Welcome to Homebrew Extreme - Your beer brewing home! Want to brew some beer? We'll show you how. Everything you need to know to brew great beer, at home.

Before we run off to our local or online homebrew store, let me first explain the items we'll need to make our first batch.

There are 4 necessary ingredients to make a basic batch of beer.

They are
1. Malt Extract
2. Hops
3. Yeast
4. Water

Let's look at each of these a bit closer.

Malt Extract

The sugar that is fermented to make beer is made from barley. Barley is a grain similar to wheat. To prepare it for use in beer, barley grains are steeped in water and allowed to start germinating. The germination of the grains create enzymes that convert the starch in the grain into sugar later in the brewing process. Different methods used in this process, as well as cooking the grain (called roasting) will determine the three primary factors in malted barley, Color, potential alcohol, and sweetness.

Now, few, if any homebrewers go out and buy raw barley, then steep and roast it. Malted Barley can be purchased at any local or online homebrew shop. Advanced homebrewers commonly buy malted barley in this form and prepare it in a process known as mashing. The grain is crushed into what is called "grist". The grain is then placed in hot water and held at specific temperatures for specific amounts of time. Then the newly converted sugars are rinsed from the grains to create a very sweet liquid called malt. An advanced homebrewer can completely control nearly every aspect of his beer brewing with this process However, the vast majority of homebrewers buy concentrated malt extract.

Malt Extract that can be purchased at your local or online homebrew store is no different than the malt described above, except that much of the water is removed. There are two primary types of concentrated malt extract available. Malt Extract Syrup, or Dry Malt Extract. Extract syrup is just that, a thick liquid that is sold primarily in cans. Dry malt extract (commonly known as DME) has all but about 3% of the water removed and comes in a sticky powder like form.

Malt extracts come in 4 basic colors. Extra Light, Light, Amber, and Dark.

Hops
The fermentation process that we'll discuss later will convert MOST of the sugar in the malt to alcohol. However, there is still enough sugar left over that if it weren't for hops, beer would be very sweet in flavor. Hops are a a type of flower (interestingly, in the same family as cannabis) that, when used in the brewing process, provide necessary bitterness to balance out the sweetness in the malt. They also add a sort of spice to the flavor and aroma of the beer. There is a huge variety of hops available. They can be purchased whole, or in pellet form. Pellets are usually preferred by homebrewers because they are easier to store, handle, and provide more predictable results.

Yeast
Our world is full of yeast, and we use it for lots of things. Bread for example. Brewer's yeast is a special form of yeast that is developed specifically for brewing. There are two primary types of yeast, Ale and Lager. This is precisely what makes the difference between a lager beer and an ale. Ale yeast is usually preferred by homebrewers, at least initially because it is more forgiving about higher temperatures (like in a home). Ale yeast works best at temperatures between 55 and 65 degrees F, though it will work up to around 75 degrees F, but can impart some off flavors at such a high temperature. Lager yeast on the other hand prefers the temperature at 40 to 50 degrees F and requires some method of keeping the temperature in that range. You can buy MANY different kinds of yeast, in two forms, dry and liquid. Liquid yeast requires a bit more work and care than dry yeast, though it will usually make better beer. Dry yeast is the most common and is used by most homebrewers because of it's lower cost and convenience.

Water
Water does make a difference. You'll want to use filtered water, or spring/distilled water. Don't just by "drinking water" as much of what is sold is no more than tap water, believe it or not. The purer the water, the better.

It should be noted that there are MANY MANY other ingredients that CAN be used in beer. There are recipes with everything in them from cinnamon to watermelon. Check out our section on Ingredients once you've gotten comfortable with brewing.

Not actually an ingredient in the beer but a requirement for the bottle process will be corn sugar. Don't use regular table sugar. You'll need about 3/4 cup of corn sugar for each 5 gallon batch you make.

OK, NOW LET'S GO BUY SOME INGREDIENTS AND START BREWING!

Well, it get's even better. Homebrewing has become so popular that many manufacturers make brewing kits. These "kits" have malt extract, with hops already added, and yeast, all in the package. You just add the water. There is a huge assortment of beer flavors and styles available in these kits. For your first few batches, I strongly suggest going with one of these kits. Some homebrewers stay with these "kits" forever. You may find that you want more control over your beer in the future, and get more "advanced". However, we recommend the kit for at least your first batch.