This Sunday, Americans will gather for an important national ritual: drinking beer in front of the television. But if Coors Light leaves you craving more flavor, now is the time to start experimenting with craft beers and thinking about home brewing.

Scott Levine, an avid home brewer and the sous chef at Chanterelle demonstrated the process recently, using his own equipment. Beer is made from four basic ingredients, he explained, fermented sugar from germinated grains (typically malted barley), hops, yeast, and water. But there are thousands of recipes to choose from to make light colored, clear ales or dark lagers with a nutty, robust flavor.

“Yeast is what gives the beer its ultimate character,” Mr. Levine said. “It’s the secret ingredient in home brewing competitions, the one thing competitors won’t reveal.”

Phil Clarke, an active member and past president of the New York City Home Brewers Guild, started making his own beer because he was “always looking for a better beer,” he said. “The breweries aren’t going to change what they’re doing. If I do it my way, I get what I want.” Approximately 30 to 40 members of the guild meet once a month at the East Village bar Burp Castle to listen to a guest speaker, exchange information about products and beers, and get feedback on their homemade batches. The Guild is hosting a home-brewing competition at Chelsea Brewing Company, which is located at Chelsea Piers, on February 17.

Beginners at home brewing often opt for a starter kit, which includes equipment and a recipe kit that comes with ingredients. Mr. Clarke has a large apartment in Manhattan with one room dedicated to home brewing supplies, but all the equipment necessary for basic brewing can fit under a card table.

“Starter kits are good for making one batch at a time,” Mr. Clarke said. At Web sites such as northernbrewer.com, starter kits cost between $60 and $100 and recipe kits between $22 and $30. “A good beer will be 80 cents a bottle to make,” Mr. Clarke said. Of course, that doesn’t include the time: about six to eight hours to start the brew and then two to four weeks until the sugars are converted to alcohol and the mixture is ready to drink.

Mary Izetelny, the president of the Brooklyn based Malted Barley Appreciation Society and a member of the Manhattan guild, as well, uses common shortcuts to make her home brews. Ms. Izetelny likes to make and drink her own beer, but she doesn’t have a lot of time to devote to brewing. When time allows, she mixes a “partial mash,” combining grain with malt extract, a syrup with the color and consistency of molasses. When she’s busy, she uses just the syrup as her base. Either way, she said, “I have the satisfaction of creating, but still have enough time and space to continue with my life.”

Like Ms. Izetelny, Mr. Levine said he enjoys home brewing because he can make something to share with other people. “There’s something magical that happens when you make beer,” he said. If you start this winter, by next year’s Super Bowl, you’ll be able to proudly hand out bottles of your own ale or lager.

RECOMMENDED BEERS FOR THE SUPER BOWL:

Scott Levine, home brewer and sous chef at Chanterelle: “Pilsner Urquell and Negro Modelo, because both go well with typical Super Bowl fare like guacamole, nachos, and other salty, spicy foods.”

Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery and a former home brewer: “Pale ales, such as Brooklyn Lager, with about 5% to 6% alcohol. It’s a long game, and if you’re going to be drinking beer the whole afternoon, you might not enjoy the rest of the evening if you drink a beer with a high alcohol content, but you want to make sure it has enough flavor that it’s going to remain interesting over the course of the afternoon.”

Mary Izetelny, president of Brooklyn’s Malted Barley Appreciation Society: “If I were watching the Super Bowl, I would pick a beer from Chicago or Indianapolis. But I don’t know of any beer from Indianapolis. So I would be drinking Chicago-based Goose Island Beer Company’s Belgian style Imperial IPA or Matilda.”