These sugars are vital to the flavour and its fermentability. Other cereals can also be used, notably wheat in Germany, and maize is also used in England to provide a fuller head on the beer. Hops - traditionally whole hop flowers were added to the brew at various stages to add bitterness to the beer. They also act as a preservative, and help to prevent protein haze.
Many brewers now use hop pellets, and some hop oils, instead of the whole flowers, for convenience.
Water - known as liquor in the trade, this is the primary ingredient of beer. Some breweries use their own spring water, but most use mains supplies and treat it to adjust the mineral content, very often to reflect the minerals in the water at Burton upon Trent, the home of the world's finest pale ales. Each brewery maintains its own strain, as the use of a different yeast will end up with a different taste. Process Sieved malt is crushed in the grist case or malt mill . Some larger breweries use a 'decoction' system, where the mash is pumped from vessel to vessel, gradually increasing the temperature.