Alcohol

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Alcohol is the favored drink of the dwarves; a dwarf will drink booze an average of five times per season to satisfy their thirst, and although they can subsist on water, without booze, they will work increasingly slowly. Dwarves like to have some variety in what they drink, and will garner a bad thought if they are forced to drink the same variety of drink repeatedly ("has been tired of drinking the same old booze lately"). Every dwarf likewise has preferences for various types of drinks. Thus alcohol is important both for maintaining your fortress (at a minimum) and (with some investment in variety) for keeping your dwarves happy.

Alcohol can also be used as an ingredient for prepared meals. However, meals made with alcohol no longer cause your dwarves to get drunk, and will not sate their thirst.

Acquisition

Where adults drink, and children play. No matter the age, alcohol is always important.

A booze stockpile at work. ASCII mode.

Most crops and fruit trees in the game can have their produce turned into drink, and, thus, most drink is sourced from dwarven farming, both indoors and out. Most of the plants gathered from the wild can also be used for brewing, but the reduced yields relative to farming makes it a less ideal solution, though the added variety of drinks can make it worthwhile. Drinks can be sourced at embarkation, and taking at least a few barrels with you is recommended to hold your initial dwarves over until you can build a still. Caravans always bring some drinks along as well, although not enough to support a reasonably large fortress. Finally, honey acquired through beekeeping can be brewed into alcoholic mead, the only form of drink that is not derived from plants or fruit.

The most direct way to acquire the booze itself is through a still; large fortresses will usually have one or more dedicated brewers keeping the dwarven drinks cellar well-stocked. To brew a drink, a brewer will need an empty watertight container of some kind (either a barrel or large pot) and a stack of brewables. Each brewing job produces five units of alcohol per brewable item, and deposits the alcohol in the container, recovering any plant seeds in the process. The size of a stack does not affect how long it takes to brew it, which is based entirely on the brewer's skill, making brewing jobs performed on large stacks much more efficient than those done on individual consumables. Stacks of alcohol do not have quality levels, and the strength of a happy thought obtained by drinking alcohol is based entirely on the value of the drink (including the stack size) and the dwarf's personal preferences.

Mechanics

Dwarven thirst is constrained by the important [ALCOHOL_DEPENDENT] creature token, which causes them to suffer severe performance penalties when deprived of alcohol. "Dry" dwarves increasingly lose walking speed and attack speed. Alcohol withdrawal appears in the dwarf's thoughts and preferences as "starting to work slowly due to its scarcity" after 3 months, "really wants a drink" after 6 months, "has gone without a drink for far, far too long" after 9 months, and finally "can't even remember the last time he/she had some" after an entire year. Precisely how much dwarves trudge their feet due to alcohol withdrawal is unknown.

Even with a well installed, dwarves going to drink will prioritize alcohol over water. Citizens and residents of other species will also choose alcoholic drinks if available, regardless of their alcohol dependency or immoderation.

All creatures can theoretically survive drinking nothing but alcohol for their entire lives, though they may be subject to alcohol poisoning due to not having the same tolerance level as dwarves. Neither dwarves nor any other race of creature will accept an alcohol ration if resting in a hospital, and must instead be given fresh water until they recover. Water may also be given to busy dwarves that become thirsty.^Bug:2448

Vampire dwarves are just as alcohol-dependent as the mortal kind. Despite this, in fortress mode, they will only ever drink blood, ensuring they eventually suffer withdrawal, even if your pantry is stocked to the brim with every beverage imaginable. This does not stop tavern keepers from giving them drink, if such is available inside the tavern.

Despite popular belief, setting booze on fire will not cause it to explode, but exposing it to high temperatures will cause it to boil away. If the container is flammable, it (and, subsequently, the booze) will be consumed by fire; magma-safe containers would never be destroyed by magma, but any booze inside will likely quickly perish due to heat transfer (unless the container is made of nether-cap).

Alcohol, like all other liquids, does not have a quality modifier. The level of happy thought generated by drinking a preferred alcohol is dependent upon the value of the entire stack of alcohol.^[1])

Dwarves prefer drinking alcohol out of a mug, cup, or goblet, and will receive an unhappy thought for drinking alcohol without one of these three vessel types, which may be placed in coffers in designated taverns. Visitors will drink alcohol too.

