What Goes Into Your Favorite Brew at Sea Dog Brewing Co.
When you think of craft beer, the first thing that comes to mind might be bold flavors, creative names, or the perfect pour at your favorite local pub. But at the heart of every pint, whether it's a crisp lager, a hoppy IPA, or a dark, smooth stout, are just a few essential building blocks. At Sea Dog Brewing Co., we take pride in using high-quality craft beer ingredients to create the unique flavors our guests love.
So, what actually goes into a craft beer? How do these ingredients come together to create something so flavorful and complex? In this post, we’ll break it all down without the chemistry degree so you can understand (and appreciate!) what you’re drinking the next time you enjoy a pint at Sea Dog.
The Four Essential Craft Beer Ingredients
At its core, beer is made with just four ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast. Sounds simple, right? But the truth is, the combination and treatment of these ingredients are what make craft beer so versatile and flavorful.
1. Water: The Silent Star
You might not think about it much, but beer is more than 90% water. That means the quality and mineral makeup of the water is one of the biggest factors in how your beer tastes. The source of the water and how it's treated can change the flavor profile, the mouthfeel, and even how well the beer ages.
At Sea Dog Brewing Co., we pay close attention to our water to ensure it suits each beer style. For hop-forward beers like our Deep Stowage IPA, we use water that helps bring out bold, crisp bitterness. For smoother, maltier brews, we adjust the water chemistry to soften the finish and enhance the sweetness.
In other words, even if the other ingredients are perfect, your craft beer ingredients have to start with good water or the final brew will fall flat.
2. Malt: The Body and Soul
Malt is what gives beer its backbone flavor, color, aroma, and sweetness. Malted barley is the most commonly used grain in brewing, but some recipes also include wheat, rye, or oats. The type of malt used determines whether a beer is light and crisp or dark and toasty.
Pale malt is the base for most beers and gives a clean, bready taste.
Crystal or caramel malts add a touch of sweetness and richness.
Roasted malts bring coffee, chocolate, or nutty flavors to stouts and porters.
Wheat and oats are often used in hazy or soft-bodied beers for their smooth texture.
At Sea Dog, we hand-select our malt varieties based on the recipe we're brewing. Our stouts and porters lean on darker, roasted malts, while our blonde ales and lagers use lighter grains to keep things crisp and drinkable. This careful selection helps ensure every sip delivers the experience we’ve designed it to.
3. Hops: The Flavor Bomb
Hops are the flowers (yes, actual flowers!) that provide bitterness, aroma, and flavor to beer. They're what make an IPA smell like grapefruit or pine, and what balance out the sweetness from the malt.
There are hundreds of hop varieties, each with its own profile. Some give citrusy or tropical flavors, while others lend herbal, floral, or even spicy notes. Brewers add hops at different stages of brewing to achieve various effects:
Early in the boil: More bitterness, less aroma
Late in the boil or whirlpool: More flavor and aroma
Dry hopping (after fermentation): Intense, fresh hop aroma without added bitterness
We love playing with hops at Sea Dog Brewing Co. For hop-lovers, our Deep Stowage IPA is packed with West Coast-style bitterness, while some of our seasonal or small-batch releases feature newer, fruitier hop varieties. Regardless of style, you can trust that the hops in your Sea Dog pint were chosen with purpose.
4. Yeast: The Flavor Maker
Yeast doesn’t just turn sugar into alcohol; it actually helps define the character of the beer. Different yeast strains produce different flavors and aromas, from fruity and spicy to clean and crisp.
Ale yeast works at warmer temperatures and adds fruity or complex notes, perfect for IPAs, pale ales, and stouts.
Lager yeast ferments more slowly and at colder temperatures, giving clean, smooth flavors common in pilsners and light lagers.
Wild or specialty yeast can bring funk, tartness, or earthiness to sour or farmhouse-style beers.
At Sea Dog, we use yeast strains that complement each recipe. The same way a chef picks the right seasoning for a dish, our brewers choose yeast that enhances the beer’s ingredients without overpowering them.
Going Beyond the Basics
While those four ingredients are essential, the beauty of craft beer is its flexibility. Brewers often introduce adjuncts, additional ingredients used to enhance flavor, texture, or aroma.
Some examples include:
Fruit: Blueberries, oranges, and raspberries are perfect for adding natural sweetness or tartness.
Spices: Coriander, cinnamon, clove, or even chili peppers.
Coffee or chocolate: Common in stouts and porters.
Honey, maple syrup, or molasses: Adds sugar and rich complexity.
You’ll find some of these special ingredients in seasonal brews and limited-edition beers at Sea Dog. They help us push boundaries and keep things fresh while still using high-quality, locally sourced ingredients whenever possible.
How Ingredients Influence Beer Styles
Let’s look at how these craft beer ingredients come together in a few popular styles:
IPA (India Pale Ale)
Water: Higher in sulfate to enhance hop sharpness
Malt: Mostly pale, with some specialty malt for balance
Hops: Big, bold additions of aromatic, bittering, and dry hops
Yeast: Clean ale yeast to let the hops shine
Stout
Water: More balanced or slightly hard to support dark malts
Malt: Roasted barley, chocolate malt, caramel malt
Hops: Light hand meant to balance, not overpower
Yeast: Ale yeast that can handle rich flavors
Blonde Ale
Water: Soft and neutral
Malt: Pale and light specialty malts
Hops: Mild and floral
Yeast: Clean fermenting ale yeast
Each beer’s profile changes based on how the ingredients are selected and used. At Sea Dog Brewing Co., we test, taste, and tweak to make sure every beer reflects its intended style and stands up to our quality standards.
Fresh Ingredients = Better Beer
Just like with cooking, fresh ingredients make all the difference. Old hops can lose their aroma. Stale malt can taste flat. And expired yeast might not ferment your beer properly. That’s why we work with trusted suppliers, store everything carefully, and brew in small batches to keep flavors bright and fresh.
If you’ve ever had a beer that tasted off, dusty, or unbalanced, chances are one of the ingredients was past its prime. That won’t happen at Sea Dog, we’re proud of the quality and freshness in every pint we serve.
Why Craft Beer Ingredients Matter
When you drink a craft beer, you’re not just tasting a finished product; you’re tasting the story of how it was made. Every hop cone, malt grain, and drop of yeast has a job to do. When combined thoughtfully, they create something greater than the sum of their parts.
Understanding craft beer ingredients helps deepen your appreciation for what’s in your glass. You might start to notice the citrusy burst from the hops or the smooth backbone from the malt. Or maybe you'll start to pick out which beers use fruit or spice and which ones stay classic and clean.
And if you ever get the itch to homebrew, knowing your ingredients is the first step to making beer you’ll be proud of.
Taste the Difference at Sea Dog Brewing Co.
At Sea Dog Brewing Co., we believe beer should be as interesting, inviting, and enjoyable as the people drinking it. That’s why we take our ingredients seriously, sourcing the best, handling them with care, and using them to create beers that are balanced, flavorful, and approachable.
Next time you visit us, take a moment to think about what’s in your glass. Whether you’re sipping on a house favorite or trying something new, know that what you’re tasting was crafted with purpose from the water and malt to the hops and yeast.
Cheers to great beer, made with great ingredients. See you soon at Sea Dog Brewing Co.!