Beer Brewing Terminology

This list of beer brewing terminology contains many of the terms used when discussing beer brewing. It is by no means all-inclusive. My intent is to share some of the more common terminology that’s used so you too can learn to speak the common language of brewing.

Beer is made from water, hops, yeast and grain (usually barley).

What is Beer Brewing?

Wikipedia defines brewing as “the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast”. There are a number of steps in the brewing process:

Milling – the process of grinding whole grains for use in making beer

Grist – the milled grain

Mashing – this is the process of steeping grist in hot water. This process essentially converts the starch found in the grain into sugar

Lautering – the process of separating the sweet liquid from the spent grain once mashing is complete

Sparging – rinsing the grain with water to remove any residual sugar left behind after lautering

Wort – the sweet liquid that has been collected

Fermentation – the process by which yeast converts the sugar in wort into alcohol and CO2

Methods of Brewing

Three types of brewing: Extract vs. Partial Mash vs. All Grain Brewing

Brewers employ three different beer brewing methods, each its own pros and cons:

With extract brewing, wort is made by combining concentrated malt extract (either in powdered or syrup format) and hot water. It’s quick and easy and very beginner friendly, however malt extract is more expensive than grain and typically offers less flexibility and customization on brew day.

Partial mash brewing is very similar to extract brewing with one main difference. Some grain is added to the extract and water to lend additional color and depth of flavor but the chosen malt extract base will still be the main influencer in your finished beer.

All grain brewing is the most flexible of the three brewing methods because it relies exclusively on grain and not malt extract. With this method you have complete creative freedom with recipe development and generally lower ingredient costs. The biggest cons for all grain brewing are longer brew days (because your mashing process will take more time) and increased margin for error.

More to come!