Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Beer Terms – Have you heard someone describe their beer as having spicy hop aromas, rich malt character and balanced hop bitterness and gone huh? Not to worry; understanding beer lingo is not as complex as it might seem. Before you know it you will be sipping suds and speaking in a language of beer.

Abbey (Abbaye) – What dos a church have to do with beer? A lot really; an Abbey beer is typically from Belgium, France or the Netherlands and made in the style of the Trappist beers. Unlike the Trappist beers is not made in a abbey, brewed by monks or under license by one of the official Trappist monk breweries.

Adjunct – Did you know that while it is traditional to make beer from the essential ingredients of malt, water, hops and yeasts many brewers use adjuncts to aid fermentation? An adjunct is any starch other than malt or wheat that is added by the brewer to aid fermentation. The most common adjunct is corn which is utilized extensively in large scale American breweries. The use of corn isn’t necessarily a negative. Corn increases the fermentable sugars and generally doesn’t offer much character; hence the subtle character of most American lagers. Other adjuncts include rice and sugar. Adjuncts are often associated with less expensive beers but Belgium Trappist/Abbey brewers often use a type of caramelized sugar syrup to add richness and strength to their ales.

Aroma - Reading a wine review it is easy to get overwhelmed by the seemingly endless list of descriptors. You might ask yourself how could one wine have aromas of rose petals, cherry, vanilla and cocoa? The answer is that all wines are made of aromatic compounds found naturally in the grapes. These are known as primary aromas are most often associated with fruit character but can be herbaceous or vegetal elements depending on the grape. Wines can also have secondary aromas which speak to the influence of the winemaker.

Ale – One of the two major categories of beer. Ales are fermented at warm temperatures with top-fermenting yeast (the yeast rise to the top of the tank during the fermentation process. There are a number of sub-categories of ales.

Balance – All beers strive for balance in their flavour profile. In general, beer needs to have a balance of malt and hop character to create an overall harmonious combination of flavours. Harmony is not necessarily an absolute balance of malt and hops as many styles of beer veer to stronger malt or hop character.

Bitter – The sharp sensation felt towards the back of the tongue when tasting beer and other beverages. Bitterness in beer is result of the addition of bittering hops during the brewing process.

Cask Conditioned – Before modern refrigeration ales were traditionally served from cellars located below a bar, pub. These cask conditioned ales were/are unfiltered beers that have undergone a desired secondary fermentation in cask (barrel). This fermentation process created a naturally carbonated beer. The pressure created by the carbon dioxide created enough pressure to allow bartenders to serve the beer via a hand pump or by gravity. These unfiltered and unpasteurized beers differ from keg beer as keg beer does not undergo a secondary fermentation in the keg and are typically filtered and pasteurized. Keg beer is by the most popular style of draught but a group known as CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) in England has successfully reintroduced cask conditioned real ale into many pubs throughout the country. Cask conditioned ales are increasingly popular at brewpubs in Canada. There are also bottle conditioned beers which undergo a second fermentation in the bottle. These a generally high quality artisinal beers and the process will often be noted on the front or back label of a bottle.

Draught beer – Draught beer – Refers to any beer served on a tap. Traditionally draught beer was served direct from a cask using the natural pressure of the carbon dioxide created during the fermentation process that occurred in the cask. Now, most draught beer is associated with keg beer, which is not naturally carbonated. Keg beer is artificially carbonated with the addition of carbon dioxide or a mix of carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

Dry Hopped – Dry Hopped – The process of adding hops after the end of the fermentation process to achieve increased hop aromas in a beer. This process has become increasingly popular amongst craft breweries who often want to maximize the intensity of the hop aromatics in their beers.

Esters – Esters are the aromatic components created by yeast during the brewing process. While breweries will rarely use the word ester for the description of their beer on a back label or website, the fruity character found in many types of ale is thanks to these esters. Ales, as a rule, have more esters than lagers.