Alcohol poisoning

Over-consumption of alcohol can lead to harmful syndromes, progressing to inebriation, unconsciousness, and death. Each individual has their own tolerance level based on their size (with dwarves having 1.5× the resistance for their size) and each individual will consume more or less according to their need to drink. Mysterious deaths from suffocation in your taverns are most likely cases of acute alcohol poisoning. Note that the lethal effects of alcohol poisoning are caused by impairing the function of a creature's lungs, making creatures that lack lungs, or the need to breathe, immune to death from alcohol poisoning.

List of alcohol

Plump Helmets grow slowly, and dwarves reuse the seeds after consuming the wine.

Dwarven Ale.

Ingredient	Beverage produced	Drink value	Type	Source
Plump helmet	Wine: Dwarven wine	2☼	Plant-based	Subterranean crop
Pig tail	Beer: Dwarven ale	2☼		Subterranean crop
Cave wheat	Beer: Dwarven beer	2☼		Subterranean crop
Sweet pod	Other: Dwarven rum	2☼		Subterranean crop
Muck root	Other: Swamp whiskey	1☼		Surface crop
Bloated tuber	Beer: Tuber beer	2☼		Surface crop
Prickle berry	Wine: Prickle berry wine	1☼		Surface crop
Longland grass	Beer: Longland beer	2☼		Surface crop
Rat weed	Other: Sewer brew	1☼		Surface crop
Fisher berry	Wine: Fisher berry wine	2☼		Surface crop
Rope reed	Other: River spirits	2☼		Surface crop
Sliver barb	Other: Gutter cruor	1☼		Surface crop
Sun berry	Other: Sunshine	5☼		Surface crop
Whip vine	Wine: Whip wine	3☼		Surface crop
Beet	Wine: Beetroot wine	2☼		Surface crop
Wild carrot	Wine: Carrot wine	2☼		Surface crop
Cassava	Beer: Cassava beer	2☼		Surface crop
Parsnip	Wine: Parsnip wine	2☼		Surface crop
Potato	Wine: Potato wine	2☼		Surface crop
Radish	Wine: Radish wine	2☼		Surface crop
Sweet potato	Wine: Sweet potato wine	2☼		Surface crop
Turnip	Wine: Turnip wine	2☼		Surface crop
Single-grain wheat	Beer: Single-grain wheat beer	2☼		Surface crop
Two-grain wheat	Beer: Two-grain wheat beer	2☼		Surface crop
Soft wheat	Beer: Soft wheat beer	2☼		Surface crop
Hard wheat	Beer: Hard wheat beer	2☼		Surface crop
Spelt	Beer: Spelt beer	2☼		Surface crop
Barley	Wine: Barley wine	2☼		Surface crop
Buckwheat	Beer: Buckwheat beer	2☼		Surface crop
