Abbey beer A Trappist-style ale made by a secular brewery. Also known as bière d’abbaye.
Adjuncts Fermentable substances that are substituted for the cereal grains (chiefly barley) that constitute beer. Adjuncts, such as rice and corn, are used for several reasons. First, they’re cheaper than barley. Second, they can lighten a beer’s body. That’s why Coors Light is the color of watered-down urine. That said, adjunct may seem like an evil word, but deployed judiciously, adjuncts can create delicious beer.
Alcohol This mood-brightening by-product of fermentation is produced when yeasts devour sugars in the wort. Alcohol is measured in two categories: alcohol by volume (ABV) and alcohol by weight (ABW). In craft brewing, ABV is the standard measurement, but here’s a quick tip on how to convert ABW to ABV: multiply by 1.25. Alcohol is about 80 percent the weight of water, making a 6 percent ABV beer about 4.8 percent ABW.
Ale One of two big families of beer, the other being lager. Like my great-aunt in Florida, ale yeasts favor warmer temperatures, hanging out at the top of a fermentation tank. An ale’s flavors and aromas are typically a touch estery—that is, fruity—and thus ales can be sweeter and fuller-bodied than lagers. Ales encompass an enormous grab bag of styles, from stouts to IPAs to Belgian strong ales.
Alternating proprietorship An arrangement by which brewers and winemakers can make their preferred potions at wineries and breweries they don’t own. It’s a relationship favored by nomadic brewers such as Mikkeller or Evil Twin.
Aroma hops Hops that are used later in the boil for their bouquet, not their bitterness.
Astringent Refers to a drying, puckering taste. Can be a negative or a positive, depending on your taste buds.
Barley The predominant cereal grain used to make beer. After water, it’s the biggest ingredient in brewing.
Barley wine A burly, warming, and often sweet beer that originated in Britain. American versions, especially those hailing from the West Coast, tend to be hoppier than their British counterparts. A variation on the style is the wheat wine, which, though similarly strong, tends to be smoother with less residual sweetness.
Barrel The standard term of measurement for brewing. A barrel equals 31 gallons. A half barrel, which is the standard keg you toted to parties in college, holds 15.5 gallons.
Beer engine A manually operated pump used to dispense cask ale.
Berliner weisse This ghostly pale, low-alcohol German wheat beer gets its sour, acidic tang from warm-fermenting yeasts and Lactobacillus bacteria. Drink it straight or add a shot of sweet syrup (mit Schuss) and slurp it through a straw.
Bière de Champagne A riotously effervescent beer that mimics Champagne’s appearance, cork-and-cage packaging, and, typically, painstaking production technique. The style also is known as bière brut. I like to pop these bottles on New Year’s Eve.
Bière de garde Translated as “beer for keeping,” this strong, rustic farmhouse ale originated in northern France’s Nord-Pas de Calais region. Traditionally, bières de garde were brewed in early spring and kept in chilly cellars for sipping during the warmer summer months.
Bitter A loose category of easy-drinking, moderately hopped British pale ales that are the standard-bearers in every pub. They climb the alcohol ladder from “ordinary” to “best” and “premium,” which is also known as an “extra special bitter,” or ESB.
Bittering hops Used early in the boil to add bitterness, not aroma.
Bock A strong German lager with a hearty malt character and dark hue. Look for a beer with a goat on the label. See Eisbock.
Boil This is the stage in beer making in which the wort is boiled to kill bacteria and yeast as well as to cause proteins to coagulate. Hops are added during this stage.
Bottle-conditioned Beer that’s naturally carbonated by live yeast lurking inside the bottle.
Brewers Association Based in Boulder, Colorado, this trade organization is the country’s preeminent craft-beer advocate. It curates Denver’s annual Great American Beer Festival.
Brew kettle The vessel in which wort is boiled with hops.
California Common A rootin’-tootin’, all-American lager fermented with a special lager yeast that functions better at toastier temperatures. The amber-hued brews are characterized by a bit of malt, fruit, and bitterness. The iconic example is Anchor Steam, which has copyrighted its moniker.
Cascadian dark ale The name that brewers in the Pacific Northwest want to confer on dark, hoppy ales. Myself, I prefer black IPA, and the Brewers Association recommends American-style black ale. Whatever floats your boat.
Cask A wooden, metal, or plastic vessel used to mature, ferment, or flavor beer.
