Brew Crafters
Brew Crafters Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 24 beer recipe cards
- 4 local partnership cards
- 24 skilled worker cards
- 5 Player Aids for Buildings & Equipment
- 5 Intern meeples
- Start player token
- 10 Market Action meeples (2 in each player color)
- 50 Malt, 30 Hops, 20 Yeast, 10 Spices, 10 Coffee, 10 Fruit
- 20 research track cubes (4 cubes for each player)
- 15 Brewery Shift tokens (3 in each player color)
- 5 Personal Brewery boards
- 5 double-sided Research Labs
- Brewery Action board
- Main Market Action board
- Double-sided 3/4/5-player Market Action board
- Season (round) board
- 215 beer batch tokens
- 21 "Gold Label" tokens (1 for each of the 21 advanced recipes)
- 54 Reputation tokens (twenty-nine 1s and twenty-five 5s)
- 25 resource counters
- 75 Money tokens (forty-five $1s and thirty $5s)
- 4 collaboration tokens (only used in 3-5 player games)
- 15 loan tokens
- 3 Community Farm tokens
- Market Helper token
- Season token
- 15 Hops Infusers
- 5 "complex" action space tiles
- 5 Oak Barrelhouses
- 5 Storehouses
- 5 Double Batch Brewing Systems
- 5 Mash Tuns
- 5 Yeast Labs
- 5 Tour & Tasting Rooms
- 5 Farms
- 5 Brewpubs
Game Set-up
-
Place the Season board on the table and place the season token on the Year 1 Spring space.
-
Place the main Market Action board within reach of all players. This Market Action board is used in all games. In 3- and 4-player games, add the "3+/4+ players" Market Action board underneath the main Market Action board. In a 3-player game only, cover up the 4+ player spaces as they will not be needed. For a 5-player game, turn over the 3/4-player board.
-
Place the "Spices Importer" and "Coffee Roaster" Local Partnership cards near the Market Actions board. In 4 and 5 player games only, include the 2nd set of Local Partnerships that say "4+ players".
-
Place the Brewery Action board near the Market Actions board.
-
Place Ingredient cubes on the table. It is convenient, but not necessary, to separate them ahead of the game.
-
Give each player a set of 5 player tokens in matching player color — 3 Brewery Shift tokens and 2 Market Action meeples.
-
Give each player a Research Lab, and a set of 4 research track cubes. Players place the cubes on the "start" locations on each track of his research lab. We recommend playing your first few games with the basic side of the research labs, and games with new players should always use the basic side. For games with experienced players only, decide if you want to use the blue "advanced" side of the research labs. Once you choose a side to use, you may not change it.
-
Give each player a Brewery board.
-
Give each player a Building & Equipment player aid.
-
Recipes. Place the Everyday Ale, Pleasantly Porter, and Simply Stout recipes on the table in a row. Those 3 "Basic Recipes" are always used. Choose 6 Advanced Recipes to use for this game. If this is your first game, you should choose: Pumpkin Ale, Lambic, Smoked Porter, Vanilla Porter, Coffee Stout, and Imperial Stout. Place both ale-style Advanced Recipes underneath Everyday Ale, both porter-style Advanced Recipes underneath Pleasantly Porter, and both stout-style Advanced Recipes underneath Simply Stout. For games with experienced players, try different combinations of Advanced Recipes, though you should always use 2 each of ale, porter, and stout-style recipes. All recipes you are not using in this game can be put away.
-
Place the "Gold Label" for each of the 6 specific Advanced Recipes you chose in the lower left hand corner of the correct Advanced Recipe card.
-
Find the matching Beer Batch tokens for the specific recipes you chose to play with, and place them on the table. To save table space you can put the tokens for each recipe on top of the matching recipe card. The Beer Batch tokens for the Advanced Recipes you are not using this game can be put away.
-
Choose 9 Skilled Workers to use for this game. If this is your first game, you should choose the workers that have the dice in the bottle cap in the lower left-hand corner. For games with experienced players, try different combinations of Skilled Workers. All Skilled Workers you are not using in this game can be put away.
