adjuncts Grain additives besides barley such as corn or rice typically used as a cost savings method.
ale Beer fermented more quickly and at warmer temperatures than lager, with top-fermenting yeast.
barrel A measurement or container of beer, which equals 31 gallons.
beer A fermented beverage made from malted grain and usually seasoned with hops.
brewpub A restaurant that brews and serves its own beers on premises.
contract brewing A company that markets and owns all rights to a beer brand but has the brand brewed at another company’s brewery.
GABF Great American Beer Festival.
hops The common name for the dioecious (male and female varieties) plant, humulus lupulus. The most common bittering agent used in beer.
keg Filtered beer served under pressure with additional carbonation.
lager, lagering, lager yeast Refer to the process, and the resultant product, of a bottom-fermenting yeast that works best at low temperatures.
lawnmower beer A beer best consumed while in a hot environment and/or after vigorous physical activity. A beer with drinkability and refreshing flavors as paramount characteristics.
malt, malting The finished product and process whereby grain is sprouted and then dried to release enzymes that catalyze the conversion of grain carbohydrates into fermentable sugars
mash, mashing The process of converting the complex carbohydrates in grains into simple fermentable sugars by mixing with and then boiling in water.
microbrewery A brewery that produces 15,000 barrels or less of beer a year.
Randallized Randall The Enamel Animal is a device created at Dogfish Head that allows a beer to be served through a yard-long column of aromatic hops.
regional brewery A brewery that produces 15,000 to 500,000 barrels of beer a year.
session beer An easy-drinking, mild beer with an alcohol content typically less than 4% intended to be drunk several to a sitting.
shelf life The length of time after bottling, three to four months for most American beers, before a beer begins to spoil.
wort, worty Unfermented beer or tasting like unfermented beer.
yeast The microorganism responsible for converting available malt sugars into alcohol and water. for most beer this is added, or pitched, after the raw ingredients are boiled and then cooled.