C.H. Evans Brewing Company at the
ALBANY PUMP STATION

How Beer is Made

Important terms

Ale: A type of beer that is fermented at warm temperatures.

Adjunct:  Anything used to provide fermentable material (food for the yeast) that is NOT malt.  Common examples are sugar, honey, rice and corn.

Beer engine: The pump that is used to serve cask-conditioned ales.

Beer: Any fermented beverage using malt, hops, water and yeast as its principle ingredients.

Cask-conditioned: Beer that has been refermented in the cask to provide natural carbonation.

Fermentation: The process by which yeast metabolize sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Fermentor: The vessel in which the beer is fermented.

Hops: Cone-like flowers that grow on a bine (similar to a vine). They add bitterness and a unique flavor and aroma to the beer.

Kettle: The vessel in which the wort is boiled.

Lager: A type of beer that is fermented at cool temperatures.

Malt: grain that has been sprouted and then dried.

Mash: As a noun, the mixture of ground malt and hot water. As a verb, the act of mixing the ground grain and hot water.

Serving tank: The vessels from which beer is served; like a giant keg.

Specific gravity : this is a measure of how much sugar is in the wort prior to fermentation. The more sugar there is, the greater the alcoholic strength of the beer. The sugar in the wort is derived from the malt starch during the mashing process.

Tun: A monosyllabic word meaning "big pot."

Wort: This is the sugary liquid that the brewer makes. Yeast ferment the wort into beer.

Yeast: Microscopic, single-celled fungi that ferment the wort sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Glossary Ingredients Procedures
   

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