Glossary

A

ABV

Alcohol by volume

air lock

This is a special type of valve that uses water (or vodka, which I recommend for sterility). The valve allows the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation to escape the fermenter, preventing an "unwanted chemical reaction".

B

boil-over

A condition that occurs when the boiling wort bubbles up and over the edges of the kettle, resulting in a sticky mess. Trust me, you don't want it to happen to you.

bottle bucket

This is a bucket used to mix the wort pulled from the fermenter and the priming sugars.

C

chiller

A device that sits in the kettle, submerged in the wort while cold water is passed through it, colling down the wort. With one of these, you can chill thewort in a matter of minutes, which is ideal.

F

fermenter

A vessel in which the beer will sit while the yeast converts the sugars into alcohol

I

I.B.U.

International bittering units. This is a measure of how bitter the beer is. The higher the number, the more bitter.

K

kettle

A large pot to cook the beer in (technically, at this stage it's still wort)

M

maturation

The process of allowing the fermented beer to sit in a controlled environment. The process typically smooths the flavors of the beer. Some beers prefer longer maturation times, such as Moose Drool. Others, like IPAs, have a limited shelf life before the hop flavors begin to diminsh.

P

primary fermenter

For beers requiring a secondary fermentation step, this is the first fermenter used.

priming sugars

These sugars are used to provide carbonation to the beer after it is bottled.

R

rack and cane

This is a syphoning device used to pull the beer from the fermenter to fil the bottling bucket.

refractometer

A refractometer is a device used to determine the ABV of the fermented beer. They require some basi bottling bucketc understanding of how they are used, as well as some math. Don't worry though, a simple calculator is on the way to the site.

S

secondary fermenter

For beers requiring a secondary fermentation step, this is the second fermenter used.

specific gravity

The ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference substance. With brewing you are measuring the amount of sugars in the beer at various stages of the process to determine the A.B.V.

W

wort

This is the beer before the fermentation process begins.