| Term | Definition |
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| Hops | Herb added to boiling wort or fermenting beer to impart a bitter aroma and flavor. Hop vines are grown in cool climates and brewers make use of the cone-like flowers. The dried cones are available in pellets, plugs, or whole.
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| Hot Break | Proteins that coagulate and fall out of solution during the wort boil.
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| Humidity (Absolute) | The absolute humidity is the amount of vapor actually present in the air and is expressed either in its expansive force, or in its weight per given volume.
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| Humidity (Relative) | Relative humidity is the ratio of the quantity of vapor actually present, to the greatest amount possible at the given condition. Complete saturation of the air by a vapor is designated as Humidity 100.
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| Hydration | A special case of solvation, where water is the solvent.
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| Hydrometer | A floating instrument for determining specific gravities; especially of liquids and solutions. It is usually a hollow glass or metal instrument, weighted at one end so as to float upright. The stem of the instrument is graduated so as to indicate the gravity of the liquid. Many instruments, for use with specific solutions, have arbitrary scales and are usually known by the names of the inventors, such as Balling and Plato.
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| Hygrometer | An apparatus for measuring the degree of moisture of the atmosphere.
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| Hygroscopic | Readily absorbing, becoming coated with, and retaining moisture, but not enough to make a liquid.
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| IBU | International Bitterness units. A system of indicating the hop bitterness in finished beer.
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| Infusion | Simplest form of mash, in which grains are soaked in water. May be at a single temperature, or with upward or (occasionally) downward changes.
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| Initial Mashing | The temperature at which malt and water are brought together at commencement of mashing. The initial infusion temperature (typically 148-158F) to create a mash temperature of 152F.
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| Inoculation | The introduction of minute organisms, like yeast or bacteria to culture media.
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| International Bittering Units (IBU) | A more precise unit for measuring hops. Equal to the AAU multiplied by factors for percent utilization, wort volume and wort gravity.
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| Iodine | A non-metallic element of the halogen group.
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| Iodine Test | In brewing this test is generally used to check on the degradation of starch to dextrins and malt sugar. Iodine turns from a yellow to dark blue, purple or red with various starches and dextrins, but not with sugars.
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