Whether you are translating your brewing instructions into German or attempting to learn from an established German process, using the right words is important. Here are the key terms for a successful brew day.
Ingredients – Zutaten (pl)
Grains – Getreiden (pl)
Malt – Malz (n)
Hop – Hopfen (m)
Barley – Gerste (f)
Yeast – Hefe (f)
Water – Wasser (n)
Locations – Werke (pl)
Malt House – Tenne (f)
to germinate – keimen (v)
Brew House – Sudhaus (n) – where hot brewing takes place
Lager Hause – Sudwerk (n) – where brewing vessels are stored
Mash – Maische (f)
to mill – schrotten (v)
Mash tun – Maischebottich (m) – non-heatable mash vessel
Mash kettle – Maischepfanne (f) – heatable mash vessel
to lauter – anschwänzen (v)
Lauter tun – Läuterbottich (m)
Mash water – Hauptguss (m)
to decoct – zubrühen (v)
Sparge water – Nachguss (m)
denatured – denaturiert (adj)
Amylase – Amylase (f)
Spent grain – Treber (f)
Iodine test – Jodtest (m)
to mash out – überschwänzen (v)
Wort – Würze (f)
to boil – kochen (v)
Hop schedule – Hopfung (f)
Original gravity – Stammwürze (f) – in degrees Plato
Hydrometer – [Bier]Spindel (f)
Refractometer – Refraktometer (n)
to pitch the yeast – anstellen (v)
Brew – Sud (m)
fermented – vergoren (adj)
to dry hop – hopfenstopfen (v)
to rack (to secondary) – abziehen (v)
to fill bottles – die Flaschen abfüllen (v)
to explode (bottles) – platzen (v)
to enjoy – genießen (v)
to drink – trinken (v)
to guzzle – saufen (v)
to get plastered – besaufen (v)
trashed – besoffen (adj)
Note: the verbs (v) can be turned into gerunds by capitalizing the first letter – it will be a neuter (n) noun. [e.g., ‘the lautering’ – das Anschwänzen]
