Adjuncts

Under the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot purity law it would be considered that an adjunct is any beer ingredient other than water, barley, hops, and yeast; this, however, is an antiquated view.

This purity law originated in 16th-century Germany and did not initially include yeast due to the fact that it had not been discovered yet.

[citation needed] The term adjunct is often used to refer to corn, rice, oats, unmalted barley and rye.

Barley provides both carbohydrates and proteins to the wort; on the negative side, the cell walls of the un-malted barley contain high levels of beta-glucans that affect wort viscosity and create haze problems in the bright beer.

[citation needed] Corn is commonly used in the production of American-style pale lagers, particularly malt liquor.

The smoothness of oatmeal stouts comes from the high content of proteins, lipids, and gums imparted by the use of oats.

[citation needed] Rye provides a spicy flavour to beer and dramatically increases head formation.

Sorghum has been used for hundreds of years as the main ingredient in many of the indigenous traditional African beers.

Primings sugars such as maple syrup, honey, and molasses are common in craft beers and homebrew.

Candi sugar is a common ingredient in strong Belgian ales, where it increases the beer's strength while keeping the body fairly light; dark varieties of candi sugar also affect the colour and flavour of the beer.

Modern breweries may add only flavoured extracts to the finished product, rather than actually fermenting the fruit.