Brewing Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ABV | Alcohol By Volume |
| Adjunct |
Not a necessary ingredient to brewing beer or making wine, however these supplements may improve the taste or look of your finished product |
| Ale | Beer made with top fermenting yeasts and normally fermented** at 20 - 22 C |
| Cider |
A beverage made from fermented apples. Other fruits may also be added when making this alcoholic drink. |
| Diacetyl |
Is a buttery flavour in homebrew. It can also be sign of poorly brewed beer. |
| DME | Dry Malt Extract |
| LME | Liquid Malt Extract |
| FG | Final Gravity |
| OG | Original Gravity |
| SG | Specific Gravity |
| Hydrometer |
Instrument that measures the amount of sugar in your homebrew. It is used before pitching your yeast and then again, once the bubbles have stopped (meaning fermentation is now done) to find your ABV |
| IBU | Internation Bittering Units |
| Lager | Beer made with bottom fermenting yeasts and normally fermented** at 7 - 13 C |
| Lovibond | Is a scale by which the colour of homebrew is measured |
| SRM | Is a scale by which the colour of homebrew is measured |
| EBC | Is a scale by which the colour of homebrew is measured |
| Must |
This is a term used in wine making. Must contains the entire fruit and is the first step when making wine with fresh fruits |
| Refractometer | Optical device for measuring Brix and/or Gravity |
| Sacch. Rest |
This when you add water to your grain and allow it to sit for a determined amount of time, at a certain tempurature in order for the enzymes to convert the starches (found in the grain) to sugar |
| Shandy | Is a beer mixed with a carbonated soft drink |
| Sorghum Syrup | Used in brewing to replace grains for those that are gluten intolerant |
| Tannin | Produced from the skin and pips of the fruit used, they are what give wine a dry taste |
| V/V |
Percentage of one liquid versus another. So if it is states 8.5% v/v it means that 8.5% of the liquid is alcohol and the other 91.5% is water, flavouring, juice etc. |
| IBU | International Bittering Units |
| Alpha Acids | The bittering acids found in hops, the alpha acid levels determine your bitterness or IBUs |
| Body | The body or mouthfeel of a beer, including it's consistency and thickness. |
| Carbonation | Adding carbon dioxide gas bubbles to your beer through pressure or fermentation |