Ale - One of the two general classifications of beer, an ale is a beer that’s brewed using top-fermenting yeast which ferments best at warmer temperatures, generally between 60 and 75° F, although ale yeast can be used at lower temperatures for some styles. The yeast is called top-fermenting because during the fermentation process the yeast rises to the surface releasing a frothy head of foam during the process. The warmer fermentation temperature also allows the yeast to impart esters which adds very distinct characteristics to the beer. Also interestingly enough according to Wikipedia, “a number of U.S. states, especially in the western United States, “ale” is the term mandated by state law for any beverage fermented from grain with an alcoholic strength above that which can legally be named “beer,” without regard to the method of fermentation or the yeast used.” This is why some beers that are clearly lager beers are labeled as an “ale” on the side.
BA - An initialism that stands for both Barrel-Aged as well as BeerAdvocate.
Beer Clean Glass – Beer clean glassware is the only suitable drinking vessel from which beer should be enjoyed. Briefly, a beer clean glass is a completely clean glass free of dust, lint, soap scum or residue which would otherwise hinder the appearance, aroma, flavor, or enjoyment of the beer. To achieve “beer clean” glassware, please visit this BeerFM tip page!
Beer Fest – Simple…yet not, a Beer Fest is, you guessed it, a festival about beer (as well as a film title). Beer Fests are events organized by either an individual or a group to create awareness about breweries and their beer. Generally speaking, at beer fests guests of the event will receive a pint glass or tasting glass and unlimited samples from all the booths at the fest so they can try anything they’d like. A good fest will feature plenty of restrooms and water to rinse out the tasting glass as well as to drink for hydration. Beyond that there can be plenty of additional side events as well as food and live music. Beer fests are a great way to meet good people as well as brewing industry individuals.
Beer Porn – A centerfold of beer. Really, any picture of beer qualifies as ‘beer porn’ but some range from one spectacular bottle to a few bottles received in a beer trade, to dozens and dozens of bottles lined up for a tasting. A lot of times beer geeks line up their own beers for a photo shoot to either remember the epic stash or to gloat. Either way, we all love beer porn.
BMC – A term thrown around by beer geeks a lot, BMC is just an acronym for Bud, Miller, and Coors, or a generalization of the big, conglomerate brewing companies. To us it’s quite a derogatory term. Used in a sentence it would go as such; “I left that place when I saw the tap-list. All they had was BMC crap.”
Bottle Conditioning – Similar to Kräusening, Bottle Conditioning is a process in which bottled beer carbonates naturally through addition of fermentables (sugar, dry malt extract, etc). Yeast remaining in the beer referments, eating the fermentables and producing carbon dioxide. The yeast will form sediment on the bottom of the bottle over time and continue to change the beer.
Brettanomyces – Often referred to as “Brett”, this is a strain of yeast from the family of Saccharomycetaceae and can be both helpful and detrimental to beer. For most styles, this yeast strain is unwanted and will cause “off-flavors” like, but not limited to, barnyard, horse-blanket, and sourness, or as most people refer to it, a general “funkiness”. Beers made specifically with the ‘Brett’ strain of yeast have gained some large popularity in America recently including the addition of a new style category to the Great American Beer Festival. On the other hand, Belgian breweries have been using it to their advantage for quite some time in styles like Lambic and Gueuze. Pronunciation for Brettanomyces can be found here.
Carboy - In home brewing a carboy is a rigid container that looks similar to a large water-cooler bottle. These containers are used for fermenting and conditioning beer, mead, and wine and usually fitted with either a rubber stopper called a bung and an airlock to keep out oxygen and bacteria or a blow-off hose. They come in either glass or plastic and can hold anywhere between 5 and 15 gallons. ‘Demijohn’ may also refer to a carboy.
Cellar / Cellared – To cellar is the act of aging beer where as cellared represents beer that has been aged in a “cellar” (i.e. basement, closet, etc.).
Fermentation - Fermentation methods can vary greatly between the two main yeast strains, Ale and Lager, and how they operate, but the general process is the same. Starches from barley are converted into sugar during the mash and once the yeast is pitched (added) into the cooled wort, fermentation begins. The yeast eats all the sugar to reproduce and in the process produces two by-products; carbon dioxide and alcohol. A shorter, more precise definition of fermentation is that it’s the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol which is also known as zymurgy.
Flocculation – In regards to brewing beer, yeast will clump together in a floc as it comes out of suspension in the liquid. The yeast does not dissolve in the solution. This occurs when the yeast has completed fermentation and either clumps together at the surface of the beer (top-fermenting ale yeast) or the bottom of fermentation vessel (bottom-fermenting lager yeast).
Kräusening – German in origin, Kräusening is a term to describe adding fresh, active wort to beer in the bottling process which creates natural carbonation through “Bottle Conditioning”.
Lager – The second of two overarching classifications of beer, Lager beer is brewed using bottom-fermenting yeast, yeast that flocculates to the bottom of the fermentation vessel. Lager is German for storage as beer was “lagered” in caves at cool temperatures before any sort of refrigeration. More accurately, lager refers to cold storage. The most important part of the lagering process is the cold fermentation temperatures – between 35° and 45°F – that give lager beer it’s characteristics of being smooth, crisp, clean, and less fruity and spicy due to the production of less phenols and esters during the fermentation process. The majority of Macro beers (Bud, Miller, Coors or BMC) are all lager beers for their crisp and clean drinkability (or so they say). Pronunciation here.
Light Struck – Light struck beer, characterized by an altered “skunky” flavor and aroma, is caused by UV light reacting with hops’ proteins contained within the beer, and under direct UV light, the transformation can take place in as little as 10 seconds. Clear and green bottles offer next to no protection from harmful fluorescent and UV light while brown bottles are better and cans are best. It’s also interesting to note that Miller Brewing Co., goes to great lengths to remove this protein so their clear bottles of MGD and High Life are never skunked.
Ticker – In the beer geek world, the term ticker describes a person that compulsively “ticks” beers, or figuratively checks them off a list. One such person may keep lists of all the top beers they try, have lists of beers they must get, or review every beer out there at any cost. Tickers also may be stat freaks, obsessed with how different beers compare to each other statistically. I know all of this cause I’m one of ‘em.
White Whale – In the beer world a “white whale” can be seen as a direct reference to Moby Dick in which the white wale is out of reach or viewed as something unattainable. In our case, it’s a beer so rare that only a few bottles are produced and available at any one time, making them almost legendary; something that every beer geek wants. A few white whales include Trappist Westvleteran 12, Russian River’s Pliny the Younger, or Portsmouth’s Kate the Great.
Wort - Wort is an unfermented sweet concoction of water and malt called ‘sweet wort’ until the hops are added when it’s called ‘hopped wort’. Wort contains sugars from the malts which will be converted into alcohol during the fermentation process, ultimately making beer! Wort is boiled, quickly cooled, and transferred into the fermentation vessel where the yeast is pitched and the fermentation process begins. Pronunciation here.
