Breweries Industry Terminology

Alcohol by Volume (ABV)

Percentage of ethanol in beer by volume; the primary measure of beer strength.

Common ABV target for the stout is 8.0%; Our NA beer must remain below 0.5% ABV in the U.S.; Some states require ABV to appear on labels.

Alpha Acids

Hop resins (humulones) that isomerize during boiling to produce bitterness.

Select a 13% AA hop to hit the bittering target; High-alpha varieties lower hop bill cost; Late additions use lower alpha for aroma focus.

Attenuation

Percentage of fermentable sugars consumed by yeast, affecting ABV, body, and residual sweetness.

This yeast attenuates around 78% apparent; Under-attenuated batch flagged for QA review; Adjust mash temp to influence attenuation.

Beer Barrel (BBL)

U.S. beer volume unit equal to 31 gallons (117.35 liters), used for brewhouse size and production reporting.

We’re a 15 BBL brewhouse; Brew a 100 BBL batch for the summer seasonal; Report monthly production in BBLs to regulators.

Brewhouse Efficiency

Ratio of extract captured in the kettle to the theoretical maximum from the grist, impacting yield and cost.

We hit 86% efficiency on today’s mash; Tighten the mill gap to raise brewhouse efficiency; Sparge slower to improve efficiency.

Bright Tank

Pressure-capable vessel for conditioning, clarifying, and carbonating finished beer prior to packaging or service.

Transfer the pilsner to the bright tank for carbonation; CIP the bright after canning; Hold finished beer cold in brite for packaging.

Clean-in-Place (CIP)

Automated cleaning and sanitizing of tanks and lines using circulated caustic, acid, and sanitizer solutions.

Run a hot caustic CIP on FV-4; Verify return conductivity during CIP; Finish with a peracetic acid sanitize cycle.

Cold Chain

Maintaining refrigerated conditions from packaging through distribution and retail to preserve freshness and stability.

Require cold chain for all hazy IPA shipments; Breaks in cold chain accelerate hop aroma loss; Use data loggers to verify temps.

Conditioning

Post-fermentation maturation to refine flavor, reduce off-notes, clarify, and achieve target carbonation.

Cold-condition the lager at 1°C for four weeks; Warm condition the ale to finish carbonation; Add finings during conditioning.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Direct costs to produce and package beer, including ingredients, packaging materials, and direct labor/overhead.

Track COGS per BBL to manage margin; Switching to lighter cans cuts packaging COGS; Hop contracts help stabilize COGS.

Depletions

Distributors’ sales to retail; a core industry metric of market pull-through and brand health.

Depletions grew 12% in Q2; Sales incentives are tied to depletions, not shipments; Watch depletions velocity at key chains.

Diacetyl Rest

A warm hold near the end of fermentation to allow yeast to reduce vicinal diketones (VDKs) like diacetyl.

Raise to 65°F for a two-day D-rest; VDK test cleared before crash cooling; Perform D-rest after dry hop to prevent reappearance.

Dissolved Oxygen (DO)

Oxygen dissolved in wort/beer that accelerates staling; critical to control post-fermentation and at packaging.

Keep package DO under 50 ppb; We saw a DO spike at the filler bowl; Purge lines to minimize DO pickup.

Draft/Draught

Beer dispensed from kegs via draft systems; includes on-premise service standards and line maintenance.

This is a draft-only release; Rotate draft lines monthly; Draft accounts drive higher gross margin.

Dry Hopping

Adding hops post-boil (often during or after fermentation) to increase aroma and flavor with minimal bitterness.

Double dry hop at 3 lb/BBL; Use hop pellets for better dispersion; Cooler dry hop to limit hop creep.

European Brewery Convention (EBC) Color

European color scale for beer and malt; approximate conversion is EBC ≈ 1.97 × SRM.

Target 10 EBC for the pils; Malt spec shows 6 EBC; 20 EBC roughly equals 10 SRM.

