As the craft beer phenomenon increases in popularity, the terminology gets stranger and more complicated. But, it doesn’t have to be. We want everyone to have a better handle on all the brew-specific words in the intoxicating world of craft beer, so here are a few:

1. Adjunct= Grain that is not malted barley, like rice, oats, wheat or corn.

2. Bottle Conditioning= Carbonation via the addition of sugar and yeast prior to capping.

3. Dry Hopped= Additional hops added for flavor at the end of brewing.

4. Esters= A flavor compound occurring mostly in ale.

5. Gravity= A measurement used to determine ABV.

6. Imperial= A style that’s intensified by increasing malt and hops.

7. IBU= International Bittering Units, a scale for the amount of bitterness.

8. Macro Lager= Typically mass-produced beers like Miller and Budweiser.

9. Malty= Any brew with apparent malt characteristics.

10. Noble Hops= Aromatic hops used in European lagers.

11. Piney= Hoppy beers with predominantly pine notes.

12. Single Hopped= Beers with only one type of hops for a specific flavor profile.

13. Brettanomyces= Wild yeast used in fermentation.

14. Clean= Not much complex texture or flavor.

15. Session Beer= Low alcohol, about three to four percent.

16. Skunked= Exposed to sunlight and having a skunky flavor and smell.

17. Fresh or Wet Hopped= Fresh-cut hops dumped in for a delicate green hop flavor.

18. Yeasty= Intentional yeast flavor.

19. Cask Beers= Unfiltered, hand-pumped, and unpasteurized with a little yeast added, giving them gentler carbonation.

20. Phenols= A fermentation product much like esters.

 

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