Dry hopping is the process of adding hops late in the process, usually in the primary fermenter after fermentation has completed or into a secondary fermenter. It is meant to add extra hop aroma without imparting too much bitterness to the final beer.
Category: Brew Terminology
Brew Terminology: Kraeusen
Kraeusen is the name for the darker, spotted, almost rocky head of foam that forms on the surface of the wort during the fermentation period. It often forms a ring on the fermentation vessel even after the beer has completed fermentation.
Brew Terminology: Alcohol
The term alcohol when applied to beer is really just a synonym for either ethyl alcohol or ethanol. Most craft beer styles range between 3.2% to 10% alcohol by volume (ABV), although some are even lower or higher than that.
Brew Terminology: Bottle Conditioning
Bottle conditioning is the process through which beer is naturally carbonated in the bottle as a result of fermentation. Usually this is accomplished by adding a priming sugar during the bottling process.
Brew Terminology: Alpha Acid
A naturally occurring soft resins in hops. Alpha Acids are converted during wort boiling to iso-alpha acids, which adds bitterness to beer. Over time alpha acids will age out (through oxidation) and bitterness will lessen.