Beer is brewed from four core ingredients: malted grain, hops, water and yeast. From those four comes a huge range, from crisp lagers to jet black stouts and juicy hazy IPAs. Browse community beer recipes below, including clones of well known beers, each with the full grain bill, hop schedule and fermentation details.
How beer is made
Brewing starts by mashing malted grain in hot water to extract fermentable sugars, creating a sweet liquid called wort. The wort is boiled with hops for bitterness and aroma, then cooled and fermented with yeast: ales warm and quick, lagers cool and slow.
Beginners often start with extract brewing, which skips the mash by using ready made malt extract. All grain brewing takes more equipment but gives full control over the recipe.
Popular beer styles
Beer · Dry stoutDry Irish Stout
Dry Irish stout recipe for 23 litres of extract homebrew. Roasted barley does the heavy lifting and it is nowhere near as strong as it looks.
Beer · Irish red aleIrish Red Ale
Irish red ale recipe for 23 litres of extract homebrew. Crystal malt and a pinch of roasted barley for the colour. An easy going session beer.
Beer FAQs
What's the difference between all grain and extract brewing?
Extract brewing uses ready made malt extract and skips the mash, which is simpler and great for beginners. All grain brewing mashes the grain yourself for full control, but needs more equipment.
What beer is easiest to brew first?
A pale ale is a popular first brew: forgiving, not too strong and not too hoppy, with a good balance of malt and hops.
What is a clone recipe?
A clone recipe aims to recreate a specific commercial beer at home, matching its grain bill, hops and yeast as closely as possible.
How long does it take to brew beer?
Most ales ferment in 1 to 2 weeks, then need conditioning, so you're usually drinking it 3 to 4 weeks after brew day. Lagers take longer.
What equipment do I need to start?
At minimum a fermenter, an airlock, a way to sanitise, a thermometer and a hydrometer. Extract kits let you start without a full mash setup.
Brewing beer?
Build your own recipe, log every gravity and temperature reading, and follow the batch through to the bottle. Free, runs in your browser, nothing to download.
Track your first brew, free