-
In games with 3 or more players only, include collaboration tokens next to the Brewery Action Board.
-
Place money and Reputation tokens on the table.
-
Separate the Buildings and Equipment tiles by type.
-
Give the Starting Player token to the person who most recently finished a beer (root beer counts). Give $6 to each player. There is no limit to the amount of money you can store.
-
Each player receives 2 Malt (brown) and 1 Hops (green) and places them in the Storehouse on their Brewery board. Starting with the player to the left of the start player, players 2-5 also receive the following: Player 2 receives $1. Player 3 receives 1 Malt. Player 4 receives 1 Hops. Player 5 receives 1 Yeast.
-
Place the Loan tokens to the side of the board.
-
Place the resource counters to the side.
-
For experienced players only, decide if you want to add any Complex Actions into the game. If so, see page 12 of the rulebook for an explanation of the actions. Games with new players should not use any of these actions.
Important Terms and Concepts
Anatomy of a Recipe
Each recipe card shows:
- Oak Barrelhouse or Hops Infuser eligibility symbol (certain recipes only)
- Rep that each brewed batch is worth at the end of the game.
- Beer style (Ale, Porter, Stout). Also indicates the pre-requisite for brewing an Advanced Recipe.
- Basic Ingredients required (Malt, Hops, Yeast).
- Advanced Ingredients required, if any (Spices, Coffee, Fruit).
Example: the "1996S Black & Brüe" card is a Porter worth 7 Rep, requiring 3 Malt, 3 Hops, 1 Yeast, 1 Fruit, 1 Coffee, 1 Spices, and carries the Oak Barrelhouse/Hops Infuser eligibility symbol.
Your Brewery Board
You begin the game with everything that has a dollar sign ($) on it: A Storehouse, a Research Lab, and a Single Batch Brewing System. The other labeled empty spaces are where new buildings and equipment can be added during the game. More information on buildings & equipment is presented later.
Ingredients
There are 6 ingredient types used in the game. Three are considered Basic Ingredients: Malt (brown), Hops (green), and Yeast (yellow). Three are considered Advanced Ingredients: Fruit (red), Spices (orange), and Coffee (black). Any Ingredient that you acquire by any means must be able to be stored before you can use it to brew with. By default you may only store Ingredients in your Storehouses, although some skilled workers will allow you to store Ingredients in other locations as well. Throughout these rules, "storage" refers to any location where you are legally allowed to store Ingredients.
Recipes
The Everyday Ale, Pleasantly Porter, and Simply Stout recipes are used in every game. They are referred to as Basic Recipes. All players may brew them (provided they have the correct ingredients) from the beginning of the game. All other recipes are considered Advanced Recipes (even if they do not require Advanced Ingredients). More information about brewing beer is presented later.
Important: In order to brew an Advanced Recipe, you must have previously brewed the Basic Recipe of that style. For instance, in order to brew Smoked Porter, you must have previously brewed Pleasantly Porter. Once you brew the basic recipe of a particular style, you are eligible to brew all advanced recipes of that style.
Resource counters
Ingredients, money, Reputation tokens, Loan cards, and beer batches are not meant to be limited. In the rare case you run out of any of them, use the provided resource counters. For instance, you can place 1 of your Malt on a "4x" counter to indicate 4 total Malt, or a "2x" counter with one of your Loans to indicate 2 total loans.
Gameplay
Brew Crafters is played in rounds (called seasons). There are 4 seasons per year, and 3 years in the game. The game starts in Spring of Year 1. Each season has three phases:
-
RESTOCK PHASE, where new ingredients are added to some Market Action spaces
-
MARKET ACTION PHASE, where players take 2 market actions each
-
BREWERY PHASE, where players take one Brewery Action for each Brewery Shift they employ. Important: Players begin the game with only one Brewery Shift (the one shown at right). Therefore, players can only take one Brewery Action per season at the beginning of the game. Once you hire a 2nd Brewery Shift using the "Hire New Shift" Market Action, you may begin taking 2 – and later, if you hire a 3rd shift – 3 Brewery Actions per season.
