Why do Dwarves drink Whiskey or Ale?

[Hussar]

Well, I've always figured dwarves kept landed settlements on the surface of their mountains - little thorps that are used as basic farms and grazing lands. You can grow crops like barley and corn on poor soil - the mesopotamians lived off barley simply because it was the only crop that survived the high soil salinity of their land, and the inca preferred corn because they could grow it in a wide range of locations. And, of course, both of those *snip*

Spoken like a true Canadian. Most people would think that great whiskey would need wheat.

Actually, thinking about it, the biggest problems with spirits isn't the wheat, but the sugar. it take a LOT of sugar to make hard liquors, never mind the distilling as well. One of those things we're not supposed to look at.

Then again, potatoes would work quite well.

 

[frankthedm]

I have always imagined dwarves were the real rulers of many rural human farmlands. In those Dwarven protectorates there are secret underground dwarven brewing complexes. Some even connect to dwarf controlled underdark sectors or other complexes through secret passages.

Because military maneuvers are sometimes needed to combat monsters, hostile humanoids and such, dwarves transfer troops between these with modest amounts of supplies. Transferring them on a regular basis allows for it to look like there are far more dwarves than there are and lets the reclusive dwarven brewers keep their secret clan recipes secret. Not being the most trusting of dwarves, these hereditary brewers often have multiple secret chambers for the Family Stock and experimental brews.

Of course the dwarven holds are sometimes taken over or the dwarves are beaten back, leaving these locations to be inhabited by other races.

This is my default answer when a player in a dungeon asks "Who built this place?"

 

[Wik]

Henh. I'm something of a whisky lover... my bar fridge has something like five different types of whisky in it right now... three ryes, one corn, and I think I have some scotch, too.....

I never even *thought* of the sugar, but there are easy ways around this. There are a lot of roots and tubers that are very high in sugar; you could create one of these and simply suggest that it is the sugar that is used in the distilling process. I remember reading about some veggie or another in south america that was used as a sugar substitute.... why not a mountain veggie?

Personally, though, out of all of these suggestions, I like the "Dwarves trade for it" one the most. After all, dwarves are a people that love gold, and to love gold, there has to be trade (dwarves in my campaigns are always traders, anyways). I could easily see the dwarves selling their steel axes and swords for foodstuffs and booze.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Dwarven Stout in Dragonlance is actually made from mushrooms.

 

[Stormborn]

"Corn don't grow at all on Rocky Top, its to rocky by far/That's why all the folks on Rocky Top get there corn from a jar..."

or

"Dooley was a trader when into town he come. Sugar by the bushel and molasses by the ton."

Basically, moonshining and the production of various sorts of spirits was a common practice of people in the Appalachian and Ozark areas of America. Such places were not very good for the kind of crops that are used in the production of such things. Thats what trade is for.

However, in a fantasy setting sugar could be derived from roots like dwarven sugar beets or even insects like dire honey pot ants. Other than that a starchy mash is typically needed. Again roots are a possibilty, terraces of rice along the mountain side, even a hardier tall grass like bamboo could be used by dwarves to make whiskey. Although, with the existance of magic why can't dwarves (other than their supposed traditional distate for it) have some kind of magically lit underground fields of wheat.

Might as well ask where they get fibers for clothing. Do they all wear leather all the time? Mountain goat wool? Dire giant silkworm fibers? Or do they trade for cloth?

 

[Turjan]

Spoken like a true Canadian. Most people would think that great whiskey would need wheat.

Actually, thinking about it, the biggest problems with spirits isn't the wheat, but the sugar. it take a LOT of sugar to make hard liquors, never mind the distilling as well. One of those things we're not supposed to look at.

Well, what is the barley or corn for, if not for the sugar?

 

[pawsplay]

Dwarves living off mushrooms and lichens is a Krynn thing. In Tolkien, dwarves hunted and farmed. I think it's very simple to imagine that they engage in some aboveground farming, and trade for the rest. Corn and wheat might be better to trade for, but they can certainly grow sugar beets, blueberries, and other things in their rocky homelands.

 

[Gez]

In real life, medieval farming communities in area where the ground was stable enough quickly developed into miniature Underdarks. Since brigands and soldiers would come periodically to rape, kill, and pillage; the peasants needed some form of protection. They'd make tunnels and caves, with concealed entrances, and simple but nasty traps (or things such as arrowslits on both sides of the entrance corridor).

When troops were spotted, everybody would gather the cattle and other beasts, and everyone -- including livestock -- would enter the underground complex. It was also where most food stock and their meager wealth was kept.

The marauders would arrive, and find nothing. They could always torch the houses, but they were quickly rebuilt. And if they did find an entrance, it would be a slaughter for them: in the dark, in cramped corridors where they can't benefit from their military asset (no horse of course, and no space to swing a weapon), falling in simple traps (such as a mud pit, try to swim in the mud when you wear an armor), and getting attacked from the side by invisible attackers stabbing you with forks and such from another corridor through slits.


I see the dwarven commoners as using the same kind of methods, except in more dwarven. They do farm on the surface; but they live underground, and at the slightiest sign of a threat, everything and everyone disappear in hidden tunnels. But, since they're dwarves, a messenger will hurry through long-distance tunnels to the nearest dwarven garrison.

However, despite these farming communities, dwarven nations still need to import food. Which is where dwarven smiths and mercenaries get in the picture. The dwarves export tools, weapons, armors; and rent the services of engineers and soldiers. The money raised this way lets them buy the food supplies they need.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

The clerics make it. Dwarven ale is in fact, dwarven holy water.

 

[Storyteller01]

There are stories of jail prisoners making alcoholic drinks by tossing bread and fruit/desserts into a bag, letting the yeast ferment (typing from memory, so if anyone has the details let me know).

It isn't much of a stretch to believe that they have tubers/fruits for a base, and some fungus that acts as the yeast. Get past that, and the distilling shouldn't be a problem (dwarves do get a bonus for metalworking... )