Potions · Utility · 1.21

How to Make a Brewing Stand

One blaze rod unlocks the whole potion system. From a single Awkward base you can brew speed, healing, fire resistance and a dozen more, in three bottles at a time.

The recipe

A blaze rod over three cobblestone. The blaze rod means a Nether trip comes first.

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Blackstone works in place of cobblestone. Grab the grid on Astroworld crafting or look up the blaze rod.

How brewing works

Five steps from empty stand to a finished potion.

Fuel the stand

Drop blaze powder into the left slot. Each one powers roughly twenty brews.

Add water bottles

Fill glass bottles at water or a cauldron and place up to three in the bottom slots.

Brew nether wart

Add nether wart on top to make the Awkward Potion, the blank base nearly every potion starts from.

Add your modifier

Swap in the effect ingredient: sugar for Swiftness, magma cream for Fire Resistance, a glistering melon for Healing.

Finish it (optional)

Add redstone to extend it, glowstone to strengthen it, gunpowder to make it a splash, or dragon's breath to make it linger.

The key ingredients

Nether wart

Awkward base

Sugar

Swiftness

Magma cream

Fire Resistance

Glistering melon

Healing

Blaze powder

Strength (and fuel)

The four finishers

Brew these into a finished potion to change how it behaves.

Redstone

Extends the effect's duration.

Glowstone

Strengthens it to level II.

Gunpowder

Turns it into a throwable splash potion.

Dragon's breath

Makes it a lingering cloud potion.

Quick answers

What is the recipe?

One blaze rod on top of three cobblestone in the middle row. The blaze rod means a Nether trip is required first.

What is an Awkward Potion?

Water plus nether wart. It has no effect on its own, but it is the base that almost every useful potion is brewed from.

How do I fuel it?

Blaze powder goes in the top-left slot. One lasts about twenty brewing operations, so a stack lasts a very long time.

Can I brew three at once?

Yes. Place a water bottle in each of the three bottom slots and one ingredient brews all three together.

How do I make a splash potion?

Brew the potion you want, then brew it again with gunpowder. That converts it into a throwable splash version.

What do I need before brewing?

A Nether trip: blaze rods from a fortress or trial spawner for the stand and fuel, and nether wart to grow your base supply.

Hunt blaze rods in a trial chamber or a fortress, look up nether wart and blaze powder in the items database, or open the crafting recipes for the full potion list.

Blaze rod first, everything else after

The rod is the gate

Three cobblestone is nothing, so the entire cost of a brewing stand is one blaze rod, and blaze rods only come from a Nether fortress. That single item is why potions are locked behind a fortress trip rather than behind a level or a village.

Blaze powder is the fuel and it is not optional

The stand needs powder in its own fuel slot to run, separate from any ingredient. One rod makes two powder, so the same fortress trip that gets you the stand should get you a stack of rods, because running out of fuel mid brew is the usual reason a first potion setup stalls.

Three bottles at once, same ingredient

The stand brews all three slots together with one ingredient, so brewing in threes costs the same as brewing one. Any potion setup that is not filling all three bottles is wasting nether wart, and nether wart is the ingredient you will run short of first.