Alpha Acid Units (AAU)- A homebrewing measurement of hops. Equal to the weight in ounces multiplied by the percent of alpha acids.
Attenuation - The degree of conversion of sugar to alcohol and CO2.
Cold Break - Proteins that coagulate and fall out of solution when the wort is rapidly cooled prior to pitching the yeast.
Conditioning - An aspect of secondary fermentation in which the yeast refine the flavors of the final beer. Conditioning continues in the bottle.
Fermentation - The total conversion of malt sugars to beer, defined here as three parts, adaptation, primary, and secondary.
Hops - Hop vines are grown in cool climates and brewers make use of the cone-like flowers. The dried cones are available in pellets, plugs, or whole.
Hot Break - Proteins that coagulate and fall out of solution during the wort boil.
Gravity - Like density, gravity describes the concentration of malt sugar in the wort. The specific gravity of water is 1.000 at 59F. Typical beer worts range from 1.035 - 1.055 before fermentation (Original Gravity).
International Bittering Units (IBU) - A more precise unit for measuring hops. Equal to the AAU multiplied by factors for percent utilization, wort volume and wort gravity.
Krausen (kroy-zen) - Used to refer to the foamy head that builds on top of the beer during fermentation. Also an advanced method of priming.
Lag Phase - The period of adaptation and rapid aerobic growth of yeast upon pitching to the wort. The lag time typically lasts from 2-12 hours.
Pitching - Term for adding the yeast to the fermenter.
Primary Fermentation - The initial fermentation activity marked by the evolution of carbon dioxide and Krausen. Most of the total attenuation occurs during this phase.
Priming - The method of adding a small amount of fermentable sugar prior to bottling to give the beer carbonation.
Racking- The careful siphoning of the beer away from the trub.
Sanitize - To reduce microbial contaminants to insignificant levels.
Secondary Fermentation - A period of settling and conditioning of the beer after primary fermentation and before bottling.
Sterilize - To eliminate all forms of life, especially microorganisms, either by chemical or physical means.
Trub (trub or troob) - The sediment at the bottom of the fermenter consisting of hot and cold break material, hop bits, and dead yeast.
Wort (wart or wert) - The malt-sugar solution that is boiled prior to fermentation.
°Balling, °Brix, or °Plato- These three nearly identical units are the standard for the professional brewing industry for describing the amount of available extract as a weight percentage of cane sugar in solution, as opposed to specific gravity. Eg. 10 °Plato is equivalent to a specific gravity of 1.040.
Beerstone - A hard organo-metallic scale that deposits on fermentation equipment; chiefly composed of calcium oxalate.
Biotin - A colorless crystalline vitamin of the B complex, found especially in yeast, liver, and egg yolk.
Blow-off - A type of airlock arrangement consisting of a tube exiting from the fermenter, submerging into a bucket of water, that allows the release of carbon dioxide and removal of excess fermentation material.
Decoction - A method of mashing wherein temperature rests are achieved by boiling a part of the mash and returning it to the mash tun.
Finings - Ingredients such as isinglass, bentonite, Irish moss, etc, that act to help the yeast to flocculate and settle out of finished beer.
Flocculation - To cause to group together. In the case of yeast, it is the clumping and settling of the yeast out of solution.
Hopback - A vessel that is filled with hops to act as a filter for removing the break material from the finished wort.
Infusion - A mashing process where heating is accomplished via additions of boiling water.
Isinglass - The clear swim bladders of a small fish, consisting mainly of the structural protein collagen, acts to absorb and precipitate yeast cells, via electrostatic binding.
Irish Moss - An emulsifying agent, Irish moss promotes break material formation and precipitation during the boil and upon cooling.
ppm - The abbreviation for parts per million and equivalent to milligrams per liter (mg/l). Most commonly used to express dissolved mineral concentrations in water.
Points per Pound per Gallon (PPG) - The US homebrewers unit for total soluble extract of a malt, based on specific gravity. The unit describes the change in specific gravity (points) per pound of malt, when dissolved in a known volume of water (gallons). Can also be written as gallon*degrees per pound.
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