Esters

Fruity aroma compounds produced by yeast (e.g., isoamyl acetate), influenced by temperature, yeast strain, and pitch rate.

Control esters by lowering fermentation temperature; Hefeweizen shows strong banana esters; Oxygen at pitch increased esters.

Excise Tax

Government tax on beer production or sales; rates vary by jurisdiction and may have small-brewer reductions.

Calculate federal excise tax by BBL; Small brewer rate applies up to the threshold; Remit excise taxes monthly.

Final Gravity (FG)

Specific gravity after fermentation, reflecting residual sugars and body; used to compute ABV and attenuation.

Expected FG is 1.012; High FG signals possible stuck fermentation; Confirm attenuation with FG reading.

Filtration

Clarification method using media (DE, membranes, sheets) or equipment (centrifuge) to remove solids and haze.

Switch from DE filtration to a centrifuge; Filter the lager to 1 micron; Precoat depth filters carefully.

Flocculation

Yeast’s tendency to clump and settle; affects clarity, conditioning time, and flavor carryover.

High-floc English yeast drops bright quickly; Poor flocculation is causing haze; Adjust calcium to influence flocculation.

Glycol System

Chilled propylene glycol loop and jackets that control tank temperatures for fermentation and lagering.

Repair the glycol chiller before the next brew; Set the jacket to 2°C; Insulate lines to reduce glycol losses.

Grain Bill

The recipe’s list and proportions of malts and adjuncts that determine gravity, color, and flavor.

Update the grain bill to lighten color; 95% Pils, 5% Carafoam; Add oats to the grain bill for body.

Great American Beer Festival (GABF)

Major U.S. beer festival and competition; medals influence brand recognition, trade interest, and sales.

Submit the IPA to GABF; A gold at GABF spiked depletions; Staff the booth for GABF sessions.

Gross Margin

Revenue minus COGS, expressed as a percentage; primary profitability metric at product and channel levels.

Raise price to protect gross margin; Draft has stronger gross margin than package; Monitor margin by SKU.

Heat Exchanger

Plate or tubular device that rapidly cools hot wort to pitching temperature using cold water/glycol.

Knockout through the plate heat exchanger to 18°C; Fouling reduced heat exchanger efficiency; CIP the HX after brew day.

Hectoliter (hL)

Metric volume unit equal to 100 liters; commonly used for brewhouse size and production reporting globally.

We run a 20 hL brewhouse; Forecast 1,200 hL this quarter; Convert BBLs to hL for export reports.

Hop Creep

Enzymatic conversion of dextrins from dry hops causing renewed fermentation, CO2, ABV rise, and potential diacetyl.

Monitor diacetyl after dry hop to manage hop creep; Spund to control pressure during hop creep; Lower temp dry hop to reduce risk.

Hop Storage Index (HSI)

Indicator of hop oxidation/age; higher HSI means more degradation and lower aroma quality.

Reject lots with high HSI; Nitrogen-flush cold storage to slow HSI; Check HSI on old crop hops.

Hot Break

Coagulated proteins and polyphenols formed during the boil that help clarity and stability when removed.

Vigorous boil improves hot break; Skim hot break to reduce haze; Good hot break aids stable foam.

Inline Carbonation

Injecting CO2 into beer in a flowing stream (often via a stone) to reach target carbonation efficiently.

Inline carbonate to 2.5 volumes CO2; Calibrate the carb stone; Inline system shortens bright tank time.

International Bitterness Units (IBU)

Quantifies beer bitterness, approximating iso-alpha acid concentration (mg/L); measured or calculated.

Target 60 IBU for the West Coast IPA; Whirlpool adds fewer IBUs than kettle; Lab-measured IBUs differ from calculated.

IRI/NIQ Scan Data

Retail point-of-sale scanner datasets used to analyze category trends, share, velocity, price, and promotion.

Use IRI to track velocities at national chains; NIQ shows our share gains in the region; Optimize pack mix from scan data.

