The green cones of the female hop, a vine-like climbing plant, are used to give beer its bitterness and aroma. Hop cones are traditionally packed in large sacks known as pockets. They can also be powdered and compressed into hop pellets, which are easier to handle and to store, or bittering and aroma qualities can be obtained in hop extracts. Some brewers will use more than one type of hop to produce specific flavours. Today most breweries will treat their water, whether drawn from mains or from brewery wells to give the precise characteristics that they need to brew the perfect pint.
Yeast is a naturally occurring micro- organism, of which their are several varieties or strains.
Brewers jealously guard their own cultures of brewing yeast to maintain the characteristics of their beer and some have used the same strain continuously for over 50 years. Find out how the brewer uses art, craft and science to brew the perfect beer . The History of Beer - Beer is much older than you might think. Beer Types - A Tour for your taste buds. Beer Facts - All that you needed to know.