Rye	Beer: Rye beer	2☼		Surface crop
Sorghum	Beer: Sorghum beer	2☼		Surface crop
Rice	Beer: Rice beer	2☼		Surface crop
Maize	Beer: Maize beer	2☼		Surface crop
Quinoa	Beer: Quinoa beer	2☼		Surface crop
Kaniwa	Beer: Kaniwa beer	2☼		Surface crop
Pendant amaranth	Beer: Pendant amaranth beer	2☼		Surface crop
Blood amaranth	Beer: Blood amaranth beer	2☼		Surface crop
Purple amaranth	Beer: Purple amaranth beer	2☼		Surface crop
Pearl millet	Beer: Pearl millet beer	2☼		Surface crop
White millet	Beer: White millet beer	2☼		Surface crop
Finger millet	Beer: Finger millet beer	2☼		Surface crop
Foxtail millet	Beer: Foxtail millet beer	2☼		Surface crop
Fonio	Beer: Fonio beer	2☼		Surface crop
Teff	Beer: Teff beer	2☼		Surface crop
Apple	Cider: Apple cider	2☼	Fruit-based	Surface tree
Apricot	Wine: Apricot wine	2☼		Surface tree
Banana	Beer: Banana beer	2☼		Surface tree
Bayberry	Wine: Bayberry wine	2☼		Surface tree
Carambola	Wine: Carambola wine	2☼		Surface tree
Cherry	Wine: Cherry wine	2☼		Surface tree
Custard-apple	Cider: Custard-apple cider	2☼		Surface tree
Date	Wine: Date wine	2☼		Surface tree
Durian	Wine: Durian wine	2☼		Surface tree
Guava	Wine: Guava wine	2☼		Surface tree
Lychee	Wine: Lychee wine	2☼		Surface tree
Mango	Wine: Mango wine	2☼		Surface tree
Papaya	Wine: Papaya wine	2☼		Surface tree
Peach	Cider: Peach cider	2☼		Surface tree
Pear	Other: Perry	2☼		Surface tree
Persimmon	Wine: Persimmon wine	2☼		Surface tree
Plum	Wine: Plum wine	2☼		Surface tree
Pomegranate	Wine: Pomegranate wine	2☼		Surface tree
Rambutan	Wine: Rambutan wine	2☼		Surface tree
Sand pear	Cider: Sand pear cider	2☼		Surface tree
Artichoke	Wine: Artichoke wine	2☼		Surface crop
Tomato	Wine: Tomato wine	2☼		Surface crop
Tomatillo	Wine: Tomatillo wine	2☼		Surface crop
Passion fruit	Wine: Passion fruit wine	2☼		Surface crop
Grape	Wine: Wine	2☼		Surface crop
Cranberry	Wine: Cranberry wine	2☼		Surface crop
Bilberry	Wine: Bilberry wine	2☼		Surface crop
Blueberry	Wine: Blueberry wine	2☼		Surface crop
Blackberry	Wine: Blackberry wine	2☼		Surface crop
Raspberry	Wine: Raspberry wine	2☼		Surface crop
Pineapple	Wine: Pineapple wine	2☼		Surface crop
Strawberry	Wine: Strawberry wine	2☼		Surface crop
Honey	Other: Mead	1☼	Animal-based	Surface apiary