Cask ale Also called real ale, cask ale is unfiltered, naturally carbonated beer that’s best served at 55°F, which plays up its subtler flavors and aromas.
Cask-conditioned Beer that’s fermented in a cask by a second dose of yeast.
Cicerone A beer sommelier who passes the Cicerone Certification Program.
Craft brewer A nebulous, controversial, confusing term that according to the Brewers Association describes a brewery that’s small and independent and produces annually less than 6 million barrels of traditional beer. To me, craft brewers are any breweries that make flavorful, unique beer that you’ll never see advertised during the Super Bowl. Since many microbreweries are no longer micro, craft brewery is the preferred descriptor.
Cream ale Don’t have a cow: there’s zero dairy in this indigenous American ale that, although it’s fermented warm, is conditioned at lager temperatures.
Doppelbock A maltier, more potent bock. It’s so rich, it’s almost like drinking your dinner.
Dry hopping Hops that are added to beer that has finished fermenting or is conditioning. This step is what creates those intense, fragrant aromatic brews that make hops lovers swoon.
Dubbel This Trappist-style Belgian ale is a tour de force of rich malt and caramel flavors, with dark fruit and a whisper of bitterness to boot.
Dunkleweizen A dark wheat beer that, like a hefeweizen, boasts plenty of banana and clove notes.
Eisbock A strong, concentrated lager that’s created by freezing a beer and removing water. Though eisbocks can verge on syrupy, they’ll warm you like a wool coat. America’s killjoy government declares that the production process is a form of distillation, with the end product deemed hard liquor.
Extreme beers Extra flavor, extra alcohol, extra everything. These are beefy he-man beers that’ll knock you for a loop. Extreme beers include double IPA, triple IPA, and Russian imperial stout—in fact, anything with the word imperial on it.
Fermentation The metabolic process during which yeasts devour the sugars in the wort like Pac-Man, creating alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Filtration The removal of all the floating proteins and yeasts, creating a clearer, more stable—and sometimes less flavorful—beer.
Firkin A wood, plastic, or, more commonly, metal keg that holds 10.8 gallons. You can also call it a cask.
Flanders This region of Belgium lends its name to several styles of beer: the dark, sour oud bruin and the similarly tart Flanders red, of which Rodenbach is a textbook example.
Fresh hop ale A delicate, ephemeral fall specialty that’s made with just-harvested hops. It typically appears in September and October.
Gluten It’s the protein present in many grains, including barley. Sufferers of celiac disease can’t drink beers that contain gluten—sadly, most of ’em. See Sorghum.
Gose A specialty of Leipzig, Germany, this cloudy yellow wheat beer is dry and refreshing, with some coriander spicing and salt, which adds a sharp complexity. A dose of lactic acid or Lactobacillus bacteria gives gose a tart profile.
Great American Beer Festival Since 1982, this has been the Super Bowl of American brewing. Annually, nearly 600 brewers show up in hopes of garnering a bronze, silver, or gold medal in one of more than 80 categories. Winning could alter a brewery’s fortunes forever. Attending the festival leaves you (well, me) drunk for days.
Grodziskie A rustic European beer made with 100 percent smoked wheat malt and hops aplenty. In Germany, the rustic ale is known as grätzer.
Gruit A medieval beer that was flavored with a mixture of herbs. Gruit predates the use of hops in brewing.
Gueuze This traditional Belgian beer is made by blending one-, two-, and three-year-old lambics, then letting the mixture age and continue fermenting in the bottle. The result is a dry, fruity elixir with a lip-scrunching sourness.
Hefeweizen A beer style from southern Germany made with 50 percent wheat or more. They’re tangy, refreshing beers with notes of bananas and cloves thanks to the yeast strain. Some folks like to squeeze in lemons. As far as I’m concerned, it’s as unnecessary as nipples on men. Bonus trivia: hefe means “with yeast.”
Hopback A sealed, hops-stuffed vessel through which the wort circulates, snatching up heady aromas and flavors.
Hops The creeping bine (a bine climbs by wrapping its stem around a support, compared with a vine, which climbs with tendrils or suckers) Humulus lupulus, whose female flowers (called cones) flavor beers and provide bitterness. Each variety has its own unique flavor profile. Hop resins possess two primary acids: alpha and beta. Beta acids contribute to a beer’s bouquet. Alpha acids serve as a preservative and contribute bitterness when hops are added early in the boil, flavor later in the boil, and aroma in the last minutes of a boil. Oh, you might ask: Why do some hops smell like marijuana? The plants are related.
