40d:Alcohol

Alcohol is one of the staples of the dwarven diet; it quenches their thirst and gives them positive thoughts. Healthy dwarves will drink alcohol exclusively when it is available. When dwarves are forced to drink water, they begin to work slowly as a result of their alcohol dependency. (Note that in Dwarf Fortress, milk is not actually drinkable -- it is only used to make cheese. Dwarves drink only alcohol and water.)

Alcohol can be brewed at a still, brought with you from the embark screen, or traded with visiting caravans.

Sobriety has no place in the fortress.

Brewing

To brew alcohol at a still requires a brewable plant and an empty barrel. Every unit of plant produces 5 units of alcohol. Brewing enough alcohol for even a medium-sized population requires a lot of barrels; be sure to keep plenty near to hand.

A single stack of plants will be brewed in one go, and the resulting booze will be placed into a single barrel - a stack of Plump Helmet [5] will produce Dwarven Wine [25], and will only occupy a single barrel. Skilled growers, who tend to harvest larger stacks, can therefore reduce the number of barrels required to store alcohol, which in turn minimizes the required stockpile size. Brewing (unlike cooking) also yields plantable seeds.

Consumption

A healthy adult dwarf consumes approximately 18 units of drink per year. Each drink consists of the dwarf walking to a free barrel (one not already being drunk from), upending it over his alcohol-intake orifice (mugs are for simpering humans), and liquoring up. Because dwarves tipple so frequently, the main liquor stash is often the second-most heavily populated area of the fort (right after the main meeting area) and dwarves spend much time walking to and from it. So: The booze should be both secure and accessible.

Cooking

Since a single brewable item will produce five units of alcohol, and each unit of alcohol can be cooked directly into food, it is advisable to brew any plants you intend to cook. In this manner, you may produce five times the food you would from simply growing and then cooking your crops. Be wary though, as you need to ensure enough remains behind for drinking. Note that some consider this an exploit, and Toady plans to revamp the whole cooking system in the future, and in the process disallow the use of booze (as well as things like seeds and syrup) as a food substrate.

Happiness

Dwarves get happy thoughts from drinking. The intensity of this buzz depends on the quality of the drink and whether it matches the dwarf's personal preferences. The quality of a drink is a hidden value (with no effect on price) which improves with the skill of the brewer. It is unknown whether high-value liquors (like sunshine) boost feelings more than low-value ones (like gutter cruor)^[Verify]. We do know that dwarves prefer to drink them. Dwarves also prefer a variety of alcohols to choose from, and they will get unhappy thoughts from drinking the same old booze every day.

Wounded dwarves

Wounded dwarves will not drink alcohol; they must be given water by a caretaker with a bucket. Therefore, a fortress cannot survive on alcohol in the absence of drinking water, unless dwarves are abandoned when wounded.

A dwarf with a permanent injury to his or her nervous system will be bedridden for life and will never again drink alcohol, and upon inspection will have the thought "He needs alcohol to get through the working day, and he can't remember the last time he had some!" You may wish to put these poor dwarves out of their misery.

Great balls of fire!

Keep alcohol away from fire. Igniting the stuff will cause a ball of fire that can easily kill or injure your dwarves. At this time very little research has been done regarding alcohol bombs. It is possible that the dramatic coloring is just the evaporated alcohol, and any damage to dwarves is actually caused by the source of the fire, not the booze vapors. For an example see both this movie and this one at the DFMA.

Brewable plants

Grown inside

Ingredient	Beverage Produced	Beverage Value
Pig tail	Dwarven Ale	2
Cave wheat	Dwarven Beer	2
Sweet pod	Dwarven Rum	2
Plump helmet	Dwarven Wine	2

Grown Outside

Ingredient	Beverage Produced	Beverage Value
Sun berry	Sunshine	5
Whip vine	Whip Wine	3
Rope reed	River Spirits	2
Fisher berry	Fisher Berry Wine	2
Longland grass	Longland Beer	2
Wild strawberry	Strawberry Wine	2
Bloated tuber	Tuber Beer	2
Prickle berry	Prickle Berry Wine	1
Rat weed	Sewer Brew	1
Sliver barb	Gutter Cruor	1
Muck root	Swamp Whiskey	1

Not Brewable

Plants that cannot be brewed include:

Overview

This a complete chart showing possible plant uses

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