Friday, March 7, 2014

Beer Brewing Terms

Brewing Terms:

These terms are universal in the world of home beer brewing. Many of them are German, the capitol of beer making, and appropriate pronunciations are given. Let's get statred:

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

Alpha Acid Units (AAU): A homebrewing measurement of Hops. Equal to the weight in ounces multiplied by the percent of Alpha Acids.

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

Beer: Any beverage made by fermenting malted barley and seasoning with Hops.

Cold Break: Proteins that coagulate and fall out of solution when the wort (see below) 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. The act if Conditioning continues in the bottle.

Fermentation: The total conversion of malt sugar to beer, defined here as two parts, Primary and Secondary.

Hops: Hop is a plant, whoise vines are grown in cool climates, and brewers make use of their cone-like flowers. The dried cones are available in Pellets, Plugs, or whole.

Hot Break:  This is Proteins that coagulate (thicken) and fall out of the solution during the wort boil.

Gravity: Like density, gravity describes the concentration of malt sugar in the wort. The specific gravity of water is classes as 1.000 at 59 Degrees  Farenheight. Typical beer worts range from 1.035 to1.055 before fermentation (Original Gravity).

International Bittering Units (IBU) A more precise method of measuring Hops. Equal to the AAU multiplied bydifferent  factors for percent utilization, wort volume and wort gravity.

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

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

Pitching: Term for adding the yeast to the fermenter.

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

Priming: This is the method of adding a small amount of fermentable sugar prior to bottling, to give the beer its carbonation.

Racking: The careful siphoning of the beer away from the Trub. (see below)

Secondary Fermentation: A period of settling and conditioning of the beer after Primary Fermentation and before bottling.

Trub (trub or troob) The sediment at the bottom of the fermenter consisting of Hot and Cold Break material and dead yeast.

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

Now every brewer will have their own terms for things, but with this list you'll be able
to hold your own in conversations with other brewers, and you suppliers.

Up next: Required Equipment