Brewing Glossary

Not everyone brews beer, and not everyone wants to. And that’s okay! If you don’t, but are still entertained by our exploits (or you have those friends that won’t shut up about brewing and you have no idea what they’re talking about), here’s a quick cheat sheet for some of the brewing terms you may see around here.

ABV – Alcohol by Volume.

BBL – Also called a "barrel", refers to 31 gallons of beer.  A typical keg is half of a barrel, so 15.5 gallons.  When a brewer has "a __ barrel system", that simply means they brew double that number of kegs at a time.

Boil-over – Probably the highest potential for comedy (if it’s not you) or tragedy (if it is you) on a brew day. When the hot break wins and the wort starts boiling over the sides of the brew kettle.

Fermentation – process by which the yeast organisms consume the sugars in the wort and excrete alcohol and CO2.

Fermentor – vessel in which fermentation takes place. Ranges from a 6 gallon bucket for hombrewers, to large, conical bottom, stainless steel tanks for commercial brewers. Primary fermentor is typically where the bulk of the sugar-to-alcohol conversion takes place. Secondary fermentor is typically just another vessel where beer can be placed to age a little more, and sometimes to add more hops or other flavors.

Gravity – or, technically, specific gravity, a measure of the density of a liquid relative to water (i.e. water has a gravity of 1.000). The difference in gravities before and after fermentation allow the brewer to determine how much of the sugar was consumed by the yeast, and thus ABV.

Head – that thing on top of your shoulders. Oh, and the foam on top of beer.

Hot Break – One of the more exciting parts of the brew session. When the wort comes to a boil and the
hops are added, there is a visible breakdown of some of the proteins in the wort. This manifests itself as an angry green monster threatening to overtake the sides of the brewpot, and requires combat via temperature control and vigorous stirring until it settles down.

Hydrometer – simple device used to measure specific gravity.

Lacing – the pattern that a beer’s head sometimes leaves behind on an empty glass.

Lauter – The process of rinsing the grains after the mash in order to collect the wort used in the boil. Also known as Sparge.

Lauter Tun – Vessel used for the lautering process. Some homebrewers use a hybrid mash and lauter tun and do not require an additional vessel.

Malt Extract – a concentrate of the sugary goodness that is obtained from mashing. Comes in liquid and powder forms and allows homebrewers to create great beer without having to mash the grains. When combined with hot water creates wort.

Mash – The process of soaking malted barley in hot water for a period of time (usually an hour) to extract the fermentable sugars from the grains.

Mash Tun – Vessel where the mash takes place. Varies in size/shape from beverage coolers for homebrewers to large, steam jacketed stainless steel tanks for commercial breweries.

Second Runnings – When brewing a beer with a high target ABV, and thus a large amount of grain used, often when enough wort has been collected for the primary beer, the remaining wort is of sufficient gravity to make an entirely new beer. Second runnings refers to this “leftover” wort.

Strike Water – The hot water added at the beginning of the mash.

Wort – Basically, unfermented beer. Can refer to the liquid extracted from the mash through lautering and the liquid during and after the hop additions and boil.