THE FOAMING HEAD on a glass hides many mysteries, many of which are beers basic ingredients. Malt and Hops features regularly on beer label and promotional photographs, but how many drinkers would recognize the aromatic cone.

One of the most unusual spaces in the plant kingdom? Apart from a few nobody eats them today. Besides, how many know what Malt really is? It may begin life as a warming field or of a cereal but the grain has to undergo a complex series of changes germination, roasting and mashing. Between it's initial harvesting and reaching the drinker's glass. There are many different types of Malt, each varies in color, flavour and sugar content depending upon the precise methods used to produce it. Each beer has it's own signature combination of different Malt types.

Yeast is the crucial, "magical" ingredient and its role in the transformation of the sugar in a drew to intoxicating alcohol remained a mystery for centuries . Again  there are many varieties to choose from, each with its own characteristics - its speed of action, flavour and the amount of alcohol and carbon-di-oxide that it produces.

Hops are a relatively recent addition to the list of essential ingredients. The nature of oils that are contained within the hop cones impart the bitterness that many drinkers demand and help to preserve the brew. There is a mind boggling range to chose from.

In addition to the basic ingredients, brewers sometimes add more unexpected ingredients to the recipe, such as cherries or ginger, to impart an individual flavour to their particular beer. The result of the vast number of permutations of ingredients available to the beer brewer is a mouthwatering world of choice in the global bar for the lucky beer drinker.

Beer is made up mainly of water, and its quality and mineral content directly affect the character of the brew. Brewers have even given water their own name - liquor.

Water contains six main component salts : bicarbonate, sodium, chloride, calcium, magnesium and sulphate. The proportions of these in the liquor used will greatly affect the flavour and sometimes the colour of the finished product. High levels of bicarbonate for example, can produce a highly acidic mash, which will give a poor rate of sugar extraction from the malt. Too much sulphate will produce a sharp. bitterness in the drew and magnesium is an essential nutrients for the yeast.