Imperial See Extreme beers.
India pale ale (IPA) A superbitter style of beer that has become craft brewing’s missionary beer, converting drinkers around the globe. An imperial, double IPA, or triple IPA increases the hops and malt, creating a bitterer, boozier beer.
International bitterness unit (IBU) A scientific scale that measures bitterness in beer. A low IBU (Budweiser is around 11) means the beer isn’t hoppy; when an IBU tops triple digits, you’re in for a mouth-scrunching ride.
Kölsch This pale, elegant German ale receives its fruity, biscuity flavors from a warmer fermentation before it is lagered at cooler temperatures to smooth out the sweet malts.
Lager The second main style of beer. Like penguins, bottom-fermenting lager yeasts prefer cooler temperatures. They also take longer to ferment, hence the name; lagern means “to rest” in German. Lagers are typically crisp, delicate, and as refreshing as a dip in a lake in August.
Lambic Made with wheat, this traditional Belgian beer is spontaneously fermented with wild yeasts, resulting in a sour, tart, barnyard-leaning profile. Lambics can be broken down into three general classes: those made with fruit such as cherries (kriek), raspberries (framboise), or black currants (cassis); gueuze, which is a blend of young and old lambics; and faro, a lambic sweetened with candi sugar or brown sugar.
Macrobreweries MillerCoors, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and the other behemoths that rule global brewing with a watery fist. Contrary to common belief, macrobreweries do not make bad beer. Their brewing protocols are among the industry’s most rigid. Rather, the problem is that they make lowest-common-denominator beer.
Maibock A lighter-hued, somewhat hoppier bock lager.
Malt To create malt, cereal grains are bathed in water. This jump-starts germination, allowing the grain to create the enzymes required to convert starches and proteins into fermentable sugars. The process is arrested when maltsters—the people who make malt—heat and dry the grain. Like coffee, grain can be roasted to create different flavors.
Märzen Since hot weather can muck up fermentation, this robust, full-bodied lager is brewed in early spring—März is the German word for “March”—then lagered into the fall, when it is traditionally served during Oktoberfest. Any beer sold as an Oktoberfest beer is a märzen.
Mash The initial step in brewing. Crushed grain is steeped in a big ol’ pot of boiling water, transforming starches into sugars.
Mash tun The vessel in which brewers boil their mash.
Mouthfeel How the beer feels when you drink it—a combination of body, texture, carbonation, and flavor. Mouthfeel is as subjective as a Yelp review.
Nanobrewery A pint-size brewery that in my book brews on a three-barrel system or smaller. Care to convince me otherwise? I’m all ears: josh.bernstein@gmail.com.
Nitrogen tap A draft-beer system that sends nitrogen coursing through beers such as stouts, augmenting the creamy mouthfeel. The process is known as nitrogenation, which also can be applied to bottled beers such as Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro.
Noble hops European hop varieties that are aromatic and less bitter. That’s not necessarily a negative. These hops, including Hallertauer, Tettnanger, Spalt, and Saaz, impart a spicy, herbal, zesty character. Commonly found in pilsners and European lagers.
Oxidation When beer is exposed to oxygen, it undergoes a series of chemical reactions that create stale flavors sometimes described as “sherry” or “cardboard.”
Pasteurization Murdering yeast through a serious application of heat. Unpasteurized beers retain their yeast, which means the beer will continue to evolve over time.
Pilsner In the 1840s, this beer style was born in the Czech Republic town of Plzen, aka Pilsen. The straw-gold brew is see-through and packs plenty of spicy floral notes and zingy bitterness—the trademark of the noble hops used to brew it.
Pitch Adding yeast to the cooled-down wort.
Porter This style originated in Britain as a strong, dark brew made from a blend of sour or stale mild and new ales. Though that style fell out of practice, porters still endure. They include the potent, dark-brown Baltic (originally shipped across the North Sea) and innovative American riffs that can incorporate smoked malts, vanilla, or a mountain of hops.
Priming Dosing a fermented beer with priming sugar after it has been bottled or kegged, spurring increased carbonation and flavor creation.
