Brewing Guide

[Beldhyr]

I wrote this guide on my guild's site a while back. I was just looking at it, and realized it might be something good to put here.

This comes as a compilation of information from several Sigils. Special recognition to Mordraeth (retired) for being the first to post a brewing guide on our site.

So here goes...(subsequent 2 posts will contain the guide).

[Beldhyr]

Brewing Guide

Skill-raising for brewing can essentially be divided into two phases -- from 0 to 248, and from 248 to 300.

What to Brew: Phase 1, from 0 to 248
Everything in Phase 1 is bought from a vendor.

31 - Short Beer - 1 barely, 1 hops, 1 malt, cask
41 - Mead - 1 hops, 1 malt, 1 yeast, cask
46 - Heady Kiola - 2 kiola sap, water flask, bottle (Note: Used in Tailoring)
51 - Short Ale - 1 barely, 1 hops, 1 water, cask
68 - Ale - 1 barely, 1 malt, 1 water, cask
135 - Ol'Tujim's Fierce Brew - 1 barely, 1 hops, 1 malt, 1 yeast, cask
142 - Double Brewed Double Stout Dwarven Ale - 2 dwarven ale, 2 short beer, cask
151 - Skull Ale - 1 Vinegar, 1 spices, 1 short beer, cyclops skull
162 - Jumjum Spiced Beer - 1 barel, 1 hops, 1 spices, 1 water, 1 jumjum stalk, bottle (Note: used in Picnics)
188 - Faydwer Shaker - 1 elven wine, 1 dwarven ale, 1 gnomish spirits, 1 mead, cask
248 - Minotaur Hero's Brew - 2 short beer, 3 malt, 1 yeast, 2 water flask, cask

Alternate Method (1)
If you're the naturey type and you're looking to use up some foraged items, here are some options:

21 - Water Flask - 4 Pod of Water, Bottle
21 - Berry Juice - 2 Berries, Water Flask
24 - Fruit Juice - 2 Fruit, Water Flask
82 - White Wine - 1 grapes, 1 wine yeast, 1 fruit, bottle
95 - Red Wine - 1 grapes, 1 wine yeast, 1 berries, bottle
122 - Brandy - 2 red wine, 1 vegetables, 1 spices, 1 shotglass
122 - Fetid Essence - 1 fishing grubs, 1 water flask
135 - Vodka - 2 short beer, 1 vegetables, 1 water flask, 1 bottle
155 - Hulgarsh - 2 vodka, 1 fishing bait, 1 water flask, cask
168 - Ginesh - 1 vegetables, short beer, water flask, shotglass

Alternate Method (2)
You might want to insert Underfoot Brown into the above progression. At the Greybloom Farms in Kaladim, there are 7 ground spawns of strange dark fungus and 10 ground spawns of underfoot mushrooms. If you're planning on going to 300 in brewing, Underfoot Brown is one way to balance the number of fungus with the number of mushrooms (since you need both to make Kaladim Constitutional). I haven't tried this method myself, but it's one idea. Just make sure you save all the strange dark fungus, too.

168 - Underfoot Brown - 4 underfoot mushroom, short beer, malt, water flask, cask
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What to Brew: Phase 2, from 248 to 300
From here on out, you will need either (a) Ground Spawns, (b) Forages, or (c) lots of money.

Phase 2, Step 1: 248 to 255
Even if you have the foraging skill, the best place to scrounge up these components is in the Bazaar. You can get Straggle Grass, Black Bees, and Stonewood Roots for as little as 1 pp, depending on the time and how many foragers are selling wares. I would recommend setting a price limit for yourself of 5pp or 10pp, and buying as many of all three components as you can while staying under your set price.

255 - A bottle of Aldo's Bitter Ale - Bottle, Cork, Water Flask, Barley, Malt, Straggle Grass
255 - A bottle of Bee Beer - Bottle, Cork, Water Flask, Barley, Malt, Yeast, Black Bees
255 - A bottle of Stonewood Ale - Bottle, Cork, Water Flask, Barley, Malt, Yeast, Stonewood Root

Now...make 8 of any one recipe, and you'll have 8 non-stacking "potions" with the "Intoxication II" effect on them. Put 8 of the same type in the brew barrel with a cask, and you'll get "A cask of <drink>" with 8 charges of "Intoxication II." You'll also get back 8 corks and 8 bottles, so you shouldn't need more than a stack of each.

Phase 2, Step 2: 255 to 268
Almondilla is easy to collect for, and the price of Steaming Water is dropping quickly in the Bazaar. Get your Almonds in Shar Vahl, your Coffee in Thurgadin, and your Vanilla in the Abysmal Sea (Vanilla is NO TRADE).

268 - Almondilla - Almonds, Dried Vanilla Beans, Generic Coffee Beans, Steaming Water.

Phase 2, Step 3: To 300
There are two "classic" recipes that most people used to get from 248 to 250, when 250 was the skill cap. Both of these can be used all the way to 300, but both have drawbacks.

335 - Kaladim Constitutional - A Strange Dark Fungus, Underfoot Mushroom, bottle, Celestial Essence, Corking Device, Fermented Yarrow, Soda Water

Ground spawn collection required, but relatively cheap and good stats.

335 - Brut Champagne - Soda Water, Champagne Magnum (Opal, Enchanted Gold Bar, Bottle), 3 Grapes, Wine Yeast.

