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Glossary of Home Brewing Terminology

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adjunct

A source of fermentable extract other than malted barley. Some examples include: un-malted barley, corn, wheat, Irish moss, honey, and sucrose.

aerate

To force air/oxygen into your wort. Generally by "shaking like crazy" some homebrewers will use an oxygen stone on an air pump.

ABV

see Alcohol by Volume

Alcohol By Volume

The measurement of alcohol in a beer/wine as a percentage of the volume of alcohol in the total volume of beer.

To calculate:
approx. ABV = (Final Gravity - Original Gravity) / .0075

ABV = (FG - OG)/.0075

Calculate Knowing ABW
approx. ABV = ABW * (Final Gravity / .794)

ABW

see Alcohol By Weight

Alcohol By Weight

The measurement of alcohol in a beer/wine as a percentage of the weight of alcohol in the total volume of beer.

To calculate:
ABW = (76.08 * (Original Gravity - Final Gravity)) / (1.775 - Original Gravity)
ABW = (76.08 * (OG - FG)) / (1.775 - OG)

To Calculate With ABV
Approx. ABW = Alcohol By Volume * 0.795

ABW = ABV * 0.795

zymurgy

The chemistry/study of fermentation with yeasts. More recently, zymurgy has become known more as the brewing of alcoholic beverages, although more likely beer.

wort

The sugary liquid produced in the brewing process either by mashing malted barley and water or using extracts and water. Wort basically the "beer" before the yeast is added for fermentation.

Chill Haze

The cloudiness that forms in an unfiltered beer when it is refrigerated

Krausen

priming a beer with an actively fermenting wort instead of using sugar such as corn sugar

Priming

when bottling, it is the addition of sugar, such as corn sugar, to enable the yeast in beer to naturally product carbonation

Attenuation

The measure of how much of the sugar in the wort has been fermented by the yeast.

Apparent Attenuation

The estimated calculation of how much of the sugar in the wort has been fermented by the yeast. It is usually higher than the actual attenuation because the amount of alcohol produced during fermentation is lighter than water, and throws the reading off. To Calculate: apparent attenuation = ( ( OG in points - FG in points ) / OG in points ) x 100

Beer

A fermented alcoholic beverage made from malt and flavored with hops.

Mash

The fermentable mixture, usually a combination of grains and hops, from which alcohol or spirits can be distilled.

Mash Tun

A container or brewing vessel designed to hold a mash at a constant or increasing temperature during the brewing process.

Yeast

A single-celled fungi used to ferment sugars into an alcoholic form.

Microbrewery

A smaller brewery with an annual production of 15,000 barrels of beer or less.

Titration Test

A specific test which determines the amount of acid in a beer or wine mixture. A kit can be bought to help perform this test.

Wort

The name used for the solution of grain sugars which are strained from the mash tun during the mashing and sparging process of brewing. This solution is unfermented, meaning the yeast has not yet been added.

Wort Chiller

A device, usually a construction of copper tubing, through which cold water can run thus rapidly cooling the wort mixture.

Chill Haze

A cloudiness that appears in beer as it gets cold, usually a result of hydrogen bonding during the brewing process.