Export – Traditionally found on German beer labels, indicating a lager beer that is fuller in body compared to normal Pilsner but not as dry. On other products such as beers from Canada, the use of Export more often means a slightly stronger beer that has higher alcohol content and sometimes strong hop content , as the extra hops and alcohol made the beer more stable for shipping; hence the name Export.

Fermentation – The process of converting the natural sugars found in the wort into alcohol via the addition of yeast. This fermentation can be carried out at different temperatures depending on the type of yeast selected and the beer style being made.

Grist – Grist is malt that has been delicately ground by the brewmaster to expose the the grain starches that will eventually become fermentable sugars during the mash process. These sugars will be converted to alcohol during the fermentation process.

Head – The foam found on top of a beer. Technically speaking, it is the proteins forced out of the beer via carbonation. The sign of naturally carbonated beer is a stable head which helps retain the aromas of a beer.

Hops – Hops are the flower cone of the hop vine; hops are one of the building blocks of any beer. Originally used in beer as a natural preservative, hops have evolved into an important flavouring agent. Hops are used to add aromatic complexity to a beer and the bitterness derived from hops balance out the sweetness of the malt. A wide variety of hops are grown throughout the world; each possessing its own distinctive character.

Lager – Lager - One of the two major categories of beer. Lagers are fermented at relatively cool temperatures with bottom-fermenting yeast. There are a number of sub-categories of lager worth discovering.

Malt – One of the key building blocks of any beer. Malt is made through a process of soaking grain, such as barley, in water and halting the germination process by heating the soaked grains with hot air. This process exposes the fermentable sugars required to transform the sugar into alcohol (beer) via fermentation. The process of heating/drying the grains is used to determine the eventual style of malt. Malt can range from pale malts, often used in lager production to black malts which offer the burnt, roasted coffee and chocolate notes you find in rich ales such as Porter and Stout. In the addition to flavour components of a beer, malt also lends body in the form of alcohol and sweetness. Great beers balance malt sweetness with dry hop character.

Mash – An important part of the brewing process. Brewers will add hot water to the grist (ground malt) to convert the grain starches into the sugars needed for fermentation.

Oktoberbest – Umpah! Germany is famous for hosting a more than two week long celebration of Bavarian culture. Of course food and beer play a big role. Hearty Bavarian fare such as Weisswurst, Sauerkraut and a range of other traditional dishes are served with generous amounts of local beer. The popularity of Oktoberfest has spread as hundreds of versions are celebrated around the world.

Pasteurization – Many breweries heat their beer to 60-80°C to ensure the beer is microbiologically stable.

Reinheitsgebot: German Purity Law

Look at many German beer bottles of can and often you will see a reference to the Rheinheitsgebot. The Rheinheitsgebot or “German Beer Purity Law” is one of the most famous regulations governing the production of any alcohol beverage. Originally developed in 1516, the law states that beers produced in Bavaria must be made from only water, barley and hops. Yeast, the other building block of beer, was not mentioned as it would be a few centuries before Louis Pasteur would discover how microorganisms (yeast) aided fermentation. The original law was developed in some part to regulate the use of grains in Bavaria. Wheat and rye were seen as more valuable for baking, leaving barley for the brewers. The Rheinheitsgebot continued to be used well into the 1980s when the law was changed to allow brewers in Bavaria to utilize other ingredients beyond those listed in the original law. This is important in Bavaria, where wheat beers are also extremely popular.

WortWort is the sweet liquid made from steeping ground malt (grist) in hot water converting the malt’s starches into fermentable sugar. Wort is converted into alcohol/beer through the fermentation process

Yeast Yeast is the unsung hero of beer production. These microorganisms convert the fermentable sugars found in the wort into alcohol. Historically, yeast were wild organisms and brewers had no knowledge of their existence or purpose in the brewing process. Since Louis Pasteur’s discovery of yeast in the 19th century, brewers have become ever increasingly aware of the role of yeast. Almost no breweries rely on wild yeasts anymore as most utilized cultured yeast strains to achieve the desired qualities in the beers.