sugar prior to bottling to give the beer carbonation.

Protease - A proteolytic enzyme which breaks up large proteins in the endosperm that would cause haze in the beer.

Proteolysis - The degradation of proteins by proteolytic enzymes e.g. protease and peptidase.

Racking - The careful siphoning of the beer away from the trub.

Saison - Specialty beers from the Belgian province of Hainuat. Originally brewed in early spring for summer consumption, now brewed year round with pale malts and well dosed with English and Belgian hops. Secondary fermentation in the bottle produces high carbonation. Golden orange with citrus - fruity hop taste. Production is limited to a small number of artisanal producers.

Sanitize - To reduce microbial contaminants to insignificant levels.

Saccharification - The conversion of soluble starches to sugars via enzymatic action.

Secondary Fermentation - A period of settling and conditioning of the beer after primary fermentation and before bottling.

Sparge - To sprinkle. To rinse the grainbed during lautering.

Sterilize - To eliminate all forms of life, especially microorganisms, either by chemical or physical means.

Sterols - Any of various solid steroid alcohols widely distributed in plant and animal lipids.

Sucrose - This disaccharide consists of a fructose molecule joined with a glucose molecule. It is most readily available as cane sugar.

Tannins - Astringent polyphenol compounds that can cause haze and/or join with large proteins to precipitate them from solution. Tannins are most commonly found in the grain husks and hop cone material.

Trappist Ale - According to EC law, trappist ale must come from six abbeys of the trappist order that still brew beer on premises. Top fermented, strong, bottle conditioned, complex, and fully flavored brews with wide style deviations among them. Three different varieties of increasing gravity are produced. There are only 15 different trappist beers from the six monasteries. They are: Chimay, Rochefort, Orval, Westmalle, Westvleteren, and La Trappe. Chimay and Orval are currently well distributed in major US markets. Trappist ales are among the most complex and old fashioned of beers and are oft referred to as “the holy grail” of beer drinking.

Trub (trub or troob) - The sediment at the bottom of the fermenter consisting of hot and cold break material, hop bits, and dead yeast.

Weizenbock - Essentially winter wheat beers, originally brewed in Bavaria. Color is pale gold to brown. They are of higher alcoholic strength, as high as 7% ABV, with a significantly rocky head. They combine the character of hefeweizens and dopplebocks and are rich and malty with a wheaty tang.

Wheat Ale -  Ales with a proportion of wheat in the mash to provide a protein haze. A generic category for diverse interpretation of classic German Weizen styles. Variables ranging from wheat/malt ratio, hops, filtration and non-filtration create distinctive varieties. US versions tend to be dryer with more hops than their German cousins.

White/Wit Beer - A style of flavored wheat, Belgian in origin made with a proportion of unmalted wheat in the mash and flavor added in the form of curaçao, orange peel, coriander, esters or other influences. A hazy white precipitate/ sedimentation is common. Great for slaking a summer thirst!

Wort (wart or wert) - The malt-sugar solution that is boiled prior to fermentation.

Zymurgy - The science of brewing and fermentation.