Glossary

Some terminology used in the style guidelines may be unfamiliar to some readers. Rather than include a complete dictionary, we have highlighted a few terms that either may not be well understood, or that imply specific meanings within the guidelines. Sometimes ingredient names are used as a shorthand for the character they provide to beer. When judges use these terms, they don’t necessarily imply that those specific ingredients have been used, just that the perceived characteristics match those commonly provided by the mentioned ingredients.

Hop Terms

American hops - modern American brewing hops from the craft beer era, typically having citrusy, resiny, evergreen, or similar characteristics. More modern hops can add even more unusual and experimental characteristics, such as stone fruit, berry, and melon.

Old World hops - traditional European brewing hops, including Saazer-type hops, British brewing hops, and those other varieties from continental Europe. Typically described as floral, spicy, herbal, or earthy. Generally less intense than many New World hops.

New World hops - American hops, along with those from Australia and New Zealand, and other non-Old World locations. Can have all the attributes of classic American hops, as well as tropical fruit, stone fruit, white grape, and other interesting aromatics.

Saazer-type hops - often called noble hops, traditionally among the finest continental European brewing hops. Often having a lightly floral, spicy, or herbal character; rarely brash and aggressive, typically more subtle and elegant in nature.

Malt or Mashing Terms

Munich malt - can provide a bready, richly malty quality that enhances the malt backbone of a beer without adding residual sweetness, although some can confuse maltiness with sweetness. Darker Munich malts can add a deeply toasted malt quality similar to toasted bread crusts.

Vienna malt - can provide a bready-toasty malt presence, but don’t expect the toasted notes to be extreme - they’re more like untoasted bread crusts than toasted bread.

Pilsner or Pils malt - continental Pilsner malt is quite distinctive, and has a slightly sweet, lightly grainy character with a soft, slightly toasty, honey-like quality. Higher in DMS precursors than other malts, its use can sometimes result in a low corny DMS flavor.

Maillard products - a class of compounds produced from complex interactions between sugars and amino acids at high temperatures, resulting in brown colors and rich, malty, sometimes even somewhat meaty compounds. In previous versions of the guidelines, known as melanoidins, which are a subset of Maillard products responsible for red-brown colors (and, according to Kunze, are “aroma-intensive”). In some brewing literature, melanoidin and Maillard product are used interchangeably. The chemistry and flavor characterization is not well understood, so brewers and judges should avoid excessively pedantic discussions around these points. The takeaway is that we mean the richly malty flavors, and need some kind of convenient shorthand to discuss them. Maillard is pronounced, roughly, as “my-YARD.”

Biscuity - dry, toasted grain, flour, or dough flavor reminiscent of English digestive biscuits; in brewing, a flavor commonly associated with Biscuit malt and some traditional English malts.

Yeast or Fermentation Terms

Clean fermentation profile - the quality of having very low to no yeast-derived fermentation by-products in the finished beer, typically implying that there are no esters, diacetyl, acetaldehyde, or similar components, except if specifically mentioned. A shorthand for saying that the long list of possible fermentation by-products are not present in significant or appreciable quantities (barely perceived trace quantities at the threshold of perception are typically acceptable, nonetheless).

Pome fruit - apple, pear, quince. The botanical classification contains other fruit, but these are the common ones we mean.

Stone fruit - fleshy fruit with a single pit (or stone), such as cherry, plum, peach, apricot, mango, etc.

Brett - shorthand term for Brettanomyces, an attenuative genus of yeast that often is used to produce fruity or funky complex flavors (leather, sweat, funk, etc.) in fermented beverages. Literally means “British fungus” and is often associated with qualities produced during barrel aging. Common species used in brewing include B. bruxellensis and B. anomalous, although they are sometimes known by other names; several strains exist with very different profiles (as with S. cerevisiae). May be used as a primary fermentation or secondary fermentation strain.

Quality or Off-Flavor Terms

Adjunct quality - a characteristic of beer aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel that reflects the use of higher percentages of non-malt fermentables. Can present as a corny character, a lighter body than an all-malt product, or a generally thinner-tasting beer. Does not necessarily imply the use of any specific adjunct.

DMS - Dimethyl Sulfide, which can take on a wide range of perceptual characteristics. Most are inappropriate in any style of beer; however, a light cooked corn quality may be apparent in beers with high levels of Pilsner malt. When the guidelines state that any levels of DMS are appropriate, it is this light cooked corn flavor, not other cooked vegetable characteristics or other DMS flavors.

Rustic - coarse, hearty, robust character reminiscent of older, traditional ingredients; perhaps less refined as a general sensory experience. Elegant - smooth, tasteful, refined, pleasant character suggestive of high quality ingredients handled with care; lacking rough edges, sharp flavors, and palate-attacking sensations.

Funky - A positive or negative term, depending on the context. If expected or desirable, can often take on a barnyard, wet hay, slightly earthy, horse blanket, or farmyard character. If too intense, unexpected, or undesirable, can take the form of silage, fecal, baby diaper, or horse stall qualities.

Appearance Terms

Belgian Lace (Lacing) - a characteristic and persistent latticework pattern of foam left on the inside of the glass as a beer is consumed. The look is reminiscent of fine lacework from Brussels or Belgium, and is a desirable indicator of beer quality in Belgium.

Legs - a pattern that a beverage leaves on the inside of a glass after a portion has been consumed. The term refers to the droplets that slowly fall in streams from beverage residue on the side of the glass. Not an indication of quality, but can indicate a higher alcohol, sugar, or glycerol content.