1) Restock Phase
Find every Market Action space that has a "◠X" symbol. Add the number of ingredients or money to the Market Space as indicated on the space. See the examples below.
- A Malt Market space marked "⌃3" restocks 3 Malt.
- A Hops Market space marked "⌃2" restocks 2 Hops.
- An Open Market space marked "Take any 2" does not restock.
Important: A restocking Market Action space, such as the two pictured above, will restock ingredients even if there are already ingredients on the space (this happens when the space was not used the previous season).
2) Market Action Phase
Beginning with the starting player, players take turns placing a single Market Action meeple onto an unoccupied Market Action space and taking the action. A player may never place a Market Action meeple on a Brewery Action space. Play continues to the left until all players have placed their first Market Action meeple. Then the starting player for the season places his 2nd Market Action meeple, with play again continuing to the left. Players will always take exactly two Market Actions per season, unless a Skilled Worker or Intern provides them with an additional action. The following applies to taking Market Actions:
- Each Market Action space can only be used one time each season.
- Some action spaces offer players two choices for their action. These spaces are marked with "— OR —". A player may choose only one of the two actions on these spaces, however the entire action space is occupied for the duration of the season, and no other player may use it.
- When a player receives Ingredients (Malt, Hops, Yeast, Fruit, Spices, or Coffee) from a Market Action space, the Ingredients must be placed in the player's storage. If a player's storage is full, they may discard stored Ingredients to make room for the new Ingredients, or they may discard the newly acquired Ingredients.
- When a player takes Ingredients (or money) from an action space that restocks each season, he takes all the Ingredients (or money) on the space at that time.
Details About Certain Market Actions
Private Investor
When you use the Private Investor portion of an action space, you receive all money that has accumulated on the space, and you become the new starting player, beginning with the upcoming Brewery Action phase of the current season. Take the Starting Player token to indicate you are the new starting player. However, the player order for the rest of the in-progress Market Action phase does not change.
Form Local Partnership
When you Form a Local Partnership, take the Partnership card of your choice and place it next to your Brewery board. Each partnership can only be formed by one player. However, a single player can form more than one partnership. You may use the benefit of your partnership at any time, and as often as you like.
Hire a Skilled Worker
When you Hire a Skilled Worker, take the worker card and place it next to your Brewery board. Each Skilled Worker can only be hired by one player, who retains that Skilled Worker for the rest of the game. There is no limit to the number of Skilled Workers that a player can hire. Players can begin hiring Skilled Workers right from the start of the game. The specific benefit that a particular worker gives you is written on the card. You do not pay any money at the time you hire a Skilled Worker, but they do count toward your total operating cost at the end of each Winter.
Hire a New Shift
Remember, each player begins the game with only one brewery shift. In order to hire a 2nd shift, you must have brewed at least 3 batches of beer (you don't need to have sold 3 batches of beer yet, you just need to have brewed them – see example below). In order to hire a 3rd Shift, you must have brewed at least 9 batches of beer. Players are limited to a maximum of 3 Brewery Shifts (an Intern may give a player an extra Brewery Shift in a particular season). You do not pay any money at the time you hire a new shift, but they do contribute to your total operating costs that you pay at the end of every Winter. Be aware your 2nd and 3rd Brewery Shifts have higher operating costs than your starting shift. When you Hire a New Shift, you may use it in the current season's Brewery Action Phase.
Example: A player has brewed three batches of beer (even though they have only sold 1). They are eligible to hire a 2nd Brewery Shift.
3) Brewery Phase
Once players have conducted all their Market Actions, the starting player begins the Brewery Phase by placing one of their Brewery Shifts on a Brewery Action space and taking the action. A Brewery Shift may never be placed on a Market Action space. Play continues to the left until all players have taken their first Brewery Action. Then the starting player performs his second Brewery Action, if he has one, with play continuing to the left.
Important: Players do not "block" each other's Brewery Actions. All players can take the same Brewery Action in the same season, and each player can take the same Brewery Action more than once in the same season.
