The brewing stand is the gateway to potions in Minecraft; without one, you cannot make Healing, Fire Resistance, Strength, or any other potion. This guide covers the recipe, how to get the tricky ingredient, and how to start brewing.
Everything here is confirmed in the current 2026 version of Minecraft (26.2).
Quick answer: craft a brewing stand from 3 cobblestone and 1 blaze rod, with three cobblestone across the bottom row and the blaze rod in the top-center. The blaze rod comes from blazes in a Nether fortress.
Brewing Stand Recipe at a Glance
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Ingredients | 3 cobblestone (or blackstone) + 1 blaze rod |
| Crafted on | Crafting table |
| Blaze rod from | Blazes in Nether fortresses |
| Also found in | Village churches, end ships, igloos |
| Powered by | Blaze powder (fuel) |
Step 1: Get a Blaze Rod
The one hard part of a brewing stand is the blaze rod. You get blaze rods by killing blazes, which spawn in Nether fortresses (and around blaze spawners inside them). So the real prerequisites are: build a Nether portal, find a fortress, and fight some blazes.
If you plan to brew a lot, a blaze farm around a spawner gives you an endless supply of rods, since you need blaze rods for the stand and blaze powder to fuel it. The 3 cobblestone (or blackstone) is trivial to mine.
Step 2: Craft the Brewing Stand
Open a crafting table and place:
- Top row: empty, blaze rod, empty
- Bottom row: cobblestone, cobblestone, cobblestone
The blaze rod sits in the top-center with three cobblestone filling the bottom row. That gives you a brewing stand. You do not always have to craft one, brewing stands also generate in village churches, end ships, and igloo basements, sometimes already holding potions.
Step 3: Power It and Start Brewing
A brewing stand needs fuel to run:
- Craft a blaze rod into blaze powder, and place the blaze powder in the fuel slot (top-left). One blaze powder fuels several brews.
- Put up to three water bottles in the bottom slots.
- Add nether wart in the top ingredient slot to brew Awkward Potions, the flavorless base for almost every useful potion.
From an Awkward Potion, adding a second ingredient turns it into a real potion: glistering melon for Healing, magma cream for Fire Resistance, and so on. For the full list of what to brew, see our best Minecraft potions guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Place 3 cobblestone across the bottom row of a crafting table and 1 blaze rod in the top-center. That gives you a brewing stand.
From killing blazes, which spawn in Nether fortresses. You need to travel to the Nether and find a fortress to get one.
Yes. Brewing stands generate in village churches, end ships, and igloo basements, sometimes with potions already inside.
Blaze powder for fuel, water bottles, and ingredients like nether wart. The nether wart makes the Awkward Potion base for most potions.
Yes. Blackstone works in place of cobblestone in the recipe, which is handy since you are already in the Nether getting the blaze rod.
An Awkward Potion (water bottle plus nether wart). It has no effect on its own but is the base you add ingredients to for Healing, Strength, Fire Resistance, and more.
The brewing stand costs three cobblestone and one blaze rod, and it unlocks the entire potion system. Grab a blaze rod on your first fortress trip, craft the stand, and you are ready to start brewing everything from Healing to Fire Resistance.
