Acidity - Refers to the sourness, or pH value of wine or some beers.

Aerate - To mix air in to a solution.

Aerobic Fermentation - Fermentation that occurs with oxygen present.

Adjuncts - Any secondary source of starches or sugars used in brewing, the primary source being malted barley or wheat. Examples are flaked cereal grains, corn, rice, sugars and syrups.

Airlock - A one way valve which allows carbon dioxide to escape from the brewing process. Various styles are available, e.g. [1] metal pressure valve which sits on the top of a brewing barrel, [2] a plastic pipe submersed in water, preventing air from entering the pipe (blow-off tube) [3] a plastic / glass pipe with 2 chambers filled with water, (bubbler), [4] etc.

Alcohol - Belongs to a family of organic compound. Usually refers to ethyl alcohol or ethanol, CH3CH2OH.

Aldehyde - A less evolved form of alcohol. Alcohol can oxidize to aldehydes to create off flavours.

Ale - Beer brewed from a top-fermenting yeast with a short, warm fermentation.

All-Grain Brewing - The use of raw malted barley as the main source of malt sugars in brewing, rather than the use of malt extracts. This process requires mashing and sparging, and is for advanced brewers. Takes considerable longer to complete.

Amylase - An enzyme that converts starches to a more complex sugar. Also known as a diastatic enzyme.

Anaerobic Fermentation - Fermentation which occurs without oxygen.

Ascorbic Acid - Vitamin 'C'. Prevents oxygenation of wine.

Attenuation - The ability of yeast to ferment sugars in an unfermented beer. Different yeasts will produce different quantities of dryness or body strength in beer.

Autolysis - When yeast run out of nutrients and therefore die, they drop their contents in to the beer, producing off flavours.

Beer - A term to signify a fermented beverage, made from malted barley or other grain, usually hopped.

Beerstone - A hard scale deposit found on fermentation equipment. Composed of calcium oxalate.

Blow Off Tube - Large diameter tubing used to allow the escape of carbon dioxide during fermentation. One end is placed in a container of water, the other in the top of a fermentor. Typically U.S. style. See 'AIRLOCK', above.

Body - The fullness of a beer. A result of malt sugars left in the beer after brewing.

Bottle Brush - Long handled nylon bristle brush, used to clean used bottles.

Bottle Filler - Rigid tube used for filling bottles. Often has a spring loaded tip (valve), which when pressed by contact with the bottom of the bottle, allows the beer to flow.

Carbon Dioxide - A gas produced by fermentation. Prevents beer from oxidisation or decomposition. Prevents beer from being 'flat' after pouring.

Carboy - A fermentor shaped like a drinking water tank. Can be made in glass or plastic. Glass is preferred, but costs considerably more.

Clarify - Removing of suspended particles from beer. When particles are removed, the solution becomes more clear, or translucent.

Cold Break - Proteins which coagulate and fall out of solution when the wort is rapidly cooled prior to pitching the yeast.

Concentrate - To produce a wort using boiling or vacuum evaporation. Malt extract (kits) are an example.

Condition - Quantity of carbon dioxide that has dissolved into the beer. Part of secondary fermentation. The yeast refines the flavour of the beer in this process.

Cytase - An enzyme which removes the cellulosic coating of starch.

Diastase - An enzyme that breaks down starch.

Distil - A process of condensing high alcohol vapours by heating an alcoholic beverage. The vapour is turned back in to liquid by cooling, producing a much stronger solution. Illegal to do without a license in both the U.K. and U.S.

Draught Beer - Beer served from bulk containers, e.g. barrels.

Dry Hopping - Hops added to beer either during or after fermentation. Used to add aroma (smell) to the beer.

Ethanol - The type of alcohol in beer, formed by yeast, from malt sugars.

Fob - Old word for 'froth', found on the top of beer.

Fermentation - A process where yeast consumes sugar and as a byproduct produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. The yeast multiplies in the process.

Fermentor - A container used to hold fermenting wort. Usually a plastic bucket (as shown on these pages) or a glass 'carboy'.

Fining - Using an additive to clarify (make clear) the beer.