Once all players have taken all of their Brewery Actions, players collect both their Market Action meeples and their Brewery Shift tokens from the action spaces.
Advancing the Season
At the end of the Brewery Phase during each Spring, Summer, and Fall, simply advance the season token on the season board and start a new season with the Restock Phase. After each Winter, however (including the last Winter), you must first pay your Brewery's operating costs. Add up all the dollar signs ($) found on your Brewery board, Skilled Worker cards, and employed Brewery Shift tokens. You must pay that amount of money to the bank. If you do not have enough money, you must take Loans to make up the difference. Each Loan gives you $2. At the end of the game, your first Loan is worth -2 Rep. Each additional Loan is worth -3 Rep. You may not repay Loans, and may not borrow money from other players to pay your operating costs.
Note that each player begins the game with $5 in operating costs – $3 from the Buildings & Equipment they start with in their Brewery, and $2 from their first Brewery Shift.
Game End
The game ends after all players have paid their operating costs at the end of Year 3. Players now calculate their scores. Tally each player's Rep on a score sheet. Players score Rep in the following categories:
- All brewed beer — Rep value of each beer batch card, for every batch brewed (whether sold or not).
- Game-end research — 2 Rep for each of the 3 different basic recipes you brewed.
- Tasting Room — 1 Rep per different Advanced Recipe brewed.
- Reputation tokens — worth 5 or 1 Rep each.
- Gold Labels — 3 Rep per Label.
- Collaboration — 1 Rep per contributed portion of unfinished Collaboration (3+ player games only).
- Loans — Subtract Rep for Loans.
The player with the most Rep wins. Any beer that has been brewed but not yet sold is counted in a player's final score. If there is a tie, the player with the most remaining money is the winner. If there is still a tie, players share the honor of best local brewer.
Strategy Tip: Although you will need money during the game to pay your operating costs, making the most money is not the object of the game – building the best brewery and brewing the most valuable beer is how you win!
Details About Brewery Actions
Process Beer and/or Collaborate
Process Beer
You begin the game with a Single Batch Brewing System on your Brewery floor where you can Sell, Bottle and Brew one batch of beer at a time. Later, you can upgrade to a Double Batch System and/or install a Brewpub, both of which will increase your total brewing capacity. Your maximum brewing capacity (if you install a Double System and a Brewpub) is three batches.
There are three parts to the Process Beer action: Selling, Bottling, and Brewing. When you take the Process Beer action, you perform all three parts in this order:
-
First, you sell all batches that are in your bottling line on your Brewery floor and that are in your Brewpub (if you have a Brewpub). You immediately receive $2 for each batch sold. Place all sold batches in the "Shipping" area on your brewery board, where they will remain until the end of the game.
-
Then, you bottle all batches that are in your fermentation tanks on your Brewery floor. Place each bottled batch in the bottling area of your brewing line.
-
Finally, you may brew one new batch into each empty fermentation tank on your Brewery floor, and one new batch into your Brewpub, if you have a Brewpub. If you brew 2 or more batches at once, they do not have to be the same Recipe. You must have the required ingredients for each batch you brew (for example, you must have 3 Malt, 2 Hops, and 1 Yeast to brew 1 Everyday Ale). Turn the Ingredients for each batch you brew into the supply, and place the correct beer batch token for each batch in a fermentation tank and/or into your Brewpub, as appropriate. The Ingredients you use to brew must come from your storage. Reminder: To brew an Advanced Recipe, you must have previously brewed the Basic Recipe of that style. For instance, you cannot brew Patch's Pumpkin Ale until you have first brewed Everyday Ale.
Important: The first player to sell each Advanced Recipe is the first to introduce that Recipe into the market, and claims the Gold Label token from that Recipe. Each Gold Label is worth 3 Rep at the end of the game.
Collaborate (3-5 player games only. Skip this if you are playing a 2-player game.)
