An A to Z Guide to Craft Beer Terminology

ABV

Alcohol By Volume; expressed as a percentage. A measure of strength of an alcoholic beverage, based on the volume of alcohol relative to total volume.

Ale

Ale is a type of beer originated in medieval England, brewed using a warm fermentation method resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. 

American Ale

A style characterized by robust strengths and saturation of hop flavour, aroma, and bitterness

from distinctive native hop strains.

Belgian Ale

A variable style, usually has light body, low bitterness, and a distinctive yeastiness that may be spicy, fruity or funky.

Belgian Witbier

A style that blends pale barley, wheat, oats, and spices to produce a straw-coloured beer with

white haze.

Berliner Weisse

A tart German wheat ale known for its effervescence and wine-like appearance.

Bitter

A well-hopped British ale; comes in a range of strengths.

Bock

A strong, refined, and elegant beer with rich maltiness and alcoholic warmth.

Body

The weight or thickness of a beer. A thin beer is called "light-bodied", while a thick beer is "full-bodied"

.

Brettanomyces

A genus of wild yeast used to produce a distinctive aroma and taste.

Bright

Describes a beer from which the yeast has been filtered out or has settled to the bottom of the

conditioning tank.

Brown Ale

A style with an emphasis on malt flavour and the gentle fruitiness of ale yeast.

Dry Hopping

The practice of adding dry hops to a brew after the initial fermentation period has ended. Dry-

hopping helps to infuse brighter, more vibrant hop flavors and robust aromas without all the

bitterness.

Dubbel

A dark, complex-malted, relatively strong Belgian abbey ale that'

s been brewed by monks for hundred of years. The use of colour malts is central to this style, bringing layers of malt character with hints of chocolate and rich, dried soft fruits. Hops are mild and their main contribution is a certain spiciness, accentuated by a super-dry body and equally spicy/fruity yeast character.

Dunkel

A smooth, dark lager characterized by sweet malts and a hint of roastiness.

Ester

A flavour compound that occurs naturally during fermentation and results in a fruity aroma.

Fruit Lambic

A style that infuses young lambic beer with fruit. ( ref er t o L amb i c )

German Weizen

A wheat ale of Bavaria, served cloudily unfiltered, with vigorous carbonation. Characterized by

spicy, clove-like phenols and banana esters.

Gose

( Pronunciation: GOHZ-uh ) A tart German wheat ale with a soft, delicate palate accented by

coriander and salt.

Gueuze

A beer made with blends of different vintages of lambic. (refer to Lambic)

Helles

A pale lager similar to pilsner but emphasizing more soft maltiness.

Hops

A creeping vine whose flowers are dried and used in the brewing of most beers to create flavour,

aroma, and bitterness.

IBU

International Bittering Unit; the accepted system for describing the hop bitterness of a beer. The

IBU scale can range from 0 to 120+, but at this point, the human tongue can’t taste any more bitterness.

IPA

India Pale Ale; A strong, hoppy style, originally brewed by the British.

Kölsch

Pale ale brewed in the city of Cologne. Delicate and balanced with spicy hops, subtle fruitiness,

and smooth malts.

Lactobacillus

Bacteria that convert sugar into lactic acid. Some brewers add lactobacillus intentionally to

create a sour flavour in certain styles of beer.

Lambic

A style aged in wooden vessels for one to three years to fully develop the character provided by

wild yeasts. It is a truly ancient, wild-fermented style, marked by a sour, funky, fruity nose, acidic

palate and seemingly endless levels of complexity.

Lees

Yeast deposits from secondary fermentation in the bottle.

Mixed Fermentation

A process that uses a blend of yeast and bacteria to create alcohol and lactic fermentation in a

beer, typical of the tart ales of Flanders.

Mouthfeel

Qualities of beer other than the flavour; includes body and amount of carbonation.

NEIPA

New England IPA / North East IPA; Hazy, super-fruity, aromatic-not-bitter, often strong pale ales. NEIPAs stand out because they are unfiltered and have an extremely low bitterness compared to other IPAs. Moreover, they often look more like orange juice (because of the haze) and taste exceptionally fruity.

Nitro

Nitrogenated Beer; Beer in which nitrogen is used in addition to carbon dioxide to create a silky, creamy form of carbonation. Nitrogenated beers - often stouts, such as Guinness - contain approx. 70% nitrogen and 30% carbon dioxide.

Pale Ale

A hop-forward style that relies on a foundation of malt sweetness and expressive hop flavours

and aromas.

Pilsner / Pils

A style of lager made hoppy, and light, and clear, using pilsner malt and usually Noble hops. First

brewed in the 1840s in the Czech Republic town of Plzen (Pilsen).

Porter

Dark ales of modest strength and medium body, characterized by roasty flavours.

Saison

A rustic ale exhibiting interesting grain character, hazy appearance, spiciness, and/or dryness.

Session Beer

Beer that has a light body and a relatively low alcohol content, therefore easy to consume in

larger quantities (sometimes described as "sessionable").

Stout

A dark ale with a pronounced roast note.

Trappist Ale

Beer made under the direct supervision of a strict order of monks in Trappist monasteries,

principally in Belgium.

Tripel

A strong, punchy golden ale from Belgium. Character-wise, the tripel has much in common with

a standard Belgian strong golden ale - deep, burnished golden colour from its base of smooth,

clean pilsner malt, which gives a soft and rounded malt flavour and aroma. Hops can be quite

prominent with herbal and floral aromas, and high bitterness. It also exhibits Belgian yeast profile

with aggressive spice notes, cinnamon, clove and pepper, fruity ester characteristics such as

apple, pear, peach and banana.

WCIPA

West Coast IPA; characterized by the inclusion of powerful whole-cone American hops -

notably Cascade, Centennial, Columbus and Chinook - and techniques such as dry-hopping (refer to Dry Hopping) giving layers of complex bitterness and tropical fruit and floral notes.

Wild Ale

Any beer that derives its central character from wild yeast and/or bacteria.

Wild Yeast

Yeast collected from the environment that has not been domesticated, but may have been

cultured by a brewery or yeast company, Brettanomyces is a typical variety.

*Definitions adapted from "The Craft Beer Dictionary", Richard Croasdale and "The Beer Bible", Jeff Alworth