Beer Glossary
Your ultimate guide to beer terms! Use the A–Z links below to jump to a section.
- ABV (Alcohol By Volume)
- The percentage of alcohol in a beer; more ABV means more wobble.
- Adjuncts
- Non-traditional fermentables like corn, rice, fruit, or spices added for flavour or cost.
- Autolysis
- When yeast cells break down post-fermentation, giving meaty or rubbery notes.
- Attenuation
- The percentage of sugars converted to alcohol and CO₂ during fermentation.
- Barrel-Aged
- Beer aged in oak barrels for extra complexity.
- Bittering Hops
- Hops added early in the boil to add bitterness.
- Brettanomyces
- A wild yeast strain that adds funky, earthy, or tart flavours.
- Bottle Conditioning
- Natural carbonation in the bottle via priming sugar.
- Boil
- The stage where wort is boiled and hops are added.
- Cask Conditioned
- Real ale served without extra CO₂, maturing in the cask.
- Chill Haze
- A temporary haze that appears when beer is chilled.
- Cold Break
- Protein-tannin coagulation when wort cools.
- Cold Crash
- Rapid chilling to clear yeast and sediment.
- Conditioning
- Maturation phase post-fermentation.
- Craft Beer
- Small, independent breweries focusing on flavour.
- Diacetyl
- Butter or butterscotch off-flavours.
- DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide)
- Cooked corn aroma from insufficient boil-off.
- Dry-Hopping
- Late hop addition for aroma without bitterness.
- Enzyme Rest
- Temperature step to convert starches into sugars.
- Esters
- Fruity aromas like banana or bubblegum.
- Fermentation
- Yeast converting sugars to alcohol and CO₂.
- Finings
- Agents to clarify beer by settling particles.
- Flocculation
- Yeast clumping affecting clarity.
- Grist
- Milled grains used in the mash.
- Gravity (Original & Final)
- Wort density before and after fermentation to calculate ABV.
- Growler
- Reusable jug for carrying draft beer.
- Head
- Foamy cap that traps aroma.
- Hops
- Flowers that add bitterness, flavour, and aroma; also act as a natural preservative.
- IBU (International Bitterness Units)
- Scale that measures beer bitterness; higher IBU = more bitter.
- Kettle
- The large pot where wort is boiled with hops.
- Keg
- Pressurised container used for serving draft beer.
- Lacing
- The foam residue left on the inside of the glass as you drink.
- Lautering
- Process of separating the wort from the spent grain.
- Lagering
- Cold-conditioning phase that gives lagers their crisp, clean finish.
- Mouthfeel
- The physical sensation in your mouth—body, carbonation, smoothness.
- Oxidation
- Stale or cardboard-like off-flavour from beer exposure to oxygen.
- Phenols
- Spicy, smoky, or medicinal notes often derived from yeast.
- Priming Sugar
- Sugar added before bottling to naturally carbonate beer.
- Saison
- A dry, spicy Belgian farmhouse ale designed for summer.
- Session Beer
- Low-ABV beer meant for multiple pints in one session.
- Sparging
- Rinsing grains with hot water to extract remaining sugars.
- SRM (Standard Reference Method)
- Colour scale for beer; a higher number indicates a darker brew.
- Stout
- Dark beer made with roasted malt or barley.
- Trub
- Sediment of hops and proteins collected after fermenting or boiling.
- Wort
- The sweet liquid extracted from the mash, before fermentation.
- Yeast
- Microorganism that ferments sugars into alcohol and CO₂, shaping flavour.
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