Brewing



Brewing is the method by which potions and splash potions are made in Minecraft. Jeb has said that it will probably not come out in 1.9 (It is implemented in 1.9 prerelease 3 and 4), possibly pushing the release to 2.0. Originally potions were to be brewed in Cauldrons but Jeb later tweeted that he and Notch had come up with a different brewing method and potions are now made in Brewing Stands.

History
According to code found in the Beta 1.9 Pre-release 2, Potions are brewed by adding water to a Cauldron, and then combining ingredients. Ingredients in the correct combination would confer beneficial potion effects with no downside, or additional negative status effects. In 1.9, there will be a Brewing Stand to brew potions in, while the Cauldron is now used to hold the water needed for brewing.

In the Beta 1.9 Pre-release 2 there were many ingredient combinations which resulted in many different potion effects. Currently the system is simplified from 150 different potions to an estimated 22 (as of Minecraft Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4, 43 different potions can be made). For example the potions Nausea, Blindness and Invisibility can no longer be created. Under the original Cauldron base system Jeb recommended certain "'clean' potions that don't require a lot of work." The Brewing Stand will brew a single ingredient for 30 seconds into the bottle(s).

In Beta 1.9 Pre-release 4 Splash Potions were introduced. "You can turn any potions into a splash potion by brewing Gunpowder into a potion (Even Instant Health II). It appears in a different shaped flask. Instead of drinking it, you throw it like a grenade." When you throw a Splash Potion, it does exactly what it is supposed to and splashes, so it is not necessary to hit your target directly, but the closer the better.

Components
Components are essential and useful supplies used to make potions.

Reagents
Reagents are used in conjunction with the above components to produce a whole array of potions and splash potions.

Base (Affecting) Reagents
Base Reagents are necessary to create Primary and Tertiary Potions and affect the duration and intensity of a potion's effects when added to an advanced potion. In the case of Gunpowder, it affects the application of the potion when used (thrown vs. being consumed by the player).

Effecting Reagents
Effecting Reagents are brewed with Primary Potions to create Secondary Potions. They determine the effect a potion will have when the player drinks the final product.

Primary
All primary potions are created by brewing a single reagent with a Water Bottle and can be combined with Gunpowder to create their throwable Splash Potion counterparts.

Secondary
Secondary potions are created by brewing a reagent with a primary potion and can be combined with Gunpowder to create their throwable Splash Potion counterparts.

Tertiary
Tertiary potions are created by brewing a reagent with a secondary potion or another tertiary potion and can be combined with Gunpowder to create their throwable Splash Potion counterparts.

Trivia

 * Only 1 ingredient is needed to brew into up to 3 potions. These three potions do not necessarily have to be the same.
 * Upgrading an Instant Health Potion (I) with glowstone dust has no downsides.
 * Upgrading a Fire Resistance Potion with redstone dust has no downsides.
 * Although it has been said by Jeb that in the 1.9 pre-release 3 there were 161 possible different potion combinations and there may be 2,653 in the future, in the 1.9 Pre-release 3 it was only possible to make 22 different potions without the use of external programs. 19 of those 22 potions had effects, and 8 different attributes were available.