The most important ingredients of any beer are high-quality malt, hops, yeast and water.
Malt is germinated barley grain rich in carbohydrates, proteins, enzymes and mineral salts. Colour, flavour, body and taste of beer depend on how we germinate and dry barley. For example, we need to dry grain at higher temperatures for dark beers than for light ones.
Hops are perennial climbing vines, members of the natural family of Cannabinaceae. Only female ripened flowers are used in brewing: they give beer bitterness and distinctive aroma. Hops have bacteriostatic properties, and brewers were the first to use them as a natural preservative.
Very long time ago people have learned to use particular microorganisms - yeast - for baking bread and brewing alcohol. Now we grow special pure brewers yeast cultures (we call them strains ) in the laboratories.
There are two varieties of yeast strains according to their properties. The bottom-fermenting yeast strains settle down in fermenting tanks, while the top-fermenting strains keep afloat. The former are used mainly for brewing light beers, and the latter ones - for dark types.
The last but not the least ingredient that affects the flavour of beer is water. We use the local sources, and this adds peculiarity to regional beers. However we strictly monitor quality of water, purify it when needed, and prepare it for brewing in a special way.