Distilling terms you should know – Our distillation glossary
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Our brief distilling terms for any new distiller
These are the essential terms used to describe everything involved with distilling a neutral spirit. These are all the distilling terms for the distillation process to get your alcoholic beverages.
Backset:
Portion of liquid left over kettle after distilling. This is mainly used when making rum and whisky to add flavour.
Dunder:
Dunder is the liquid left in a boiler after distilling a batch of run. This is reused in the next fermentation of the distillation run.
Trub:
Sediment, flees, (residue) formed in the brewing process waste.
Opening Gravity:
Density reading noted when sugar was added to wash. Known as the O/G before adding yeast & nutrients.
Final gravity:
Final gravity (FG) is taken after the sugar wash has fully fermented. Confirm that the wash is fully fermented. Calculate the potential alcohol expected from the wash.
ABV:
Alcohol BY Volume, the standard measure for alcohol.
Air Lock:
Allows CO2 to escape from the fermenter during fermentation. Acts as a non-return valve.
Hydrometer:
Hydrometer to measure O/G and F/G in sugar wash.
Alcoholmeter:
Alcohol hydrometer calibrated only to measure ABV of alcohol.
Carboy:
Glass or plastic fermenter.
Krausen:
Foam head or crust formed during the fermentation of beer.
First Stage:
Fermentation Aerobic phase (oxygen present).
Second Stage:
Fermentation, anaerobic phase. (No oxygen present).
Racking:
Siphon the clear liquid from the fermenter after flocculation to the boiler.
Alcohol Calc.:
Take the O/G – F/G readings X 31.25 = % Potential alcohol in the wash you can expect, helps with cuts
Yeast:
Converts the sugar into alcohol, the heart of the process. Many types of yeast.
Nutrients:
What yeast needs (food) to survive and convert sugar to Ethanol. Sugar wash makes no nutrients.
Wort:
Water malt sugar solution extract and hops.
Airing:
This is done with the heads & tails sections, allowing volatiles to evaporate, then checked and graded.
Acid wash:
Measurement of the wash below pH of 7.
Alkali wash:
Measurement of wash above the pH of 7
Azeotrope mix:
Mixture of more than one liquid that is miscible in water.
Parrot:
Unit that the ethanol flows through with an Alcohol hydrometer in the flow path to the container. This allows you to monitor the ABV of the distillate continuously.
Botanicals:
In simple terms, it is what you add to the pure spirit to add flavour. Such as whiskey bourbon or rum.
Conversion:
The ratio of sugar converted to potential alcohol. This is done by the fermentation phase.
Yield:
On a sugar wash is 51% but with losses, it is 48%. This depends on how good you do the cuts. To accurately calculate this you should do a mass balance but not for DIY.
We want your life to be easy
I don’t want to make your life too difficult as there are many more distilling terms to brewing but the above are the basics that you need for now.
As you progress you will find more distilling terms but mainly for the professional lot and not the DIY. There are lots of sites you can go to to further your vocabulary.
Last Updated on Dec 30, 2023 by The Brew Mechanic
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With 35 years of knowledge of being a chemical engineer in alcohol manufacturing plants, my mission is to teach the next generation of home distilling alcohol brewers at a supernatural speed.
My reviews are based on real-life experiences with reflux stills, sugar wash, troubleshooting and mystical chemical reactions.
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