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Glossary
PVC (polyvinyl chloride)
Polyvinyl chloride, more correctly but unusually poly(vinyl chloride), commonly abbreviated PVC, is the third-most widely produced synthetic plastic polymer, after polyethylene and polypropylene.
PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a common, low-cost plastic used in tens of thousands of products including plastic wrappers, vinyl fabrics, paint, pipes, and siding. It's all around us. Without additives or contaminants, pure PVC is actually non-toxic, but when turned into products, it's almost exclusively combined with chemicals and plasticizers. These combinations make it bad stuff for us and the planet.
When PVC is manufactured, it produces potent carcinogens and toxins including dioxins, chlorine residue, and heavy-metal pollutants. Over their lifespan, PVC products can off-gas and leak dangerous additives. PVC is also difficult to recycle; most of it ends up in landfills. When burned, it releases further dioxins and gases such as hydrogen chloride.
PVC comes in two basic forms: rigid (sometimes abbreviated as RPVC) and flexible. The rigid form of PVC is used in construction for pipe and in profile applications such as doors and windows. It is also used for bottles, other non-food packaging, and cards (such as bank or membership cards). It can be made softer and more flexible by the addition of plasticizers, the most widely used being phthalates. In this form, it is also used in plumbing, electrical cable insulation, imitation leather, signage, inflatable products, and many applications where it replaces rubber.
Pure poly(vinyl chloride) is a white, brittle solid. It is insoluble in alcohol but slightly soluble in tetrahydrofuran.
ppm (parts per million)
ppm - parts per million - is commonly used as unit of concentration and equivalent to milligrams per liter (mg/l)
parts per million - ppm - is commonly used as a measure of small levels of pollutants in air, water, body fluids, etc. Parts per million is the mass ratio between the pollutant component and the solution and ppm is defined as
ppm = 1,000,000 mc / ms (1)
where
mc = mass of component (kg, lbm)
ms = mass of solution (kg, lbm)
In the metric system ppm can be expressed in terms of milligram versus kg where
1 mg/kg = 1 part per million
ppm can be also be expressed as:
1 ppm = 0.0001 %
1 000 ppm = 0.1 %
10 000 ppm = 1%
Gushing
The spontaneous and sometimes vigorous overfoaming of bottled beer when a non-shaken bottle is opened.
Plato scale
Professional brewers often use the Plato (oP) scale, instead of specific gravity, as a measure of the sugar levels in wort and beer. Very roughly, a 1.004 Specific Gravity (SG) is equivalent to 1° Plato (1% sucrose) and 1.040 to 10° Plato (10% sucrose). In other words, each Plato degree accounts for 0.004 Specific Gravity. To convert Specific Gravity to Plato, divide the digits to the right of the decimal point by 4. For example, 1.044 is 11° Plato and 1.054 is 13.5° Plato. There will not be a quiz on this.
Grant
A smaller open-topped vessel placed between the lauter tun and boiling kettle, through which the wort is run during the sparge. It allows the brewer easy access to the wort which is being run off, such that it can be monitored both visually and with various brewing tools such as a thermometer, hydrometer, and pH meter. Most homebrewers do not employ a grant. The grant also allows for a buffer zone between a pump and the lauter tun. If the pump were pulling directly on the lauter-tun, it could compact the grain bed and lead to a stuck sparge. But if the beer is allowed to gravity-flow into the grant, and then the pump sucks on the grant, this problem is avoided.
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