There is a good amount of unique vocabulary used in both the brewing and classifying of craft beers and ciders. The following is a list of the most important craft beer related vocabulary. All of the definitions were based off of definitions from CraftBeer.com, which is a great resource if you can't find the vocabulary word you are looking for below. [3]
Appearance
Appearance
- Head: the frothy foam created at the top of a beer when Carbon Dioxide bubbles rise to the surface.
- Astringency: a taste in beer associated with dryness that is caused primarily by tannins in the beer.
- Bitterness: also caused by tannins, as well as hops, this taste often defines the flavor of a beer.
- Body: According to CraftBeer.com, "The consistency, thickness, and mouth-filling property of beer."
- Mouthfeel: Similar to Body, this is the way a beer feels in the mouth with regards to the weight on the tongue, the perceived carbonation, warmth from the alcohol, and astringency.
- Alcohol by Volume: a way of measuring the amount of alcohol in a beverage by taking the volume of alcohol per volume of beer.
- Fermentation: a process where yeast converts the sugars in wort into equal parts alcohol and carbon dioxide gas.
- Hops: the flower pods from the plant Humulus lupulus, which grows as a climbing vine. These pods are used in brewing during the wort boiling stage to impart bitterness and a floral flavor to the beer. There are over 100 varieties of hops to choose from, each with a different flavor profile.
- Kilning: a process in brewing that consists of drying out malted barley to halt the germination process. This process also imparts roasted flavors on the malt and takes away the raw flavor of barley.
- Malt: barley that has been steeped in water, allowed to germinate slightly, and dried in hot air. This process releases enzymes in the barley that will later convert its starches into sugars.
- Sparging: the process of spraying the mash mixture in the Lauter Tun with hot water to extract the liquid malt sugar.
- Wort: a bittersweet sugar and water solution that is created when the mash is boiled with hops.
-RC
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