At its simplest, beer is a fermented beverage made with a cereal grain. As one of the oldest and most common alcoholic beverages in the world, the styles and qualities of beer have evolved greatly throughout the years. Today, you can find countless varieties of beer, including ales, lagers, stouts, pilsners, porters, and more. Regardless of your favorite style or brand, all batches of beer are brewed using 4 essential ingredients.

Do you want to know what all beers have in common? Continue reading to find out!

Fundamental Ingredients of Beer

There are thousands of ingredients used to create beer recipes. Infinite combinations are possible, giving the brewer the capacity to make batches unique and distinctive. But within the mix of infinite recipe possibilities, virtually all batches of beer contain 4 primary ingredients. These 4 ingredients include starch, hops, yeast, and water.

Starch

A starch source is a main ingredient in beer. The most common starch source used to brew beer is malted grain. Grains include barley, wheat, rye, and rice, but barley is used the most. The starch source provides the fermentable material to brew beer, and largely influences its flavor and strength.  In fact, malted grains provide color, flavor, maltose, dextrin’s, and proteins. Maltose is the fermentable sugars that are converted by yeast into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Dextrin’s are grain components that give beer its mouthfeel and viscosity. And the proteins help form and maintain beer foam.

Hops

Scientifically referred to as Humulus Lupulus, hops give beer flavor, aroma, bitterness, and stability. Hops are a flowering plant vine that grows worldwide, but as for beer brewed in the United States, most hops come from Yakima Valley, Washington. Mostly, hops are added to balance out the sweetness that comes from the malt.  When hops are added early in the brewing process, the batch will be bitterer; and if hops are added later in the brewing process, the beer will be less bitter and have more flavor and fragrance.

Yeast

Yeast is a prime ingredient because it is the microorganism that ferments beer into an alcoholic beverage. Fundamentally, it converts the sugar, or maltose, into carbon dioxide and alcohol. There are two main categories of beer yeast: 1) Ale yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and 2) Lager yeast (Saccharomyces uvarum). Ale yeast is top-fermenting, while lager yeast is bottom-fermenting.

Water

Water is the main ingredient in all beer and is the basis to which all other ingredients are added. In fact, 95 percent of beer is water. Since water quality varies among regions, certain regions are better suited for brewing certain styles of beer. Many beer brands have this regional character, such as Guinness stout made from the hard waters of Dublin, or a pilsner made from the soft waters of Pilsen, Bohemia. It is not uncommon for brewers to provide additional filtration for their water supplies to ensure great-tasting batches.

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