Help the new guy

[illini88]

Hi all. I'm new to brewing and have noticed a lot of terms I'm not familiar with.

I didn't see a glossary on this site, so I thought I would post the terms I don't know.

Feel free to answer those you know.

Thanks

All grain
Secondary Fermenter (how is this done?)
Repitch yeast
Mashed
Racked
Racked to Tertiary

That's it for now. I'm sure more will come up.

 

[kneemoe]

alright! questions i can actually answer!

All Grain refers to a brewing process where you aren't using *any* extracts, such as the canned (Liquid, or 'LME') or bagged (Dry, hence 'DME') malts and instead 'mashing' the grain(s) to extract the fermentables in the brew-kitchen

a secondary fermenter is used to get you're virgin beer off the trub at the bottom of you're bucket - after the primary ferment is completed you end up with a thick sludge that can have ill-effects on the taste of your brew. basiclly it can be a carboy, or another plastic bucket, with an airlock, where you'll let the brew age and settle a bit before bottling or kegging.

you repitch yeast (usually) only if you've managed to kill the yeast somehow....it just means you're adding more yeast.

mashing is the process thru which you extract the good stuff from grain, it can be a complicated process, but generally it means keeping the brew at like 160(?) for long durations (hour or more) to get all the goodies out.

you rack a beer by moving it from the primary fermenter to the secondary, or to the third, tertiary, fermenter

and i think that kinda answers everything
dan w

 

[illini88]

I'm appreciative of the quick response.

 

[Kephren]

Good questions, btw. When I was new to brewing, I didn't know any of those either, but didn't want to look silly by asking I guess we do throw around these terms quite a bit without thinking about whether the new brewers know what we're talking about. Back then, I knew I had to siphon my beer from one container to another, but had no idea how to 'rack' it and what special equipment I needed (a racking cane????). Turns out I knew what I needed to know, but just didn't understand the terminology (so I need to siphon using that bent tube thingy? - yes, rack it using a racking cane). Also, mashing = soaking. Turns out mashing potatoes is not at all like mashing grains We should put a glossary in the FAQ section.

 

[Rhoobarb]

I always recommend John Palmer's online book How To Brew to all newbies. I also has a Glossary.

 

[illini88]

I've added that to my favorites section.

Thanks!

 

[El Pistolero]

hey illini88,

illini 77 here...had a slice of papa del's lately.

 

[Cheesefood]

Charlie Papazian's The Complete Joy of Home Brewing came highly recommended to me, and it's helped me make two pretty decent brews so far. Number three is in the primary, waiting for me to buy a secondary.