British Brewing Glossary |
| AA |
apparent attenuation, giving an indication of levels of residual sugar. Calculated from original gravity minus final gravity |
| abbey-style |
ale, brewed in the monastic tradition of the low countries but by secular brewers, often under license from a religious establishment. See also enkel, double, triple, quadruple, Trappist |
| ABV |
alcohol by volume; the most common measure of the strength of an alcoholic beverage |
| ABW |
alcohol by weight; can be calculated from original and final specific gravities of the brew |
| adjuncts |
unfermentable additives that add to the flavour or texture of the finished brew |
| ale |
(English) A brew made with a top-fermenting yeast; has a distinctive fruitiness. Wide variety of colors, palates, and strengths. Beer brewed with a top-fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) |
| aroma hops |
hops chosen for their aromatic qualities. Generally added to the brew by dry-hopping, e.g. Goldings |
| barley wine |
(English) Extra strong ale usually more than 6% by volume, closer to 11%, copper color, tawny or dark brown. An exceptionally strong style of old English ale, typically dark, rich, fruity and malty |
| beer |
A fermented beverage made from malted cereal grain such as barley, wheat, rice, and others in addition to hops, yeast, and water. Lager, ale, porter, stout, all Belgian specialties & German specialties included -- it's all beer. |
| beer engine |
mechanism used in traditional British pubs to pump beer from keg to glass, avoiding false CO2 carbonation |
| bitter |
BITTER - (English) Well-hopped ale, most often on draught. Name usually implies depth of hop bitterness. Usually some acidity in the finish, and the color varies from bronze to deep copper. most widespread style of pale ale in England and Wales, typically a dry, fruity, draught 'real ale' of moderate gravity (3-5% ABV) for session drinking. Many regional and individual variations: 'bitter' is a relative term (see also mild) since although bitters have a notably hoppy character, especially in southern England, they are generally much less aggressively hopped than some modern beers from other countries |
| bittering hops |
hops chosen for their bitter flavour. Generally added to the wort by boiling, e.g. Fuggles |
| black and tan |
a layered mixture of stout and lager or ale. The stout goes on top. |
| bottle-conditioned ale (BCA) |
an ale that is bottled as a live product with conditioning yeast. Technically classed as a real ale |
| brewing |
today usually used to cover the whole process of manufacture of beer, but also has a more specialised use to mean the stage when the wort is boiled in the copper with hops and/or other flavourings |
| brown ale |
Dark-brown ale, sweet in palate, low in alcohol; may also be reddish brown and drier -- depends on the area of England which it's from. |
| Burtonising |
the process of treating water in order to add calcium carbonate to it (originally to make it more similar to the water of Burton-on-Trent, UK) |
| CAMRA |
Campaign for Real Ale; UK organisation devoted to the promotion and protection of real ale (see also Craft Brewers Guild, Les Amis de la Bière) |
| cask-conditioned ale |
an ale that has its final fermentation in the cask from which it is dispensed |
| copper |
vessel in which additives such as hops and adjuncts are added to the liquor from the mash tun. copper coloured, top-fermented beer made almost exclusively in Dusseldorf. Hoppy, slightly bitter beer - famous example is from Zum Uerige Brauhaus |
| dark beer |
Are many. If used without qualification, usually means a dark lager of the Munich type. |
| diacetyl |
chemical often produced in the brewing process, with a characteristic butterscotch aroma or flavour |
| doppelbock |
a high-gravity bock |
| double (dubbel) |
usually, a dark, sweetish abbey-style beer of around 6-7% ABV, following the model of the renowned Westmalle Dubbel trappist beer, but may also indicate the second-weakest beer in a range, or double fermentation. See also enkel, triple, quadruple |
| draught (US: draft) |
beer drawn into a glass or pitcher from a keg or cask, normally by electric or hand pump. Often noticeably different in character and condition to the same beer from a bottle |
| dry |
Dry beers produce bold tastes that do not linger. Aftertaste is minimal or non-existent. Dry brewing techniques usually take longer than other methods and in the process the yeast consumes more of the natural sugars produced by the fermenting grain. Dry beers would never be called sweet. They were very trendy for U.S. beer makers for a couple of years before they all but disappeared. You can still find a dry in the Japanese or European section of the beer aisle if you look. |
| dry hopping |
the addition of hops near the end of the brewing process to impart aroma. The hops are par-boiled (so are not strictly 'dry') |
| ester |
chemical sometimes produced in the brewing process, producing a characteristic pear-drop aroma or flavour |
| fermentation |
the process by which yeast turns sugar (malt) into alcohol. One by-product (in the brewing process) is carbon dioxide, which gives many beers their fizz |
| finings |
added to the brew to aid clarity by causing the yeast particles to coagulate. Common types are made from fish scales or seaweed |
| grist |
dry mixture of grains before brewing has taken place |
| India pale ale |
Super-premium pale ale. |
| krausen |
KRAUSEN - (German) Traditional technique of carbonation in which a small dosage of unfermented malt sugars (wort, in English) is added to the conditioning tank. In normally Krausened beer the wort ferments out and the beer is conventionally filtered. |
