Authors: Christina Perozzi
The Naked Pint (47 page)
SANITIZER :This is extremely important! Sanitizing is perhaps the most annoying part of homebrewing (who likes to clean, really?), but it is crucial to the health of your beer. You don’t want certain bacteria to get into your beer and make it taste bad. Get a commercial beer sanitizer; these usually have iodine, chlorine, or bleach. We suggest BTF Iodophor Sanitizer.
FLOATING THERMOMETER :Because you need to do certain steps at certain temperature points, you need a good thermometer—unless you can measure liquid temperature with your eyes.
HYDROMETER :This measures the density of a liquid against the density of water. You will need to take an initial measurement of the density of the beer before and after fermentation. This will help you figure out your beer’s ABV.
CAPPER :This little handy dandy device puts those flat caps onto your bottle. Wow, magic.
Before you can start to brew, you will need to know what the hell people are talking about in those recipes for homebrewing. There are a few words that pop up a lot in this world, some of which you may already know, but it’s good to have a refresher. The definitions are in the order in which you may encounter them when brewing. Take note of these essentials (no, there will not be a quiz):
MASH:
The process in which the crushed grains are mixed into hot water, and enzymes change the starch into fermentable (sometimes unfermentable) sugars for the yeast to eat.
PARTIAL MASH:
Brewing using a wort made partially from grain and partially from malt extract.
ALL GRAIN OR FULL MASH :
A brew made using grains—raw malted barley—instead of malt extracts. This requires space and time and is quite advanced in the brewing world. This is often the practice of professional brewers.
MASH TUN :
The name of the vessel that contains the mash during all-grain brewing.
BASE MALT :
The malt used as the main source of sugar for fermentation.
MALT EXTRACT:
A concentrated liquid formed from wort that contains the sugars needed for brewing. This is what most homebrewers use instead of all-grain brewing.
SPECIALTY MALTS :
Smaller amounts of malt used for flavoring and nuance. These can be steeped like tea instead of turned into a mash.
SPECIALTY GRAIN BILL :
This is a list of specialty grains, typically malt, in a beer recipe to be used in addition to the malt extract. These are grains that will be crushed in the grist process and then usually steeped like tea during the boil.
STEEPING GRAINS:
These are used to add flavor, nuance, or color for brewers using a malt extract. These do not need to be converted to sugar and can also be steeped like tea.
SPARGING:
This comes after the mash, when grains are removed and the liquid is separated, becoming the wort.
GRIST:
A mixture of grains that is crushed in a mill and prepared for mashing.
WORT:
The name for the liquid that is extracted from the mash. It is pronounced WERT.
ADJUNCT:
A starch used in brewing other than malted barley, sometimes used for flavor and sometimes for mouthfeel. It is sometimes used instead of an amount of malt, making the beer cheaper to make.
MASH:The process in which the crushed grains are mixed into hot water, and enzymes change the starch into fermentable (sometimes unfermentable) sugars for the yeast to eat.
PARTIAL MASH:Brewing using a wort made partially from grain and partially from malt extract.
ALL GRAIN OR FULL MASH :A brew made using grains—raw malted barley—instead of malt extracts. This requires space and time and is quite advanced in the brewing world. This is often the practice of professional brewers.
MASH TUN :The name of the vessel that contains the mash during all-grain brewing.
BASE MALT :The malt used as the main source of sugar for fermentation.
MALT EXTRACT:A concentrated liquid formed from wort that contains the sugars needed for brewing. This is what most homebrewers use instead of all-grain brewing.
SPECIALTY MALTS :Smaller amounts of malt used for flavoring and nuance. These can be steeped like tea instead of turned into a mash.
SPECIALTY GRAIN BILL :This is a list of specialty grains, typically malt, in a beer recipe to be used in addition to the malt extract. These are grains that will be crushed in the grist process and then usually steeped like tea during the boil.
STEEPING GRAINS:These are used to add flavor, nuance, or color for brewers using a malt extract. These do not need to be converted to sugar and can also be steeped like tea.
SPARGING:This comes after the mash, when grains are removed and the liquid is separated, becoming the wort.
GRIST:A mixture of grains that is crushed in a mill and prepared for mashing.
WORT:The name for the liquid that is extracted from the mash. It is pronounced WERT.
ADJUNCT:A starch used in brewing other than malted barley, sometimes used for flavor and sometimes for mouthfeel. It is sometimes used instead of an amount of malt, making the beer cheaper to make.
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