Glossary
Terroir
The idea, borrowed from wine, that the place a crop is grown imparts distinguishable character to the finished product.
Pronounced tair-WAHR.
Trade usage. Established by practice in the trade rather than by any formal definition.
The effect is real for hops: the same variety grown in different regions genuinely differs in oil composition, and Hallertau-grown and American-grown Hallertauer Mittelfrüh are not interchangeable. It is well documented for barley in yield and modification, less so in finished flavour.
It is also used loosely in beer marketing to imply more than the evidence supports, particularly where a beer’s character is dominated by process and yeast rather than by raw material.
Related
- Noble hops — A grouping that depends partly on regional character.
More vocabulary
Adjunct · Aroma hop · Base malt · Bittering hop · Black malt · Brettanomyces · Candi sugar · Chocolate malt · Crystal malt · Dextrin
See every term on the glossary index.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.