optimum starch content and enzyme
development, then drying it quickly.
This provides starches that convert to
sugars, which then ferment into alcohol
and CO2.

and water with which a brewer begins a
given batch.

Oxidized

Stale - tastes and smells of rotten
pineapple, or sherry, as a result of
oxygen as the beer ages or is exposed to
high temperatures.

Maltose

The main fermentable sugar obtained
from malted grains.

Palate

Taste. Influenced by the grains, hops,
water, yeast, and adjuncts used in
production.

Mash

(Verb) To release malt sugars by soaking
the grains in water. (Noun) The
resultant mixture.

Pale Ale

Light-coloured ales that are usually full-
bodied and on the bitter side.

Mash Tun

The double-jacketed, stainless-steel
vessel in which mashing occurs.

Pasteurisation

Heating of beer to 60-79(°C/140-174°F to
stabilize it microbiologically. Flash-
pasteurisation is applied very briefly, for
15-60 seconds by heating the beer as it
passes through the pipe. Alternately, the
bottled beer can be passed on a conveyor
belt through a heated tunnel. This more
gradual process takes at least 20
minutes and sometimes much longer.

Mash Tun

A tank where grist is soaked in water
and heated in order to convert the starch
to sugar and extract the sugars and
other solubles from the grist.

Mashing

The preparation of the wort, the liquid
base of beer. Mashing converts starches
to sugars by mixing malted barley with
hot water.

Pasteurisation

The process of heating finished beer to
kill all living organisms in it, thereby
stabilizing it for shipping and increased

Maltose

A water soluble, fermentable sugar
contained in malt.

Medicinal

Chemical or phenolic character; can be
the result of wild yeast, contact with

shelf life.
flavour and aroma of medicine, plastic,

Phenolic

plastic, or sanitizer residue.
Tastes tinny, bloodlike or metal-like;

smoke, or cloves; caused by wild yeast or
bacteria, or sanitizer residue.

Metallic

may come from bottle caps or metal
casks.

Pilsner

A type of lager beer, first made in
Czechoslovakia in the late 13th century.

Mouth-feel

A sensation derived from the consistency
or viscosity of a beer, described, for
example as thin or full.

Pitch
Pitching

To add yeast to wort.
Adding yeast to the wort in the

fermentation tank.
Expresses the specific gravity as the

Musty

Mouldy, mildewy character; can be the
result of cork or bacterial infection.

Plato, degrees

weight of extract in a 100 gram solution
at 64°F (17.5°C). Refinement of the
Balling scale.

Original gravity

A measurement of the density of
fermentable sugars in a mixture of malt
and water with which a brewer begins a
given batch.

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