Another major ingredients found in your beer will be 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 inhibits some bacterial growth in a finished brew.
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. Use flowers in a hop bag, place in the secondary fermenter or if using just a single stage place in the primary at the conclusion of fermentation and leave for five to seven days. Depending on the type of hop an intense aroma of fresh hops will be imparted into your brew. You can also just place the loose flowers in the secondary and rack from under them when the time comes.