W is for Wort

W is for Wort

Wort. It sounds kinda gross. It could be one of those lumpy things that grows on your hands. Maybe it’s a very small plant that grows in damp parts of your garden.

Wort in brewing is pronounce ‘wert.’

Wort is what you call your brew when it’s in the kettle and before fermentation.

Wort is your sugar (malts) and your hops (or other bittering herbs) , and any other vegetables or spices that you might have added to make your brew delicious.

It’s boiled to ensure that there’s no other bacteria or wild yeasts in the mix that can negatively affect the fermentation process. Boiling also helps get the flavors and sugars more fully out of the hops and grains.

When boiling is done, the wort is chilled to around room temperature (75 degrees F), aerated, and put into the primary fermenter. Then yeast is added and in a few weeks the wort becomes beer.

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I’m participating in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge. The goal is to write a post prompted by a letter of the alphabet on each day of April (except Sunday). My theme this year is brewing. Visit my other A to Z posts by clicking here.