Dwarf Fortress – Farming & Brewing Guide

Dwarf Fortress by Bay 12 Games is an indie survival and resource management game with complex features and realistic mechanics. Its first version was released in 2006 and was recently listed on Steam on December 6, 2022. The game lets players exhaust their creativity and form strategies to survive the unknown world while extending their colony. This short guide will help you stockpile food and drink in the early game with little to no effort.

Fast & Easy Farming & Brewing Guide in Dwarf Fortress

Every survival game requires food and drinks, and Dwarf Fortress is no different. In today’s guide, I’ll teach you to farm and brew your first stockpile of resources by Shallow Farming. Shallow Farming is one of the few effective ways to survive in the early game. It requires less space and can be easily set up to be sustainable.

You first need to dig down one tile into the dirt layer by clicking the mine icon.

In building your own shallow farm, you must make space and allot enough area for your farm and brewery. It can be small but enough to accommodate your Stockpile, Still, and Farm Plot.

While some of your dwarves are busy digging your shallow farm, go to the first layer and chop trees for your Still, as shown in the image above.

You will need a Stockpile to store your seeds in this little space. To build Stockpile, simply click the Stockpile icon and drag your cursor at the uppermost area of the farm. Make sure to leave enough room for your Still later.

Click the ‘Custom option,’ and a new window will appear. Your Stockpile should specifically only focus on collecting Seeds like the image above.

After the Stockpile has been set, now is the time to create your Still. You can easily make this by pressing the B and then L key on your keyboard.

Now is the time for you to build your Farm Plot. You can simply do this by clicking the Workshops button, heading to the Farming tab, and selecting the Farm Plot option. Your main objective is to grow Plump Helmets that can be used to brew alcohol.

It’s also important to note that you don’t want to cook your Plump Helmets in the early game. If you cook it, you will lose the spawn to plant more of it.

When everything is finished, go to the labor menu by pressing Y, and under the Labor menu, un-tick the food icon to prevent your dwarves from cooking it as a meal.

Once the Farm plot is finished, you can click on it and tick the Plump Helmets in all the seasons as shown above.

Lastly, to brew alcohol, click the Still and add a new task: Brew drink from a plant.