Zythology in wine country: a beer glossary

Craft beer is beer produced by an independent brewery, often with an emphasis on quality, innovation and local ingredients.

Brewing is the process of making beer. It involves :

• transforming malted cereals into sweet wort
• boiling the wort with hops
• fermenting the wort by adding yeast

Wort is the sweet liquid obtained by soaking and rinsing malted grain in hot water during brewing.

Hops are a perennial plant used in beer brewing to add bitterness, aroma and flavor.

Yeast is a micro-organism used in beer brewing to ferment the sugar in the wort into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Fermentation is the biological process by which yeast converts sugars in the must into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Boiling is a step in the brewing process where the wort is brought to the boil to add hops and sterilize the liquid before fermentation.

Carbonation is the process by which beer is saturated with carbon dioxide, usually by adding sugar or by forced carbonation.

Packaging is the final process of preparing beer for bottling or kegging, often including filtration, carbonation and pasteurization.

Spent grain is the fibrous, moist residue left after filtration. It is made up of the cereal grains used to extract the sugars during the brewing process. At Brasserie de France, we recycle our spent grain by giving it to a farmer to feed his cattle.

Bitterness is a perceived flavor in beer, often attributed to hops, which is usually balanced by the sweetness of malt.

Aromas are the smells perceived in beer, which can be due to a variety of ingredients such as hops, malt, yeast and additives.

Flavors are the gustatory characteristics perceived in beer, encompassing a range of profiles from sweet and salty to bitter and sour.

Body is the mouthfeel of beer, often described as light, medium or full, resulting from wort density and alcohol content.

Here are the volume measurement units for beer:

• a galopin: equivalent to 12.5 cl (except in Switzerland, where it’s a 20 cl glass)
• demi or bock: equivalent to 25 cl
• flask: equivalent to 33 cl in Belgium
• a pint: generally equivalent to around 588 milliliters in the UK, or 473 milliliters in the USA. In France, a pint is served in a 500-milliliter glass. Other terms for pints include chope or canette
• a pint: 58.8 cl, also known as a pinte in the UK
• a formidable or parfait: equivalent to 1 liter or litron.
• a serious with 2 liters of beer
• a giraffe: equivalent to 2.5 liters of beer

It’s best to enjoy your beer in a tasting glass, specially designed for appreciating beer. It is often conical or tulip-shaped. This shape concentrates the aromas.