Filtration - The forcing of beer through a porous material, therefore collecting the large particles and allowing the liquid and much smaller particles to pass through it.

Flocculation - The clumping together of particles. Yeast clumps together out of solution and settles.

Glucose - The most basic form of sugar.

Gravity - A reading which isolates the sugar content of the wort. See 'Hydrometer'.

Grist - Used in all grain brewing and is the mixture of crushed grains which is the raw material for the mash.

Hops - A flower used to impart bitterness and keeping properties to beer.

Hot Break - Proteins that coagulate and fall out of solution during the wort boil.

Hydrolysis - The dissolving or decomposition of a chemical in water by chemical or biological means.

Hydrometer - Measures the difference in gravity (density) between pure water and water with sugar dissolved in it by flotation.

Infusion - Adding boiling water to a mash to cause it to heat up.

Krausen - Dirty, foamy head found floating on the top of an actively fermenting beer. Can cause airlocks to block. Made of yeast and fermentation by products. Also an advanced method of priming.

Lager - Beer brewed from a bottom fermenting yeast and given a long, cool, fermentation.

Lag Phase - The time it takes for yeast to adapt and grow after being pitched in to the wort. 2 to 12 hours typically.

Lauter - To strain or separate.

Lauter Tun - Container, with a false bottom, used to hold all grain brewing ingredients, during sparging. False bottom allows the wort to drain while retaining the grain bed (husks).

Malt - Sugars extracted from malted cereal grains. Available as a powder or a syrup.

Malt Extract - Concentrated brewers wort (as found in our kits).

Malting - Grain, normally barley, which has germinated and then dried.

Maltose - The preferred food used by yeast in homebrewing.

Mashing - The reaction between the enzyme diatase and starch which produces fermentable sugars. The first phase of all grain brewing. The crushed (mashed) grains are soaked in water and steeped for various lengths of time.

Mash Tun - Container, used to hold all grain brewing ingredients during mashing.

Naturally Conditioned Beer - Beer in which the carbon dioxide has been formed naturally.

Oxidation - Unwanted affects of exposure to oxygen. Causes beer to produce compounds which taste stale or harsh. Carboys and airlocks are used to prevent this.

Pitch - To add yeast to the wort or fermenter.

Primary Fermentation - Begins 1 to 3 days after pitching the yeast. A krausen can be seen at this stage, caused by the rapid escape of carbon dioxide. As the yeast uses up the sugars, the activity slows down and then secondary fermentation begins.

Priming - Adding a small amount of fermentable sugar prior to bottling. This gives the beer carbonisation.

Rack - To siphon beer from one container to another, leaving the deposits in the bottom.

Racking Cane - A rigid plastic tube with a sediment stand-off at one end and a pipe at the other. The stand-off is higher than the sediment at the bottom of the fermentor and is used for siphoning.

Roasted Malt/Grains - Malts/grains are heated to high temperatures creating a coffee or burnt flavour and are much darker. They do not require mashing.

Rouse - To stir the contents at the bottom of the vessel , vigorously.

Secondary Fermentation - Fermentation which occurs after the primary fermentation. Also known as 'aging'. The remaining fermentable sugars are consumed and the beer begins to clarify.

Siphon - The use of a tube to move a liquid from one container to another, starting with suction (or a vacuum) and then aided by gravity.

Sparge - The second phase in all grain brewing. The wort is separated from the grain (husks) by sprinkling water on to the grain bed.

Starch - A type of sugar. Grains used for brewing are seeds loaded with starch. These simple sugars are the main component of wort, together with protein.

Sterilisation - The killing of bacteria by heat or chemicals.

Stuck Fermentation - A fermentation which has stopped prematurely. Some causes are:- too cold, too hot, not enough 'food' (right type of sugars etc.) for the yeast or wrong ingredients.

Tannin - Acid leached from the husks of grains. Normally unwanted in beer making. Causes extreme dryness in the beer flavour.

Trub - Sediment found at the bottom of the fermenter. Contains:- dead yeast, cold break, hot break and hop particles.

Wort - Unfermented beer. Pronounced 'Wert or wart'.

Zymurgy - The science of fermentation and brewing.