Adjunct 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 occurs 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 can be sweeter and fuller-bodied than lagers. Ales encompass an enormous grab bag of styles, from ambers to IPAs to Belgian strong ales.
Alternating proprietorship Arrangement by which brewers and winemakers may make their preferred potions at wineries and breweries they don’t own. It’s a relationship favored by nomadic brewers.
Aroma hops Hops that are used later in the boil for their bouquet, not their bitterness.
Astringent A drying, puckering taste. It can be negative or positive, depending on your taste buds.
Barley The predominant cereal grain used to make beer. Besides water, it’s the biggest ingredient in brewing.
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.
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. A nearly syrupy, wine-strength eisbock is created by freezing the beer and removing the ice, thus creating a supercharged brew.
Boil This is the stage in beer making where the wort is boiled in order 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 within 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 the 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 light bitterness.
Cascadian dark ale The name that brewers in the Pacific Northwest want to confer to dark, hoppy ales. Myself, I prefer the moniker black IPA, while the Brewers Association recommends American-Style Black Ale.
Cask A wooden, metal, or plastic vessel used to mature or ferment beer.
Cask ale Also called real ale, cask ale is unfiltered, naturally carbonated beer that’s best served at 55 degrees Fahrenheit, which plays up its subtler flavors and aromas.
Cask-conditioned Beer that’s fermented in a cask by a secondary 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 six 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.
Doppelbock A maltier, more potent bock. It’s so rich, it’s almost like drinking your dinner.
Dry-hopping The process when hops are added to beer that has fnished 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.
Extreme beers Extra flavor, extra alcohol, extra everything. These are brawny, beefy beers that’ll knock you for a loop. Extreme beers include double IPAs, triple IPAs, Russian imperial stouts—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 wooden, plastic, or, more commonly, metal keg that holds 10.8 gallons. You can also call it a cask.
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.
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. Lactobacillus bacteria or a dose of lactic acid gives gose a sour profile.
Gravity Scientifically speaking, it’s the weight of a liquid in relation to the weight of an equal amount of water. To determine a beer’s alcohol percentage, brewers measure the gravity before fermentation (original gravity) and after fermentation (final gravity). The higher the gravity, the stronger the beer.
Great American Beer Festival Since 1982, this has been the Super Bowl of American brewing. Annually, more than 400 brewers show up in hopes of garnering a bronze, silver, or gold medal in one of nearly 80 categories. Winning could alter a brewery’s fortunes forever. Attending the festival leaves you (well, me) drunk for days.
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-pursing sourness.
Hefeweizen A beer style from southern Germany made with 50 percent wheat or higher. It’s a twangy, refreshing beer 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, as compared to a vine, which climbs with tendrils or suckers) Humulus lupulus’s female flowers (called cones), which flavor beers and provide bitterness. Each variety has its own unique flavor profile (see Get Hip to Hops). 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 early in the boil, flavor later in the boil, and aroma in the last minutes of a boil. Oh, and you might ask: Why do some hops smell like marijuana? The plants are related.
India pale ale (IPA) A super-bitter style of beer that, according to lore, was created when British brewers highly hopped ales to preserve them during long ocean voyages. This may be poppycock, but it’s a fun tale to tell when bending elbows at a bar. An imperial, or double IPA, increases the hops and malt, creating a more bitter, 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 term lager; 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 or brown sugar.
Macrobrewery MillerCoors, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and the other behemoths that rule American brewing. 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 men 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.
Mash The initial step in brewing. Crushed grain is steeped in a big ol’ pot of boiling water, transforming starches to 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 movie review.
Nanobrewery A wee 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 its creamy mouthfeel.
Noble hops European hop varieties that are aromatic and less bitter. That’s not necessarily negative. These hops, including Hallertauer, Tettnanger, Spalt, and Saaz, impart a spicy, herbal, zesty character. Commonly found in pilsners and European lagers.
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 noble hops.
Pitch Adding yeast to the cooled-down wort.
Porter The 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 on increased carbonation and flavor creation.
Rauchbier This German beer is made with malts that have been smoked over a roaring beech-wood fire, imbuing the malt with a 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 from only hops, water, and grain—predating the discovery of yeast, which has since been added to the list. Unlike American brewers’ anything-in-the-kettle attitude, German brewers are somewhat handicapped when it comes to exploring styles of beer because of this law.
Roggenbier While closely related to hefeweizen (the two beer styles use the same yeast strain that creates clove- and banana-like flavors), roggenbier trades wheat for rye. (Roggen is German for rye.) They’re crisp and drying, with a bit of a spicy jolt.
Saison Originally brewed to slake the summertime thirst of Belgian farmhands, earthy, spicy saisons inhabit a wide stylistic range: Some are fruity, while others are desert-dry, peppery, and aromatic. Also called a farmhouse ale.
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 like a teenager at the beach.
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 sufferers of celiac disease.
Sour beer See Wild ale.
Sparging Removing the grains from the mash, leaving behind hot, watery wort.
Steam beer See California Common.
Stout This dark ale originally 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 was originally 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. It was once reserved for wine and coffee, but beer is making a grab for the term.
Tripel This Trappist-style Belgian ale is a burly belly warmer, oftentimes boasting a double-digit ABV. The pale golden ale boasts a big ol’ creamy head, complex flavors of fruit and spice, and a sticky-sweet finish.
Wet-hopping Using fresh, sticky, undried hops to make fresh-hopped beer. It’s fall’s fleeting delicacy.
Wild ale A catchall category of funky-tasting, offbeat sour beers dosed with wild yeasts such as Brettanomyces and bacterias like Lactobacillus (see Lactobacillus).
Witbier An unfiltered Belgian wheat beer 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 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 like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the yeasts that create beer.
Yeast The microscopic critters that ferment 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. The main yeast strains used to create beer are from the Saccharomyces genus.