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| DRINKING GLOSSARY After Hours – The time in which bar staff, friends and best customers are allowed to remain in the bar and drink after closing hours. Alcohol By Volume (ABV) – The measure of the amount of space the alcohol in a beer takes up as a percentage of total volume. This is the worldwide standard for measuring the alcohol content in beer. The United States traditionally used alcohol by weight (ABW) to measure alcohol content, but more and more American brewers are now adopting ABV. Ale – Ales are made with "top-fermenting" strains of yeast – yeast that ferments at the top of the fermentation tank. Balance – Refers to the overall harmony of flavors in a beer. More specifically, it usually refers to the levels of hops and malts. For example, if a beer's taste is predominately malt oriented, it is said to be balanced toward malts. Barley – A grain that is kilned creating a malt. Malts are one of the main ingredients in beer. Beer – A beverage brewed from malted barley and other grains cultured with yeast and flavored with hops. There are many varieties including ale, porter, malt liquor, bock and lager. For an overview of beer styles, see the Beer Styles page. Beer Bong / Funnel – A contraption whose sole purpose is to allow speedy consumption of beer. A beer is poured into a funnel that’s connected to a tube, and the drinker waits at the bottom, chugging the beer through the tube in a matter of seconds. Beer Goggles – A state in which your consumption of alcohol lowers your standards and makes members of the opposite sex appear more attractive than they really are. Beer Hat/Helmet – An accessory that not only negates your need to use a comb, but also supplies a steady stream of beer via the two cans attached to the sides of the helmet. Beer Olympics – Games consisting of many beer-related events, in which teams compete. Games can include but are not limited to beer pong, flip cup and quarters. Beer Pong/Beirut – A fun and competitive drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table, with the intent of landing the ball in their opponent’s cup. Teams usually play with six to ten cups per side, with each cup partially filled with beer. Upon landing a ball in your opponent’s cup, he or she must drain the cup of its contents. This game is competitive drinking at its finest. Beer Run – A quick trip to your local store to restock your fridge with beer. Beer runs often occur during halftime of a game or before guests arrive. Beer Wench – A term, primarily used in Australia, to describe a woman who serves beer in a bar or at a sports game. Bitter – A sharp, tangy sensation that comes from hops in beer. Bock – A dark, strong beer traditionally brewed in the fall, aged in casks throughout the winter and then consumed at its peak in the spring. Body – Refers to the thickness of a beer in your mouth. Can be described as Full, medium, or thin-bodied. For example, a stout should tend to be more full- bodied, while a pale lager should be thin-bodied. Body Shot – A shot of liquor consumed off a person’s body. Boozehound – A term used to describe one who drinks excessively. Car Bomb – A drink composed of Guinness, Bailey’s Irish Cream and Jameson whiskey. A shot of Jameson topped with Bailey’s is dropped into the glass of Guinness. Once mixed, the drink is typically chugged quickly to prevent the cream from curdling. Cloying – A beer that is overly sweet to the point of being unpleasant. Cold Filtering – An alternative to pasteurizing beer, in which the beer is passed through a very fine filter that removes the yeast and halts the fermentation process. Dextrin – The unfermentable carbohydrate produced by the enzymes in barley. It gives the beer flavor and body. Drunk Dial – An occurrence in which an intoxicated individual places a call that he or she would never make while sober. This phenomenon has been extended to text messages, e-mails and messages on social networking sites like Facebook. Dry Hopping – The addition of dry hops during first or secondary fermentation to add a hoppy character to the beer without affecting the beers bitterness. Fermentation – The process of sugars being converted to alcohol and CO2 by yeast. Final Gravity – The weight of a beer after fermentation. Flaming Dr. Pepper – A drink composed of beer, Amaretto and Bacardi 151 that tastes shockingly similar to Dr. Pepper. A shot glass of Amaretto is topped off with 151 and then lit on fire. Dropping the shot into a glass of beer extinguishes the flame and leaves the imbiber with a potent glass of fun. Flip Cup – A popular, team-based drinking game in which a team of players, usually in a line, drinks a beer and then must flip his/her cup from upright to upside down. This takes place with one teammate from each side going down the line until the last participant drinks and flips his cup before his opponent, which signals a win for the team. Grist – Brewers’ term for milled grains, or the combination of milled grains to be used in a particular brew. Happy Hour – A period of time in which a bar or restaurant offers discounted alcohol and/or food. This is usually the best part of one’s day. Hard Cider – An alcoholic beverage made from fermented apples. Hops – The dried blossom of the female hop plant, which is a climbing herb (Humulus lupulus). Hops closest relative is the cannabis plant from which marijuana is derived. Only the seed cones from the female vine are used in making beer. Hops are responsible for the bitterness in beer. International Bittering Units (IBUs) – A measure of the bitterness in a beer. The most bitter beers can be over 100 IBUs. Irish Goodbye – A term used to describe the practice of leaving unexpectedly and unannounced from a venue in which one’s friends are gathered. Jäger Bomb – A drink composed of a shot of Jägermeister dropped into a glass of Red Bull meant to be consumed quickly, as if doing a really large shot. Keg Stand – A maneuver in which a willing participant, or one who easily succumbs to peer pressure, is suspended over a keg and guzzles beer while upside down. He or she is usually held in place by a couple friends/overzealous onlookers. Lager – Lagers, which comes from the German word "lagern" which means "to store”, are made with "bottom-fermenting" strains of yeast which means that the yeast ferments at the bottom of the fermentation tank and are typically brewed for longer periods of time than ales and at colder temperatures. Last Call – An announcement made by a bartender in which he/she warns the patrons that they may purchase just one final drink before the establishment closes for the evening. Light-Struck – Skunklike smell of beer resulting from exposure to light. This typically happens to beers bottled in clear or green bottles which allow more light to enter the bottle. Light Weight – One incapable of holding his or her liquor. Often quick to become intoxicated, pass out or get sick. Liquid Confidence – An unnatural confidence brought on by alcohol that leads you to assume better standing with attractive members of the opposite sex or say how you really feel about someone much larger than you. Liquor – A distilled alcoholic beverage. For an overview of different types of liquor, see the Liquor Styles page. Magnum – A bottle that has the capacity to hold 1.5 liters, typically used for wine or champagne. Malts – One of the main ingredients of beer, malt is barley which has been steeped in water, allowed to germinate, and then heat dried which stops germination. The type of barley, the level of germination allowed and the temperature of drying all influence the resulting flavor of the malts. Mashing – The process where the grist is added to hot water in order to extract the fermentable sugars from the malts. This process creates wort. Mash Tun – The vessel in which mashing occurs. Moonshine – A term for illegal alcohol distilled at home using unlicensed and often crudely made instruments. Moonshine’s popularity peaked during Prohibition, one of the saddest times in our nation’s history. Neat – A bartending term for liquor consumed without ice or mixers. Night Cap – The practice of having just one last drink at home before the night is officially over. Original Gravity – The weight of a beer before fermentation. Pasteurization – Heating of beer to 60-79°C/140-174°F to purify it by killing harmful bacteria Pitching – The process of adding yeast to the wort in the fermentation tank. Power Hour – A drinking game in which each participant drinks one shot of beer per minute for one hour. Pregaming – Drinking at home or at the home of a friend before heading out for the evening. Prohibition – A law that prohibits the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The United States suffered through Prohibition from 1920 to 1933. Some historians (we) speculate that Prohibition is what caused the Great Depression, as lack of booze depressed the populace and the economy. Remember, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Proof – The measure of the strength of the alcohol. One degree of proof equals one-half of one percent of alcohol. For example, 80 proof equals 40% alcohol. Quarters – A popular drinking game in which players bounce a quarter off the table into a shot glass or cup. Shelf life – The number of days a beer will retain the peak of its drinkability. Sommelier – A trained wine professional, often employed by a bar or restaurant to develop wine lists, pair wine and food and oversee the buying and storage of wines. Tailgating – The practice of arriving to a sports game early to eat and drink outside of one’s car, in which participants will set up grills, coolers or kegs and even TVs. Tannins – Plant polyphenols that have an astringent or bitter taste and give certain wines that dry, puckery feeling of the mouth. Tun – Any large vessels used in brewing. Two Beer Trip – A term used to describe a trip, either by car or on foot, that takes about as long as it takes to drink two beers. One knows this time similarity because one is typically drinking during the trip. Varietal – The designation given to a wine made entirely from one variety of grape. Whiskey Dick – An unfortunate circumstance in which heavy consumption of alcohol renders a man incapable of performing in bed. Wine – An alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of grapes. For an overview of wine styles, see the Wine Styles page. Wino – A slang term for one who consumes large quantities of wine, often of the cheap, fortified variety. Wort – Created by mashing, wort is liquid malt extract that is ready for the fermentation tank where yeast will be added. Wort is basically the beer before it actually becomes beer Yeast – Single celled organisms of the fungus family that are responsible for converting the sugars contained in malt into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Saccharomyces Cerevisiae is used to make ales and Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis is used to make lagers. Zymurgy – The science of fermentation. Want to see a term defined? E-mail us: editor@thecommonconnoisseur.com |