Craft loves its jargon, and it's easy to feel lost in front of a menu or a label. No need to memorise it all to find your way: here are the words that come up most often, explained simply.
- ›ABV (or 'degree') — the alcohol content. Around 4%, it's light and easy; 6 to 7%, it's strong; above 8%, it's a sipping beer. The higher the number, the more you ease off.
- ›IBU — the unit that measures bitterness. The higher the number, the more it tugs at your tongue: around 20 is very soft, about 40 balanced, above 60 it starts to bite. An IPA often sits between 40 and 60.
- ›Hops — the little flower that perfumes and bitters the beer. Depending on the variety, it brings notes of citrus, tropical fruit, resin or flowers. It's the aromatic soul of an IPA.
- ›Malt — barley (or wheat) that's been sprouted then dried. It provides the sugars that become alcohol, the beer's colour, and the cereal, biscuit or caramel flavours depending on how it's roasted.
- ›Yeast — the invisible micro-organism that turns the malt's sugars into alcohol and bubbles. Discreet but essential: depending on its strain, it leaves its signature (banana and spice notes on a Belgian, a very clean profile on a lager).
- ›Mashing — the first brewing step: crushed malt is mixed with hot water to extract its sugars. The sweet liquid you get, the wort, becomes beer after fermentation.
- ›Gravity (OG / FG) — the measure of sugar in the wort, before and after fermentation. The gap between the two tells you how much sugar the yeast converted, and gives the alcohol content directly.
- ›Top or bottom fermentation — two yeast families. Top (ale): warmer and faster, aromatic. Bottom (lager): colder and slower, clean and thirst-quenching. It's what separates an IPA from a pils.
- ›Conditioning (lagering) — the cold rest after fermentation. The beer refines, clears, and the aromas settle. Short for a NEIPA you want fresh, longer for a lager.
- ›EBC — the scale that measures a beer's colour, from the straw yellow of a blonde to the black of a stout. A visual marker, with no direct link to strength or taste.
- ›Dry-hop (cold hopping) — you add hops after fermentation, cold. It perfumes the beer intensely, on citrus and tropical fruit notes, without adding bitterness. It's the signature of very aromatic beers like NEIPAs.
- ›NEIPA (New England IPA) — a hazy, juicy IPA, low in bitterness, betting everything on the fruit of the hops rather than on bitterness. Born on the US east coast, now a classic everywhere.
- ›Session — in front of a style, it means 'lower-alcohol version'. All the aromas, fewer degrees: the beer you can keep going on through an evening without ending up under the table.
- ›Sour — a deliberately tart, often fruity beer. Disconcerting on the first sip, addictive by the third. Not to be confused with a defect, like an oxidised beer or one contaminated by an unwanted bacteria: here the acidity is intentional, controlled and sought-after.
- ›Year-round vs limited — a year-round beer is brewed all year, a pillar of the range. A limited one is a one-off or seasonal: when the stock is gone, it's gone. So when you come across one you love, stock up.
- ›Collab — a beer brewed four-handed with another brewery or a friendly bar. A chance to cross ideas, try things we wouldn't dare alone, and have a good laugh in the brewhouse.
- ›Hazy (unfiltered) — if your beer isn't clear, it's normal and even intended. That haze is aromatic matter (proteins, yeast, hops), not dirt. On a NEIPA, it's frankly a mark of quality.
- ›Taproom — the bar set up at the brewery itself, where the beer is made. The ultimate freshness, and the best place to chat with the people who brew. Ours opens this autumn in Geispolsheim.
Understand one word in two? That's already plenty to find your way, the rest comes on its own, with tasting. And if a term trips you up on one of our labels, write to us: beer vocabulary, we love explaining it.
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