Brewing Terminology

[joecast]

hi all,
im a bit new to home brewing and very new to this site. i have checked a few other places on the web for brewing terms but was hoping to get something more centralised and easier to use. since the people here seem pretty knowledgable i was hoping for some help. just post anything you would classify a "brewing term" and a short definition. thanks
joe

 

[GSRman]

LME = Liquid Malt Extract (goo!)
DME = Dried Malt Extract (powdery stuff)
any letters in from of these generally indicate colour..

like LLME Light Liquid Malt Extract
A for Amber, D for Dark, P for Pale

 

[Doc]

You are in luck.
I have a little document that I have accumlated over time acronyms etc for lots of brewing terms.
It is very rough with multiple entries for lots of the acronyms.
Hopefully it helps though.

Beers,
Doc

View attachment Brewing_Dictionary_Acronyms.pdf

 

[joecast]

that answers a lot of questions. thanks guys, any more will be appreciated
joe

how about this one...autolysis??
i think the spelling is right. something about yeast going bad...maybe??

 

[Trev]

Joe,

Autolysis occurs when the yeast begin to die and break down, releasing all their internals into the brew. From what I have read this takes quite a few weeks of them lying in the bottom of the fermentor for the types of yeasts we use for beermaking. If it does occur it is characterised by rubbery/sulphur tastes and smells and by all accounts once experienced - never forgotten.

This I believe is one reason why a lot of brewers recommend racking the beer, ie siphoning from one fermenter to another after a small number of days of primary fermentation. The dead and tired yeast has flocculated out (sorry, I've just always wanted to use a word like that in polite conversation) which is to say its dropped to the bottom. When you rack your beer you leave all of that behind and therefore you can leave your brew in the second fermenter for a few weeks to condition without any great danger of this Autolysis happening.


Trev

 

[deebee]

Joe,

Here is another good explanation of autolysis, lifted from the grumpys forum courtesy of "Leo".

(Hope you don't mind Leo...)

It seems that your yeast has three stages in a wort. In the first stage it metabolises aerobically and will reproduce rapidly. When most of the oxygen is consumed the yeast will metabolise anaerobically and cease to reproduce as much. At this point the end-product of the yeast's energy metabolism is ethanol (alcohol). The third stage is flocculation, where the yeast ceases to metabolise sugars and will flocculate and settle.

It seems that if this yeast is re-suspended it can move back into stage two if there is still free sugar to ferment, or even stage 1 if there is enough oxygen (this can also be limited by high alcohol content). However if the yeast is allowed to sit in a 'cake' on the base of the fermenter, most of it has no contact with new sugars, and therefore no energy substrate for metabolic maintenance. The yeast cells will then die and break themselves down. Their own enzymes act to break down the yeast cells, thus the term 'autolysis'. It is supposed to be the protein that is released by this process that gives you the Vegimite flavours (Vegemite is after all made from yeast).

The 'autolysis' of yeast seems to be increased at higher temperatures and time.

 

[joecast]

continuing the "autolysis" theme. leo added this (vie deebee):

"It seems that if this yeast is re-suspended it can move back into stage two if there is still free sugar to ferment, or even stage 1 if there is enough oxygen (this can also be limited by high alcohol content)."

so then would it be a good idea to give the wort a stir after about 4-5 days (when the bubbling has slowed) to reintroduce the yeast and sugar if there is any left? i havent read anywhere that has suggested this so i am guessing its probably not encouraged. however racking the wort to a secondary fermenter would have a similair effect as well as exposing more oxygen.

anyway thanks for the help so far. and good job to trev for using the word "flocculate" first in this thread.

joe

 

[Gout]

so what happens when you bottled beer is stored for a long time with its little yeast cake in the bottle.... wont it die and make off flavours??

never found it to, and would think maybe there is not enough yeast to produce off flavours but just interested to know why/why not

regards
Ben

 

[deebee]

Don't know the answer to your Q Ben, but would like to.

joecast, stirring the wort is discouraged because it apparently does increase the risk of autolysis. Never happened to me, so don't know. Stirring at the late stage would be pointless anyway because there should be no sugars left for the yeast to metabolise.

Racking is said to be better anyway because it rouses the yeast at the same time as reducing the risk of autolysis and without exposing the brew to too much oxygen. Some say it should be done half way through the ferment (ie at half gravity) others say later. See www.grumpys.com.au for one view and www.howtobrew.com for the other. Others say it is a really bad idea ( I think they are scared of bad sanitation)

 

[hellbent]

you blokes are just unreal thanks for the help..... am going to have a bash at this syphoning and steeping and all that with my next batch....theres an old saying .... "try and try again, with every three failures theres one victory!" and its that one victory that wins the war
once again thanks guys yu will be hearing more from me
greatsite great people
Al

 

[wee stu]

Partial mash?

Would like to have some descriptions of what constitutes a partial mash. Seriously.

 

[dicko]

G'Day We Stu,
A partial mash is when you use grains mashed as only a part of your wort for the brew.
A good example of this is Grumpys Excelsior recipe of their website where you use a tin of liquid malt and mash some pale ale malt barley grain and some wheat malt grain, boil your selection of hops with this, add to the fermenter and top up with water to achieve the desired SG and volume.
It is a good way to use grains to improve your beer and it gives you the flexibility to make your own recipes but it does not require the equipment you might need to do an All Grain brew.
I hope this helps and I can highly recommend this step as a vast improvement over Kit and Kilo.

Cheers,

 

[wedge]

you can usually do a partial with stuff around the home! There also are great way to get your feet wet!

 

[wee stu]

Big Beer Belly, thanks. That was a really clear, easy to grasp answer. I really appreciate it.

Now, though, let's presume I'm in the kitchen waiting for the feet to get wet, doing a Grumpies Excelsior.

1) they call for mashing 2.75kg malt, how much water do I mash in - enough to cover the grain or more?

2) Mash is done - I have to sparge to get 8-10 litres of wort. Can I do this with a ladle and a collander? Or is it more complex than that? What temp water do I sparge with?

Wedge - whenever I brew, whatever stage in the process, the feet get wet - I always thought that was part of the fun!

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

you can usually do a partial with stuff around the home! There also are great way to get your feet wet!

Especially if you leave the tap open!!

 

[Batz]

Next time I do a partial , I'll take pics and post it similar to my " wyeast starters"

Gives everyone an idea where to start

 

[wee stu]

I'd appreciate that Batz

 

[johnno]

Top idea Batz. It would be GREATLY appreciated by me as well.

cheer