Lots of money required (around 30pp per drink), plus you need an enchanter and jewelcrafter to make your champagne magnums. Then again, they take less time than Constitutionals, and 30pp lost per combine at this skill level is cheap compared to most other tradeskills.

[Beldhyr]

Brewing Basics
As with all skills, you'll want to have a decent intelligence or wisdom (either one; having both doesn't help). This will greatly increase the speed at which your skill goes up.

You will practice this skill in a Brew Barrel (stationary tradeskill container) or a Collapsible Distillery. Collapsed Distilleries are tinkered, but are currently difficult to get because they require two Severed Feran Tentacles to create.

Brewing & Bank Space
You may want to pick up a number of toys besides the Collapsed Distillery, especially when your skill starts to get to a respectable level. Unlike most trade skills, you probably won't really need these 'extras' until you get past the first phase (0-248 ).

You'll eventually want a Geerlok Fermenting Device (5% skill mod to brewing, Primary slot). These are the easiest and cheapest geerloks to make. Even if you plan to get your Trophy, one of these will help you succeed on it.

After that first phase (or even during, if you plan to make any stat-enhancing drinks as you go) you'll also want a Corking Device. This is required in a lot of the more popular recipes, such as Kaladim Constitutional, so as a Grandmaster Brewer it's good to have one on hand. You'll need a second Corking Device to make your trophy, anyway.

If brewing is your primary skill, I would recommend you dedicate one or two bags in your bank to it as a workspace. This is where you can store your trophy/geerlok, your corking device, and any leftovers you have from recipes with odd yields (extra Rathe Berry Juice, for example, or odd quantities of Fermented Yarrow).

Your Trophy will cost you around 3,000p to attempt. It will effectively replace your geerlok fermentation device, since it also has a +5% skill mod on it. It also has versatility (Pri, Sec, Rng), statistics (10 Str/Int/Wis 50Cha), and the ability to summon a no-rent, 100% weight-reducing, 10-slot bag that holds Giant items.

Go to the bazaar, summon one of these bags, and give it to Jolum. He will give you a permanent lore version of the bag in return.

Note: This guide was made before PoR and the new trophies; I would recommend getting the new Trophy, but still going for the old one at a high (250+) skill for a second bag (if Brewing is your only tradeskill; if you are a multiple-GM, only make one old trophy for any one skill, but quest for all the applicable new trophies).

Brewing? Why Brewing?
First, Brewed beverages may only sell for a small amount, but it can be a fairly steady income. People (except those in Trader mode) are always consuming drink, so you'll usually have repeat customers...unlike Smithing and Tailoring, where you can expect your customers to be one-time shoppers.

Second, and perhaps the most common reason, Brewing is the fastest and least expensive tradeskill to raise. It's perfect for those people who want a trophy and Grandmaster's Satchel without the insanity required for, say, tailoring.

Synergy
Brewing works with just about every tradeskill, usually at low to middle skill levels for tempers, tannins, and other sub-combines. The main synergy the near-grandmaster brewer might be interested in is with Jewelcraft. When you, your alts, or your guildmates decide to raise Jewelcraft from around 188 to 196, have them skip the standard bar+gem progression and just make Champagne Magnums. From personal experience, supply them with components for about 4 stacks and expect 3 to 5 failures.

Where to Work - Factions and Brewing
For many of the low-end recipes, you can work with just about any brew barrel. Shadowhaven, the Plane of Knowledge, Gukta, and even Highkeep are good places to work. East Freeport is excellent for both Faydwer Shakers and Heady Kiola.

Minotaur brew is another story, since it requires you find a place with both your standard brewing supplies and a good bar. The best place, bar none, is Gukta, since the brew barrel and all vendors you'll need are within 10 feet of each other. If you're KoS to the frogs, try Thurgadin. Thurgadin does have everything you need, but you'll need to run halfway around the loop to gather your supplies.

KoS to Gukta and Thurgadin both? Well, you're on your own. Let me know what you find.

Another semi-important faction for brewers is Othmir. The Othmir in Cobalt Scar are the only source of the algae used to make Coldain Velium Temper.

[tomojo]

If you are on a tight budget...

An alternate very cheap way of getting from 248 to 295....

For those of us who can't seem to scrounge the pp to buy the components in the bazaar but have a lot of time on our hands and don't mind fishing;

Corathus Creep provides; Mossmatt, Fungus-covered Plecostomus and Tiny Blind Cave Fish.

268 - Mossmatt Mead
cask, hops, malt, mossmatt(2), yeast

282 - Fish Fungus Wine
bottle, cork, fish fungus(2), water flask, wine yeast
to make 'fish fungus': filleting knife, fungus-covered plecostomus - in a tackle box

295 - Blindfish Pale Ale
barley, cask, malt, tiny blind cave fish(5), water flask

Don't worry, the Blind Cave Fish are plentiful. and if you have a mule to store the components for the higher trival combined until after you reach the lower trivials, you will be able to do a long run. In fact you will probably just do the Blindfish Pale Ale to skill up and keep from overflowing your mules/bank.

Besides, the Blindfish Pale Ale is a wonderful stat drink on top of everything else.

Just make sure you are invis when fishing to avoid the situations where someone just running to the zone trains one/some of the few KOS mobs to where you are fishing.