Isomerization

Conversion of hop alpha acids to iso-alpha acids during heating, creating bitterness.

A 60-minute addition maximizes isomerization; Lower boil gravity increases isomerization efficiency; Whirlpool has limited isomerization.

Jacketed Tank

Fermenters or brite tanks with external jackets for precise temperature control using glycol.

FV-7 has dual cooling jackets; Use the cone jacket to drop yeast faster; Check for glycol leaks on the jackets.

Kegging

Filling beer into kegs for draft service; includes washing, sanitizing, and counter-pressure filling.

Set up the keg washer before kegging; Switch to Sankey D kegs; Verify dissolved oxygen during kegging.

Krausening

Adding actively fermenting wort to finished beer for natural carbonation and flavor cleanup.

Krausen the lager to reduce diacetyl; Use 5–10% actively fermenting wort; Natural carbonation via krausening.

Lagering

Cold storage maturation phase for lagers to refine flavor, reduce sulfur/VDKs, and improve clarity.

Lager at 0–2°C for four weeks; Extended lagering improves clarity; Shorten lagering with a centrifuge assist.

Lautering

Separating sweet wort from the spent grain bed after mashing, often via a lauter tun.

Vorlauf until clear, then lauter; Reduce lauter flow to avoid a stuck mash; Check lauter grant oxygen pickup.

Mash pH

Acidity of the mash; affects enzyme activity, extract efficiency, mouthfeel, and color.

Target mash pH 5.2–5.4; Add lactic acid to adjust; Water profile shifts changed mash pH today.

Mash Tun

Vessel where grist and hot liquor are combined for enzymatic conversion of starches to sugars.

Our infusion mash tun holds 20 hL; Rakes improved mash tun efficiency; CIP the mash tun after lautering.

Microbiological Stability

Beer’s resistance to contamination by yeast, bacteria, and molds; influenced by hygiene, process controls, and pasteurization.

ATP swabs flagged filler hygiene; Tunnel pasteurization improved microbiological stability; Keep cold chain to limit spoilage.

Non-Alcoholic (NA) Beer

Beer produced at or below the legal non-alcohol threshold (jurisdiction-dependent; often ≤0.5% ABV).

U.S. NA beers are typically ≤0.5% ABV; Use arrested fermentation for NA; Flash pasteurize NA products.

On-Premise/Off-Premise

Sales channels: on-premise (bars/restaurants/venues) versus off-premise (retail stores).

Shift volume to off-premise for summer; On-premise mix boosts draft margins; Tailor packages by channel.

Original Gravity (OG)

Specific gravity of wort before fermentation; indicates potential alcohol and body.

OG for this IPA is 1.060; Adjust boil to hit OG; OG and FG determine ABV.

Pasteurization (Tunnel or Flash)

Thermal treatment to inactivate microbes, via tunnel (packaged) or flash (in-line) systems.

Target 15 PU in the tunnel; Flash pasteurize the NA lager; Verify heat penetration with data loggers.

Phenolics

Aroma/flavor compounds (spicy, clove, smoky, or medicinal) from yeast metabolism or process/ingredient interactions.

Belgian yeast yields clove-like phenolics; Chlorophenols from chlorine cause medicinal notes; Manage mash temps to control phenolics.

Pitching Rate

Quantity of yeast cells inoculated per unit volume and gravity; affects fermentation speed and flavor profile.

Pitch 1 million cells per mL per °P; Under-pitching boosted esters; Increase pitching rate for high-gravity wort.

Plato

Mass-based measure of wort sugars (degrees °P); roughly correlates with OG (°P ≈ (OG−1)×1000/4).

Brew the pilsner at 12°P; Convert 1.048 OG to about 12°P; Yeast pitching is set per degree Plato.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC)

Systems, tests, and procedures to ensure beer meets specifications and regulatory standards consistently.

QC checks DO and CO2 on every run; QA schedules daily sensory panel; Update SOPs per QA audit findings.