Modding

Any item of type DRINK:NONE is considered to be an alcoholic beverage as far as the game is concerned, regardless of the material used. Thus, if you were to make a reaction which produces drinks of, say, elf blood, your dwarves would happily chug them down, sating their alcohol dependency in the process. Note that DRINK items don't cause inebriation symptoms by themselves; these are dependent on a syndrome associated with the consumed substance (see the PLANT_ALCOHOL_TEMPLATE raws below for an example). However, you could always add this syndrome, or another one of your own design, to the material you want to use.

Bugs

Cooks will only cook alcohol and other fluids as a last resort, instead preferring to cook solid foods with solid foods. ^Bug:2393 For more information, see the kitchen page.

See also

• Alcohol plant stockpile — Brewery input stockpile helper page
• Brewer
• Beekeeping industry
• Crop
• Thirst

Raws

[MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:PLANT_ALCOHOL_TEMPLATE] [STATE_COLOR:ALL_SOLID:BROWN] [STATE_NAME:ALL_SOLID:frozen alcohol] [STATE_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:frozen alcohol] [STATE_COLOR:LIQUID:BROWN] [STATE_NAME:LIQUID:alcohol] [STATE_ADJ:LIQUID:alcohol] [STATE_COLOR:GAS:BROWN] [STATE_NAME:GAS:boiling alcohol] [STATE_ADJ:GAS:boiling alcohol] [DISPLAY_COLOR:6:0:0] [MATERIAL_VALUE:1] [SPEC_HEAT:2440] [IGNITE_POINT:10800] [MELTING_POINT:9850] [BOILING_POINT:10150] [HEATDAM_POINT:NONE] [COLDDAM_POINT:NONE] [MAT_FIXED_TEMP:NONE] [SOLID_DENSITY:789] [LIQUID_DENSITY:789] [MOLAR_MASS:20000] [IMPACT_YIELD:10000] [IMPACT_FRACTURE:10000] [IMPACT_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:100] [COMPRESSIVE_YIELD:10000] [COMPRESSIVE_FRACTURE:10000] [COMPRESSIVE_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:100] [TENSILE_YIELD:10000] [TENSILE_FRACTURE:10000] [TENSILE_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:100] [TORSION_YIELD:10000] [TORSION_FRACTURE:10000] [TORSION_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:100] [SHEAR_YIELD:6600] used high salinity ice [SHEAR_FRACTURE:6600] [SHEAR_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:100] [BENDING_YIELD:10000] [BENDING_FRACTURE:10000] [BENDING_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:100] [MAX_EDGE:500] [ABSORPTION:100] [ALCOHOL_PLANT] [SYNDROME] [SYN_NAME:inebriation] [SYN_IDENTIFIER:INEBRIATION] [SYN_AFFECTED_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON] [SYN_INGESTED] [SYN_INJECTED] [SYN_NO_HOSPITAL] [SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:100:1000] [CE_NAUSEA:SEV:35:PROB:100:SIZE_DILUTES:START:120:PEAK:480:END:1200:DWF_STRETCH:4] [CE_DIZZINESS:SEV:50:PROB:100:SIZE_DILUTES:START:20:PEAK:240:END:600:DWF_STRETCH:4] for ataxia [CE_UNCONSCIOUSNESS:SEV:25:PROB:100:SIZE_DILUTES:START:120:PEAK:480:END:1200:DWF_STRETCH:4] [CE_CHANGE_PERSONALITY:FACET:BASHFUL:-50:FACET:PRIVACY:-50:FACET:BRAVERY:25:FACET:CONFIDENCE:25:FACET:POLITENESS:-25:FACET:THOUGHTLESSNESS:25:PROB:100:SIZE_DILUTES:START:10:PEAK:120:END:480:DWF_STRETCH:4] [CE_FEEL_EMOTION:EMOTION:EUPHORIA:SEV:75:PROB:100:SIZE_DILUTES:START:10:PEAK:120:END:480:DWF_STRETCH:4] [CE_ERRATIC_BEHAVIOR:SEV:50:PROB:100:SIZE_DILUTES:START:10:PEAK:120:END:480:DWF_STRETCH:4] [CE_IMPAIR_FUNCTION:SEV:20:BP:BY_TYPE:BREATHE:ALL:PROB:100:SIZE_DILUTES:START:120:PEAK:480:END:1200:DWF_STRETCH:4]

V · T · E Industries
Primary	Beekeeping · Farming · Fishing · Gathering · Meat · Poultry · Stone · Wood
Secondary	Alcohol · Armor · Arms · Ceramic · Extract · Finished goods · Fuel · Furniture · Gem · Glass · Metal · Paper · Soap · Textile
Tertiary	Military · Health care · Noble · Trade · Tavern
Quaternary	Library · Temple

V · T · E Materials
More: Gems • Metals • Stones
Creature	Blood • Bone • Cartilage • Cheese • Chitin • Egg • Fat • Feather • Hair (Wool • Yarn) • Hoof • Horn • Ichor • Leather • Milk • Meat • Nail • Nervous tissue • Organs • Parchment • Pearl • Scale • Shell • Silk • Skin • Spit • Sweat • Tallow • Tears • Tooth • Wax
Plant	Fiber (Paper • Slurry) • Flower • Fruit • Leaf • Oil • Plant powders (Dye • Flour • Sugar) • Seed (Press cake) • Wood
Creature/Plant	Alcohol • Cloth/Thread • Extract (Golden salve • Gnomeblight • Honey • Royal jelly • Syrup • Venom) • Glob • Liquids • Soap
Inorganic	Metal • Milk of lime • Soil (Clay • Sand) • Stone (Ash glaze • Earthenware • Gem • Gypsum plaster • Porcelain • Quicklime • Stoneware • Tin glaze)
Hardcoded	Amber • Ash • Coral • Filth • Fuel • Glass • Grime • Ice • Lye • Magma • Mud • Pearlash • Potash • Salt • Unknown substance • Vomit • Water
See also: Material science