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GLOSSARY OF HOME BREWING TERMS Adjunct An adjunct is any non-fermentable or partially fermentable grain or ingredient other than malted barley that is added to the brew for special flavour or body quality; e.g. such things as unmalted barley, wheat, rice and maize. Airlock The airlock is a device that contains water and is mounted in the lid of the fermenter. The airlock allows produced gas, CO2, to escape and to block outside air from entering. Alcohol Alcohol is produced as a consequence of the chemical change that occurs during the fermentation process whereby the sugars/malts/starches are converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide CO2. The alcohol is ethyl alcohol also called ethanol and has formula C2H2OH. You can determine the alcohol level in home brew beer. Alpha Acids Alpha acids are the bittering substances found in hops and they are extracted by boiling.
Beer Beer is simply an alcoholic beverage brewed from grain malts, hops and yeast. Bottom Fermentation A bottom-fermenting yeast is one that falls to the bottom of the brew after fermentation.
Brew The process of making beer (v). The beer itself (n).
Carbon Dioxide Carbon dioxide, CO2, is a product of the fermentation chemical change. The gas escapes through the air lock.
To carbonate a beverage is to introduce carbon dioxide gas into the liquid, i.e., the home brewed beer. Lemonade, soda water, sparkling wine, etc, have all been carbonated. Carbonation of home brewed beer is by secondary fermentation as a result adding sugar when bottling.
Conditioning
Conditioning is the carbonation of the brewed beer; e.g. bottle conditioning is carbonation of beer by secondary fermentation in the bottle. Crown Seal A crown seal is a bottle cap/top fitted to the beer bottle to seal in the contents. In modern beer packaging, twist crown seals are common. The regular crown seal is fitted to twist top bottles as usual and automatically is shaped to the twist of the bottle.
Dextrins Dextrins are the unfermentable sugars from malts that contribute to body, flavour and sweetness of the home brewed beer.
Dextrose Dextrose is a grain sugar mainly derived from maize. Dextrose can replace white sugar i.e. cane sugar in beer recipes. Dextrose adds body to the brew as well as the source of alcohol. Dextrose can also be used in cooking.
Diastase is the combination of the two main enzymes that convert malt starches (during the mashing process) to fermentable and non-fermentable sugars for preparation of the wort in the traditional method.
Dry-hopping is the method of adding hops after boiling the malt and hops mixture and the liquid (wort) has cooled. This method allows the addition of delicate hops flavours that would be destroyed in the boiling process used to extract hops bitterness. Sachets of dried hops can be added to the wort at the time of pitching the yeast to give desired hops flavours in your malty hoppy drop.
Fermentables Fermentables are those ingredients containing various types of sugars that are converted by the yeast to produce the desired alcohol.
Fermentation Fermentation is a chemical process between materials such as malts, sugars, starches and yeast that are all together in a liquid medium such as water. Alcohol and carbon dioxide are the desirable products of fermentation in home brew beer making.
A fermenter is a suitable container in which fermentation of the wort to produce beer takes place.
The specific gravity of the brewed beer after fermentation has ceased, is called the Final Gravity.
Finings Finings are added to the brew to settle and clear the beer of minute solids in suspension. A solution of gelatine can be used. The need to use finings is normally not a concern when using a Beer Can Kit.
Hop oils occur naturally in hop flowers (cones) that provide aromas to the beer. Hopping Hopping is the process of adding hop bitterness, flavours and aromas to the brew. Hop Extract Hop Extracts are chemically derived extracts of the bittering acids and flavour oils. Hops Dryed flowers, or cones, of the humulus lupulus plant. Hops are boiled with the malts to produce bitterness to counter the sweetnees of unfermentable sugars and secondly for delicate flavours.
Hydrometer The hydrometer is an instrument for measuring Specific Gravity (or density) of a liquid. It is a glass tube that has a narrow top section with calibration scale and a bulbous lower end that is weighted to ensure vertical flotation Late-Hopping Late-hopping is the addition of some of the hops to the wort boil at the end of the boil in order to preserve flavour and aroma that would have been eliminated by long boiling. Malt Malt is extracted from roasted grain e.g. barley. Malt Extract Malt extract is the concentration of the soluble sugars etc from the mashing process liquid that has been evaporated, usually under vacuum. Malt Extracts can be liquid or powdered. Maltose Maltose is the fermentable sugar derived during the malting process. Mashing Mashing is the process of extracting sugars from malted grains by steeping or soaking in controlled-temperature hot water for a period of time. Original Gravity, OG Original gravity, OG, is the specific gravity, SG, measured just before the yeast is pitched into the wort. Pitching When the yeast is added to the wort, the act is called 'pitching the yeast'. Primary Fermentation Primary fermentation takes place in the fermenter after the yeast is pitched; as distinct from secondary fermentation that takes place in the bottle. Prime To prime the home brew beer is to add a small quantity of sugar to each bottle to create secondary fermentation within the bottle and thus carbonate the beer. Racking Racking is the transferring of the brew from one container to another; e.g. from the fermenter to a similar sized container for the purpose of settling and clearing. Scald Wash or Rinse beer making equipment with very hot or boiling water. Secondary Fermentation Secondary fermentation takes place in a keg after racking, or bottle after bottling, for the purpose of carbonation. Specific Gravity, SG, is the density of a liquid. Pure water (distilled water) has the base SG of 1.000. In home brewed beer making the concerns are for the specific gravity - or simply: 'gravity' - before fermentation, i.e. the Original Gravity, OG, and the Final Gravity, FG, after fermentation. The difference can be used in a formula to determine the alcohol content of the brewed beer. Specific Gravity is measured using a hydrometer. Steep To soak in liquid. Sterilise Soaking or rinsing beer making equipment with weak chemical solutions to prevent unwanted bacterial contaminations. Use sodium metabisulphite or household chlorine . Some bottle washing solutions contain chlorine so washing and sterilising can take place at the same time. Top Fermentation A top-fermenting yeast is one that traditionally rises to the top of the brew after fermentation. Tun A tun is a vessel used for soaking roasted grain in order to extract the malts in a process called mashing. Also called a 'mashing tun'. Wort The wort is the liquid in the fermenter prior to pitching the yeast.Wort becomes beer after fermentation. Wort Concentrate Wort concentrate is what comes in a beer can kit that is later reconstituted with water and sugar is added so that the mixture is ready for fermentation. The concentrate is the resultant gooey liquid after water is evaporated under vacuum.
Yeast For home brew beer making, the yeasts come as dehydrated powder in sealed sachets and dissolve in the wort and multiply as they promote the chemical changes to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide.
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