The first of 4 major ingredients in your batch will be malt. Malt, (malted barley, wheat, etc.) provides the fermentable material for your batch. Malt also contributes flavor and color to the finished beer. Malt can be bought in its natural grain form, malt syrup, or spray dried (DME) malt.

The second ingredient in your brew will be the hops. They are the female cone like flowers of the hop vine which impart bitterness, flavor, and aroma to beer. Hops also are a natural preservative that inhibit some bacterial growth in a finished brew. Hops are available in leaf (whole flower), plugs (compressed leaf in 1/2 oz.), pellets, and hop oil. Packages should be marked with the Alpha Acid Rating. The AA rating multiplied by the ounces will give you the AAU or Homebrew units for the recipe. IBU (International Bittering Units) is a measure of the actual bitterness in a finished beer with consideration of wort volume, boil length, and original gravity.

Yeast is the third ingredient in your beer. Yeast converts the fermentable sugars in your brew to alcohol and beer flavors. Different strains of yeast will produce the characteristics of an Ale or Lager. Yeast is a living thing so treat it kind!

The fourth and by far the largest ingredient in your batch is water!

Now that you know the basic building blocks of your beer lets move on to the basic process.

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