Glossary of German Brewing Terms

A
Anstellen	The pitching of the yeast
Anschwänzen	The addition of sparge water during the lauter process
D
Dreimaischverfahren	Triple decoction
E
Einmaischverfahren	Single decoction
G
Grünschlauchen	Racking of beer that has not completed fermentation yet. In German brewing carbonation is build up during the lagering process and that requires fermentable extract and yeast to be left in the beer. A popular way of achieving that is to transfer the beer before it has completed its fermentation, i.e. "grün'(green).
H
Hauptguss	The part of the brewing water that is used during mashing
K
Kräusen	(can be written as Kraeusen in the Enlish alphabet). Kräusen can mean two things. It refers to the layer of foam that forms on an active primary fermentation. But it can also mean actively fermenting beer which is added to already fermented beer.
N
Nachguss	The part of the brewing water that is used for sparging. In German brewing that is oftentimes less than the amount of water used for mashing (Hauptguss).
O
Obergärig	Top fermenting. Refers to beers or fermentations done with Ale yeasts.
S
Stammwürze	The German brewer's equivalent of original gravity or original extract. It is expressed in weight % and indicates the amount of extract (sugar, dextrins, proteins, minerals ...) that was dissolved in the pitched wort. For all practical purposes, the weight % scale is identical to the Plato scale and the Stammwürze value can be seen as the original extract in degree Plato.
Sudhaus	Brewhouse. Where the hot brewing processes take place.
U
Untergärig	Bottom fermenting. Refers to beers or fermentations done with Lager yeasts.
Z
Zweimaischverfahren	Double decoction