Water: best to use rainwater or other non-chlorinated water. (the chlorine acts to kill microorganisms)
--I'm going to try to start using fish pond water, it contains lots of nutrients left by the fish.
Compost source: use fresh worm castings/compost material - bagged worm castings will me mostly dead ~ 1oz of material per gallon of water
Sugar source: horticultural molasses is most common source. 1 TBS per gallon of water
Air: bubble air with aquarium pump and air stone
Time: brew for 6 to 12 hours, don't want too much of the sugar to be consumed, use quickly