Popular beer terms
Ale is a top-fermenting beer in which the yeast floats up. All beers are divided into two large groups: ales and lagers.
Beer coaster — beer coasters (usually made of porous cardboard) are an object on which beer glasses are placed. Coasters protect the surface of a table or any other surface on which the user can place a glass.
Beer brands are trademarks that can be assigned to a variety type of beer. For example, Carlsberg, Tuborg and Holsten are Lager, Guinness is a Stout, and Leffe is a Belgian ale.
Beer types is a group of different types and subtypes of beer united by common properties or components. For example: wheat beer, stouts, ales, porter, fruit beer, etc.
Beer bitterness is formed in beer from hops. It is measured in international bitterness units. There is a European Bitterness Units scale with units EBU or BU. And the international system, used mainly in the U.S. — International Bittering Units scale (IBU). EBU and IBU are almost equal.
Bock bier (“Bock” for short) — is a type of German strong beer of top or bottom fermentation with a wort density over 16% and a strength of 6.3— 7.2%. There are light and dark beers of this type. Even though the etymology of Bock beer has nothing to do with a goat (and Bock in German means “goat”), the image of this animal is often placed on the label.
Boiling — after filtration, the clear wort is heated and boiled for about an hour or one and half hour. During and after boiling hops are added. The main purpose of boiling is to sterilize the finished wort before fermentation and to evaporate undesirable aromas for beer.
Breweriana — collecting various items of beer merchandise: beer cans and kegs, beer mugs and glasses, corks, labels, bottle openers, beer labels and other items related to beer…
Bright Beer Tank – a tank for storing ready for filling beer.
Diacetyl is a byproduct produced by yeast during fermentation. It has a strong aroma of muffins and butter. The presence of diacetyl in beer is a serious flavor disruption in most beers. Increasing the time the yeast stays in the beer, after the main fermentation period is over, allows the yeast to destroy the diacetyl they produce.
Fermentation is the process of breaking down sugar and processing it into alcohol. It is carried out by yeast that is added to the beer after it has been brewed, absorbing oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. In brewing, there are bottom and top fermentations.
Fermentation (cool fermentation) — fermentation of beer at a lower temperature (16°C — 12°C), the yeast in this fermentation sediment down. This yeast is called lager yeast.
High temperature fermentation is the fermentation of wort at relatively high temperatures (about 20°C), in which the yeast floats up.
Filtration is the process of final clarification of beer with the use of various filters.
Gruit (alternately grut or gruyt) is an herb mixture used for bittering and flavoring beer, popular before the extensive use of hops. The terms gruit and grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit. Historically, gruit is the term used in an area today covered by the Netherlands, Belgium, and westernmost Germany. Today, however, gruit is a colloquial term for any beer seasoned with gruit— like herbs.
Hops are the flowers, or cones, of a plant called Humulus lupulus. Hops help to keep beer fresher, longer; help beer retain its head of foam—a key component of a beer’s aroma and flavor; and, of course, add “hoppy” aroma, flavor, and bitterness.
Hops have nothing to do with the alcohol in beer. It affects the bitterness and flavor of the beer. Hops are also a natural preservative for beer.
Late hopping is the addition of aromatic hops at the end of the boil. The time of exposure to high temperature is reduced, and accordingly hop bitterness is reduced and aroma is increased.
Dry hopping is the addition of aromatic hops brands to the beer after the fermentation process is finished. It is a method that allows to significantly increase the aroma of the beer, with a slight increase in bitterness.
Kegs are metal barrels for beer. They are used to supply draught beer to pubs. Kegs are usually 20 and 30 liters, sometimes 50 liters.
Kieselguhr is diatomite, which consists of the fossilized remains of diatom algae belonging to the type of solid algae. It is cleaned of organic impurities and sand and calcined at 700— 900 ° C. It is widely used in filtration of finished beer.
Lager is a bottom-fermented beer in which the yeast sediment down at the end of fermentation. All beers are basically divided into two large groups: ales and lagers.
Lautering – separating the wort, or mash, from the residual grain.
Malt is the germinated grains of barley or other grains that have been dried and cleaned of sprouts. Malt is one of the main ingredients that influence the taste of beer.
Mashing is the process of breaking down starch chains to sugar, which, in turn, is processed by the yeast into alcohol. From mashing diagram (temperatures and temperature pauses) mainly depends on the flavor profile of the beer.
Non— alcoholic beer — beer with an ethyl alcohol content of not more than 0.5%. Basically, it does not differ in taste from alcohol. It is produced by removing alcohol using special membranes, or by stopping fermentation at the very beginning, cooling and removing yeast.
Original extract is the amount of dry material dissolved in the freshly brewed wort. It is measured in %Plato. Later, during fermentation, these substances are fermented into alcohol and carbon dioxide. On some beer labels the initial density is indicated in addition to the alcohol content and is mistaken for the strength of the beer.
Pasteurization is the heating of beer to a certain temperature for a certain period of time. There are two types of pasteurization: tunnel and flow pasteurization. Tunnel pasteurization is usually used for bottled and canned beer. The poured beer is placed in a heating tunnel and heated for a certain time, then quickly cooled down. In flow pasteurization, the beer is heated to a higher temperature for a shorter time in a stream before it is bottled. This method is used when filling kegs. Pasteurization is used to increase the shelf life of the beer.
Sparging – after the first part of wort has been transferred to the tank before start boiling, the beer cake are washed with hot water at 78° C to wash out the residual sugar.
Spent grains is a mixture of hulls and parts of boiled grain left after wort filtration. It contains particles of kernels and grain casings. Beer pellets are a waste product of the brewing industry and are usually used to animal’s feed.
Stout is a type of beer that belongs to the group of top-fermented beers. Classic stout is characterized by its black color and dry taste. The most popular stout in the world today is the Irish beer Guinness.
Wort is an aqueous sugar solution obtained after mashing and filtering a mixture of malt and water.
Yeast is a single— celled microorganism used in beer to convert sugar to alcohol. Each brand of beer uses a different yeast and gives the beer its own distinctive flavor. Yeast is divided into top fermenting yeast (which floats up at the end of fermentation) and bottom fermenting yeast (which sediments down, respectively). Emil Christian Hansen first developed cultured beer yeast with specific characteristics in Carlsberg’s laboratory in 1878.