For those eager to brew, take the following shopping list into your homebrew store.

The supplies will run you about $75, but most of it you will never have to purchase again. Begin by purchasing:

4 2 pounds dry malt extract (dry yeast packet included)

4 2-gallon steel pot for boiling

4 5-gallon jug (glass or plastic) for fermentation

4 Rubber stopper to release carbon dioxide

4 Priming sugar for carbonation

4 Siphon hose

4 5-gallon mixing bucket

4 Empty bottles and bottle caps

4 Bottlecapper

Once supplies are purchased, four stages make up the process of brewing standard non-cask ale: sanitation, brewing, fermentation and carbonation.

These steps are repeated regardless of what recipe is used.

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Sanitation — Success begins and ends with sanitation. Think like a surgeon. Everything that comes into contact at any point with the beer mixture, from the pot to the mixing spoon, must be completely sanitized. If not, fermentation will not take place or carbonation will be corrupted.•

Brewing — Boil a 2-gallon pot of water and then turn off the burner. Add the 2 pounds of extract — the hop or grain or barley mixture — to the pan. The extract will come in a metal can and is sold at homebrew stores and through the Internet. In-depth directions are often included with the extract.Turn the burner back on and begin stirring. It is now called "wort," which is unfermented beer. This takes about 10 to 20 minutes.While this is going on, pour about 3 gallons of cold tap water into the fermenter. This should fill it about one-half or two-thirds of the way. After the mixture on the stove cools to about 100 degrees, add it to the fermenter. The temperature is particularly important to those using glass jugs — which are known as carboys — because the heat can shatter the glass.Wait for the temperature to cool to below 80 degrees. Following the package's directions, add the yeast, which can be done in two ways.With the first, you simply sprinkle it on. Here you must resist the temptation of stirring it in; let it slowly dissolve. The second way involves filling a bowl with warm water and adding the yeast to it. Again, do not stir the yeast; let it dissolve. Once prepared, the yeast is added to the fermenter. The appeal to the second way is that it increases the chance of successful fermentation.Now that the yeast is added, attach the rubber stopper to the fermenter. Add a bit of water to the fermentation lock so it will let carbon dioxide out without allowing air to get in.Store this fermenter in a place where the temperature will stay between 65 and 75 degrees, such as a basement.All of this should take less than an hour-and-a-half.•

Fermentation —Fermentation takes about one week to complete, although brewers could begin seeing activity in the fermenter within a day or two.The activity includes a ring of gunk beginning to form around the edge of the fermenter toward the top.After about a week, you can take a sample with a device called a hydrometer (cost about $10). If the reading is at or below 1.020, you've had successful fermentation and can begin bottling. Do not return the sample to the fermenter because it will likely contaminate it.•

Carbonation — At this point you have uncarbonated beer. Transfer the beer from the fermenter into a large 6-gallon bucket. Minimize splashing while doing this because it can have undesirable flavor effects. This can be done by siphoning the beer with a rubber hose — using gravity to your advantage. Never put your mouth to the siphon because it will overrun the process with bacteria.Next, add a measured amount (usually cup) of priming sugar, such as corn sugar, to the beer. Do not use table sugar. Here it is OK to gently stir the sugar in.After sanitizing the siphoning device, siphon the beer from the bucket into the individual bottles. A convenient way to do this is to leave the bottles in their case boxes. Leave about 2 inches of space from the top of the bottle. When finished, a bottle capper can be used to affix the bottle caps.Do not refrigerate the beer; keep the bottles at 65 to 75 degrees. You must wait two weeks to a month for carbonation to take place. At this point, all that is left to do is to refrigerate.You've just brewed your first masterpiece: Enjoy!