What is Homebrew?
Homebrew is the most popular package manager for macOS. It installs command-line tools, programming languages, databases, and Mac apps with a single command, keeps them up to date, and removes them cleanly.
Brewwery is a graphical app for Homebrew. It is not part of the Homebrew project — Homebrew does the actual work, and Brewwery gives you a window to see and control it.
Why use a package manager?
Without a package manager you download installers from many websites, update each app separately, and lose track of what is installed. Homebrew replaces that with one consistent tool:
- Install —
brew install gitdownloads, verifies, and installs Git and everything it needs - Update —
brew upgradebrings every installed package up to date - Remove —
brew uninstall gitremoves it again - Reproduce — a Brewfile lists your setup so a new Mac can be configured in one step
Key terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Formula | A package built from source or installed from a prebuilt binary, usually a command-line tool or library — for example git, node, or postgresql@17 |
| Cask | A package for a Mac app, font, or other prebuilt binary — for example visual-studio-code or docker-desktop |
| Tap | An extra repository of formulae and casks, named owner/repository — for example hashicorp/tap |
| Bottle | A prebuilt binary of a formula, so it installs without compiling |
| Leaf | An installed formula that no other installed formula depends on — usually something you installed on purpose |
| Dependency | A formula installed because another formula needs it |
| Service | A formula that runs in the background, such as a database, managed with brew services |
| Brewfile | A text file listing taps, formulae, casks, and Mac App Store apps, used by brew bundle |
| Prefix | Where Homebrew lives: /opt/homebrew on Apple Silicon and /usr/local on Intel |
Install Homebrew
Homebrew’s official installer is on brew.sh . Open Terminal and run the command shown there:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"The installer explains each step and asks for your password before it changes anything. It may also install Apple’s Command Line Tools.
When it finishes, follow the Next steps it prints to add Homebrew to your shell. On Apple Silicon that is usually:
echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"Check that it works:
brew --versionThen open Brewwery, or click Refresh data if it is already open.
How Brewwery fits in
Everything Brewwery does is a regular Homebrew command. When you install a package in Brewwery, it runs brew install <name>; when you open Updates, it runs brew outdated. Brewwery shows the exact command before anything that changes your system, and the Commands page lists what they do if you want to use them in Terminal too.
You can freely mix Brewwery and Terminal — they use the same Homebrew installation. Click Refresh (⌘R) in Brewwery after making changes in Terminal.