| lacework |
mark left on side of glass by head as the beer is drunk, resembling lace |
| lager, lagering |
beer that has undergone a period of lagering, i.e. a long fermentation in a cold environment; brewed using bottom-fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, now classified as Saccharomyces uvarum) |
| lambic |
(Belgian) Spontaneously fermenting style of wheat beer unique to Belgium. |
| light ale |
(English) The bottled counterpart of a basic bitter. Does not imply a low calorie beer. |
| liquor |
water before it has malt or hops added to it |
| Lovibond (L) |
colour index measured in degrees; higher number equals darker colour |
| Malle mug |
 The Malle mug is found throughout northern Europe; in England it is known affectionately as the Britannia. It's shorter and fatter than most mugs with the body's bottom third highly tapered with a flat, unfooted base. The sides are multi-faceted to optically enhance the color and clarity presentation of the beer. The wide top diameter promotes good aroma presentation, and the short depth gives excellent visuals through the beer. |
| mash tun |
vessel in which mashing takes place |
| mashing |
the first stage of the brewing process, when the grains and other fermentables (grist) are steeped in warm water (liquor) to extract their sugars |
| mild |
(English) Term indicating ale that is lightly-hopped and relatively full bodied. Some are copper in color, most are dark brown.sadly rare British style of usually draught ale, mild in comparison to the hoppier bitter though never very sweet, often brown or dark in colour ('dark mild') though pale examples ('light mild') are also found, usually moderate in alcohol (3-4% ABV) but some stronger examples (up to 6%) are brewed |
| milk stout |
originally a stout brewed with lactose, which only partially ferments, producing a very sweet, nutritious, beer. The term 'milk stout' was outlawed in the UK because of its misleading name |
| nitrokeg (creamflow, smooth) |
draught beer served under mixed gas pressure with nitrogen as well as CO2, giving a creamier texture with smaller bubbles. Established method of dispense for Irish stouts, but frowned upon by many beer lovers when extended in the 1990s to more delicate, bitter-style ales |
| old ale |
In Brittain old is used to indicate a medium-strong dark ale like Old Peculiar. By no means are all ales describing themselves as old in this style. A vague UK style, covering various traditional strong, rich ales. Overlaps somewhat with barley wines |
| original gravity |
specific gravity of the wort before fermentation |
| oyster stout |
reflecting the well-known affinity between Irish stout and shellfish, usually a dry stout brewed to be drunk as an accompaniment to oysters, though a few brewers offer stouts that actually contain oysters or are filtered through their shells |
| pale ale |
(English) Pale in this instance means copper-colored, as opposed to dark brown . Used by some English brewers to distinguish their premium bitters, especially in bottle form. |
| parti-gyling |
making two or more beers of differing strengths from the same mash by selectively diluting the wort before fermentation. Best-known exponent of the technique is London brewer Fullers, in their regular range of draught bitters |
| porter |
(English) London style brew that became practically extinct, but is making a comeback. Originally made to satisfy the demand for a 50/50 mix of ale and stout, porter's dark brown hue comes from roasting the barley before the brewing process begins. A lighter-bodied companion to the stout, it possesses a less pronounced hop flavor than ale, and is a heavier brew than most, with just a hint of sweetness. |
| quadruple (quadrupel) |
Abbey style definition. Very strong (around 10%+ abv), chewy, dark and fruity beer |
| real ale |
ale which is a live product at the point of delivery, i.e. still containing live yeast. This includes both cask- and bottle-conditioned ales |
| scotch ale |
The ales of Scotland generally have a malt accent. Sometimes used specifically to identify a very strong, often extremely dark, malt-accented specialty from that country. |
| session beer |
British term for beer of moderate alcohol content (up to around 4.5% ABV) suitable for drinking in quantity over long sessions |
| sparging |
spraying hot water (liquor) over the mash tun after mashing has taken place, in order to extract the maximum amount of fermentable material from the grist |
| stout |
Extra-dark , almost black top-fermenting brew, made with highly roasted malts. Originally 'stout porter', a stronger version of porter, but now indicates a number of distinct styles of dark beer, of which the best known is the dry, creamy Irish stout typified by Guinness, with a roastiness imparted by roasted barley. Other, rarer, styles are sweeter stouts from mainland Britain such as milk stout and oatmeal stouts, and the very strong Imperial Stouts, originating from England but so called because of their popularity at the Russian court in the 19th century |
| summer ale |
in Britain, relatively new style of ale that combines traditional bitter with the lighter colour, flowery hop character and refreshing quality of a premium lager, at around the same gravity (4.5-5% ABV), typified by the highly successful Hopback Summer Lightning |
| wee heavy |
very strong (6-10% ABV), malty Scottish beer, equivalent to a barley wine. See also shilling |
| white |
A term once used in several parts of Europe to describe wheat beers. |
| wort |
mix of water, malt and additives ready for fermentation |