Quadrupel A decadent Trappist-style ale with an ABV residing in the double digits and decadent flavors of dark fruit. The Netherlands’ Koningshoeven monastery created the first quadrupel in 1991 with its La Trappe Quadrupel. Also called quad or Alt.
Rauchbier This German beer is made with malts that have been smoked over a roaring beech wood fire, imbuing the malt with smokiness. (Rauch is German for “smoke.”) It’s a bit like drinking a liquefied ham or hunk of Texas BBQ.
Reinheitsgebot The German Purity Law dates back to 1516, when William IV, Duke of Bavaria, decreed that beer could be made only from hops, water, and grain; the law predated the discovery of yeast, which has since been added to the list. In 1993, the Reinheitsgebot was replaced by the Vorläufiges Deutsches Biergesetz, or Provisional German Beer Law, which lets brewers use yeast (how generous!), different grains, and, for top-fermenting beers, additional sugars.
Roggenbier Though closely related to hefeweizen (they use the same clove- and banana-like flavor-inducing yeast strain), roggenbier trades wheat for rye. (Roggen is German for “rye.”) They’re crisp and drying, with a bit of a spicy jolt.
Rye When used in brews, this grain can impart spiciness and a crisp character and help dry out a beer.
Saison Originally brewed to slake the summertime thirst of Belgian farmhands, earthy, spicy saisons inhabit a wide stylistic range. Some are fruity, and others are desert-dry, peppery, and aromatic. Also called a farmhouse ale.
Schwarzbier A dark, roasty lager that despite its dark tint remains megadrinkable.
Scotch ale A style of beer born in, you guessed it, Scotland. Expect flavors of caramel, toffee, and perhaps a teensy bit of smoke and a substantial ABV. Also known as wee heavy. The related Scottish ales are lighter and less sweet.
Session beer Beer low in alcohol, not in flavor. Best for sipping during a long-haul drinking session.
Skunked When UV light strikes beer, it causes isohumulones—chemicals released when hops are boiled—to break down, creating chemical compounds identical to those found in skunk spray. Never buy bottled beer that’s been sunning in a store’s window.
Sorghum An African grass with a high sugar content that, when turned into a syrup, is used to craft gluten-free beer. Sorghum is the salvation of beer-loving folks with celiac disease.
Sour beer See Wild ale.
Sparging Removing the grains from the mash, leaving behind hot, watery wort.
Spontaneous fermentation The technique of allowing wild, indigenous yeast to inoculate wort naturally. It’s the signature process of brewing Belgian lambics. See Wild ale.
Steam beer See California Common.
Stout This dark ale originally was developed in Ireland and Britain and can be creamy, bitter, or coffee-like. Styles include the strong, full-bodied imperial; the sweet milk stout (made with lactose); the burly, roasty Russian imperial, which originally was brewed for that country’s czars; the silky oatmeal stout; and the drinkable Irish dry stout, which includes Guinness.
Terroir The unique characteristics that soil, climate, and people give agricultural products. Though it once was a term reserved for wine and coffee, beer is making a grab for it.
Tripel This Trappist-style Belgian ale is a heavy hitter, often boasting a double-digit ABV. The pale golden ale boasts a creamy head, complex flavors of fruit and spice, and a sticky-sweet finish.
Wee heavy See Scotch ale.
Weizenbock A potent wheat beer. Dunkelweizen’s big brother is often fruity, sometimes spicy, and always complex.
Wet-hopping Using fresh, sticky, undried hops. See Fresh hop ale.
Wild ale A catchall category of funky-tasting offbeat beers dosed with wild yeast such as Brettanomyces and perhaps a souring bacteria such as Lactobacillus or Pediococcus.
Witbier An unfiltered Belgian wheat beer (also known as bière blanche) that’s amply spiced with orange peel, coriander, and whatever herbs catch the brewer’s fancy. They’re crisp and lively and aces on an 80-degree afternoon. Drink it with a lemon slice if you must, but doing so is a little like coating filet mignon in ketchup.
Wort The hot soup that’s extracted from the mash. It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet for the yeasts that create beer.
Yeast The microscopic critters that craft your favorite beverage and make 5 p.m. the best hour of the day. Grains and hops notwithstanding, yeast drives about 90 percent of a beer’s flavor profile. Each strain provides a different flavor profile, and breweries often develop their own idiosyncratic yeast strains.