Lets Fuckin' Make Some Beer ~ Extract batch ingredients

Beer ingredients consist of Fermentables, Hops and Yeast.

Fermentables
Fermentables are anything that contributes to the sugars available for fermentation. This includes malted grains (typically barley), sugars (table sugar, corn sugar, honey etc). Malted grains are grains that have been allowed to partially sprout, as in this process, many of the grains starches are converted into sugars. When brewing, malted grains can either be added to the brew as an extract (a concentrated syrup solution), a powdered extract, or as whole grains, which are steeped to release their natural sugars.

Hops
Hops are the ingredient that gives the beer a more bitter flavor (necessary to balance the sweetness of the malts,) as well as adds complex flavors to the beer. Hops are typically either deemed aroma hops or bittering hops, and are added at different times in the boil to either add bitterness or add aroma to the beer. A description of the many types of hops is well beyond the scope of this blog, but this hop profile chart from designer Zeke Shore will give you a good idea of the variety of hops available.

Yeast

Yeast is the unicellular organisms responsible for converting sugars to the lovely alcohol. Literally billions of yeast cells in each batch "ferment" the sugars, releasing Carbon Dioxide as a byproduct - creating the carbonation.

There are literally thousands of recipes for various beers. Check out

TastyBrew.com for ideas.

Also, most homebrewing supply stores will offer pre-prepared kits for a 5-gallon batch.