Beer, at its core, is a drink that brings people together. It’s what you drink at ball games or on the beach. At concerts and cookouts.

It doesn’t care about socioeconomic status and political affiliation. As President Barack Obama’s 2009 “Beer Summit” demonstrated, beer can break through the staunchest barriers.

Yet as the craft beer revolution rolls on, it sometimes feels like beer is losing its “everyman” status.

Those who grew up on Bud Light or Heineken may be overwhelmed by the 12 or 16 tap handles greeting them at their local bar. And a certain segment of wine and spirits drinkers views beer as an afterthought only to be consumed while taking in a day game at Wrigley Field.

But beer doesn’t have to be imposing, and it certainly shouldn’t feel exclusive. I often say “it’s just beer,” which some may view as pejorative but I see as a compliment.

It’s here to make your life better; to ease your worries, not to add to them. But for some people, a list of strange beers like Gumball Head and Hairy Eyeball can indeed feel overwhelming — and that’s before even getting to the issue of flavor.

The brewing community often discusses what the best “gateway beer” is, as if there’s one special brew that will hold a neophyte’s hand as he or she boldly marches into the world of craft beer geekery. So, is it really a matter of finding that one beer that will get a new beer drinker hooked? Perhaps, but the assumption that the one beer is the same for everybody is a faulty one.

I once asked members of my homebrew club which beer sparked their interest in brewing, and the answers were all over the place. While many assume that subtle and balanced are the defining characteristics of gateway beers, the most common gateway beer identified by my fellow homebrewers was Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale, a bracingly bitter hop bomb.

The reality is that beer is a multi-dimensional beverage, and you have to explore all of its flavors to really get an idea of what speaks to you. Fortunately, the dozens of breweries that have opened in Chicago over the past five years make it easy to explore the basic variables that make up most beers.

If you focus on a few common flavor components and buy a handful of local craft beers, it’s pretty easy to demystify beer. So let’s talk about a few places to start.

There are four ingredients which define beer: malt, hops, water and yeast. While yeast can accent the flavor of a beer, the greatest flavor contributions come from the malt and hops, and understanding malt/hop balance is fundamental to enjoying beer.

Malt — grains (typically barley) which have been allowed to start germinating — gives beer its bready sweetness. Hops — the coned flowers of the Humulus lupulus plant — give beer its bitterness.

Unfortunately, macro lagers like Budweiser and Miller Lite have very little malt or hop flavor, so if that is what you are most familiar with, you may have no idea if you prefer malty or hoppy beers.

But you can get an idea of malt/hop balance by trying a light, malty beer like Metropolitan Krankshaft Kolsch or Church Street Helles Lager then comparing it to a hoppy ale like Revolution’s Anti-Hero IPA (India pale ale) or Half Acre’s Daisy Cutter pale ale.

Brewers also introduce roasty, chocolate and/or coffee flavors by adding roasted grains. People often assume lighter beers are better “introduction” beers than dark ones, but in my case, it was a Kostritzer Schwarzbier (literally “black beer”) that sparked my passion for beer.

You can taste the chocolate notes in Revolution’s Eugene Porter, a fairly malty beer, or the more astringent roasted flavor in Founders Porter, which is more hop-forward.

Roasted flavors also change complexion when in a stronger beer, such as Two Brothers’ North Wind imperial stout, and this brings us to another dimension: alcoholic strength.

Alcohol percentages in beer typically vary much more than in wine or spirits, and they impact the flavor and drinkability of a beer. Most beer lists and labels will indicate how strong a beer is; additionally, words such as “imperial,” “double” and “quadrupel” indicate particularly strong beers.

Often served in snifters and intended as slow sippers, many think these styles are reserved for hardcore beer drinkers. However, folks turned off by the blandness of light beers may find the bold flavors of an imperial stout or barleywine (another strong ale similar to an imperial stout but typically without the roasted malts) to be much more appealing than lighter craft beers.

Many local breweries offer imperial stouts and other strong beers in 22-ounce bottles (I’d give specific recommendations, but many are limited release, so it’s hard to predict what will be available in your local bottle shop).

The last dimension I recommend exploring is yeast. The job of yeast is to turn sugars into alcohol, and certain yeasts (especially lagers) manage to do their job without contributing significant flavor to beer.

Others — particularly Belgian styles — contribute a ton of flavor to a beer. These flavors can be fruity (banana, tangerine, pear) and/or spicy (clove, black pepper). Goose Island’s Matilda may be the most widely available Belgian-style beer from a Chicago brewery and is a great introduction into the unique flavor that Belgian yeast can bring to a beer.

Last year also saw the opening of Une Annee, a Chicago brewery dedicated solely to brewing Belgian- and French-style beers.

As you may guess, the elements of beer discussed here are just the beginning. But once you’ve explored the basics, it’s easier to hone in on the types of beer that can pique your interest. And at that point, there’s no turning back.