As a brewer, we recognize both your artistic and scientific knowledge of all things beer, including a diverse language set related to the craft beer and brewing industry. But even though we all like to think we know it all, we all also know none of us actually knows it all. You know?
In honor of knowing or not knowing, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to compile a short dictionary list of sorts of some less commonly known beer and brewing terms.
So when it comes time to actually knowing it all, you might be a little bit closer than you were five minutes ago. You know?
Not-so-common beer and brewing terms and their definitions
Acrospire
Barley is what we live for, so we must let you know that an acrospire is the shoot that first appears upon germination of the seed of a barley grain.
Ale-conner
Originating in the 1300s in England, an ale-conner was appointed by a town official to go house to house to taste and test beer. If beer was found to not be of high quality, the brewer could be ordered to pay fines.
Beerstone
No, a beerstone is not like a pizza stone. It’s not appetizing at all as it is actually an ugly coating and hard film created by the combination of calcium oxalate, protein, and sugar that can settle in the kettle from improper cleaning.
Chlorophenolic
When chlorine and organic compounds come together, a not-so-pleasant odor reminiscent of plastic, referred to as chlorophenolic, often forms resulting in off flavors and aromas in the beer.
Farnesene
When the cone of a hop plant (Humulus lupulus) flowers, it creates essential oils. Farnesene is one of those oils and is generally, if used at all, found in small amounts in brewing.
Meniscus
You may recognize this term if you think of it in conjunction with a hydrometer, as a meniscus is the curved surface of liquid in a container. That curved surface is from the surface tension in response to the container and the liquid.
Myrcene
Like farnesene, myrcene is an essential oil that is a natural occurrence when the hop plant flowers. How ripe a hop plant is can be determined by the amount of myrcene oil in the plant.
Ninkasi
Yes, Ninkasi is a well-known brewery out of Oregon, but more importantly, Ninkasi is the ancient Sumerian goddess of beer who held that reign during the 5th to the 3rd millennium BC in what is now modern day Iraq.
Punt
Some bottles have a small indentation on the bottom. This hollow bottom is called a punt. Although more commonly found on wine bottles, the punt was initially believed to 1) make the bottle less wobbly when standing, 2) increase ease of carry, and 3) collect sediment inside the bottle.
Tegestologist
Those coasters you set out to protect your bartop have a greater purpose, especially to a tegestologist. What is a tegestologist, you ask? A tegestologist is one who collects beer mats, more commonly known as coasters. The practice of collecting these coasters is tegestology.
Trigeminal Nerves
Without these nerves, your beer could not be judged properly. The trigeminal nerves are located on the face, giving us the ability to sense temperature and texture. With these, we are able to detect hot versus cold temperatures and a variety of descriptors to help identify the beers we love. A few of those descriptors include silky versus astringent, thin versus heavy, dry versus cloying, and more.
Zymurgy
Yes, we know. It’s a magazine. But where did that name come from? Zymurgy is the specific branch of chemistry that focuses on the process of fermentation.
Fun with beer and brewing words
Every good student knows that in order to learn new words, one should use them in a sentence or two. Or even a poem.
An Ode to a Brewer
You set your standards to what Ninkasi would expect from you, so that when the ale-conner comes a calling there shall be no fines paid, just fun.
And the moment you set eyes on the acrospire across the field, you knew that piece of grain was going to be the one.
There may be a punt at the bottom of your bottled liquid gold, but ne’er an ounce of unwanted farnesene.
Your beloved equipment is free from beerstone and your beloved beer will always have just the right amount of myrcene.
The meniscus wraps itself around your finished product like a protective blanket knowing that you need it to be just the right number.
And as the tegestologist walks in, eyeing your perfectly curated list of craft beers, you know their trigeminal nerves will never, ever, experience a chlorophenolic odor.
You did, after all, choose a career in zymurgy.
And that, for all beer lovers, is true serendipity!
MMC Knows Malts
There you have it. A list of words that might just elevate your beer and brewing knowledge to the next level. Or, at the very least, get you a few more points at your next trivia night.
Knowing more words is always a valuable experience, but knowing that your malting company is an expert in what those words mean to your beer is what really counts.
And here at MMC, we put our words into action to ensure that you get the highest quality malts alongside the highest quality service, making sure that you’ll never owe penance to the ale-conner.
“Malt should not be something that somebody has to worry about. That’s our job as maltsters. We produce something consistent and to specification every time and take that off of your plate.” (Joel Grosser, Director of Operations for North America)
Premium grains from field to flavor.
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About Malteurop Malting Company (MMC)
Malteurop Malting Company (MMC) is based in North America—specializing in growing and producing quality malts for the beer, whiskey, and food processing industries. With local farms and Malthouses spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, Malteurop’s commitment to excellence is fully ingrained into every batch it produces, ensuring businesses of any size can create the finest beverages and food products on the planet.
Visit www.malteuropmaltingco.com to learn how we can support your malting needs.
Contact us at customersuccess@malteurop.com or (844) 546-MALT (6258) for questions or to place your order.
Malting is our passion. Quality is our promise.
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https://www.craftbeer.com/beer/beer-glossary
https://www.homewetbar.com/blog/beer-terms/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/9-obscure-beer-words
https://www.asianbeernetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Asian-Beer-Network-Brewing-Glossary.pdf
https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/?hPP=20&idx=prod_unfiltered&p=0&is_v=1&q=hop%20oils
https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/why-wine-bottles-have-punts-bottom/