Collaboration is a way for different players to work together to gain an advantage over other players. When you take the Process Beer and/or Collaborate action, you may choose to Collaborate before or after you Process Beer, or not at all. If you choose to Collaborate, choose one portion of the collaboration recipe on which no player has yet contributed (3 Malt or 2 Hops or 1 Yeast or 1 Advanced Ingredient of any type). Place the Ingredients on the collaboration recipe card, and take the collaboration token matching the type of ingredient that you contributed.
You may only contribute one portion of the collaboration recipe at a time. (You can take the Process Beer and/or Collaborate action again later and contribute another portion). Once all 4 portions of the recipe have been contributed, the batch immediately gets sold, and players take the combination of Reputation and money that they are due based on what they contributed (for instance, the player that contributed the 3 Malt receives 2 Rep and $1). The collaboration recipe card is then cleared, the players return the collaboration tokens to the center of the table, and a new collaboration batch may be started. If the game ends with a collaboration batch partially completed, players score 1 Rep for each portion of the unfinished batch that they contributed.
The collaboration recipe rewards: 3 Malt → 2 Rep + $1; 2 Hops → 2 Rep + $1; 1 Yeast → 1 Rep + $1; 1 Advanced Ingredient (of any type) → 3 Rep.
Important: A collaboration batch cannot be finished unless at least 2 different players have contributed portions of the recipe. (One player cannot contribute all 4 portions). Also, once a player contributes a portion of the collaboration recipe, he cannot take those ingredients back.
Lab Research
Your Research Lab has 4 tracks on it that run from left to right. These are the four different areas in which you can conduct research. When you take this action, choose one of the 4 tracks, and move the token for that track one space to the right.
Experimental abilities are one-time only benefits. Receive the benefit as soon as you take the action, but never again.
Annual Winter abilities benefit you at the beginning of every Winter season. You take the benefit of your annual abilities as soon as it becomes Winter, before any players take any Market Actions for the season. If you have 2 or more Annual abilities to use at the beginning of Winter, you may take the benefits in any order of your choosing. You take the Annual benefit for free (you do not have to place a Worker).
Breakthrough abilities are constant — you receive the benefit every time the correct condition is met from that point forward.
Game End abilities will score you a certain number of Rep at the end of the game, based on what you achieved.
Winter Annual and Breakthrough abilities are cumulative. That is, when you move from Annual to Breakthrough, you still receive the annual benefit every Winter. And when you move from Breakthrough to Game End, you still receive both the Annual and Breakthrough benefits.
The Basic Lab research tracks are:
| Track | Experimental | Annual Winter | Breakthrough | Game End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Ingredients | Take 1 basic ingredient. | At the start of each Winter, take any 3 Basic Ingredients. | Take 1 Basic Ingredient when you receive at least 2 ingredients from any Market Action space. | 2 Rep for each of the 3 different basic recipes you brewed. |
| Operations | Place 1 Rep on an available building space. When you build there, gain the Rep. | At the start of each Winter, take a free Install New Building/Equipment action. | Take any 3 Basic Ingredients when you install a new building or equipment. | 1 Rep for each of the original 7 empty building spaces on which you built. |
| Brewing | Place a Batch Token for any recipe here. Next time you brew that recipe, use this token and score 1 Rep. | At the start of each Winter, take a free Process Beer/Collaboration action. | Gain 1 Rep for each new batch you brew. | 1 Rep for every 2 batches brewed. |
| Advanced Ingredients | Take 1 Advanced Ingredient. | At the start of each Winter, take 1 Advanced Ingredient and 1 Basic Ingredient. | Take 1 Advanced Ingredient when you receive at least 3 ingredients from any Market Action space. | 1 Rep for each of the 6 different Advanced Recipes you brewed. |
Install New Building or Equipment
On your brewery board, you begin the game with a single Storehouse that lets you store up to 12 ingredients of any type. You also begin the game with your Research Lab and a Single Batch Brewing System. Each of those have a dollar sign ($) on them. Other buildings and equipment may only be installed in the specific places where they are allowed (see the other labeled building spaces on your Brewery board). You do not pay any money at the time you install a new building or equipment, but they do count toward your total operating cost at the end of each Winter (except the Tour & Tasting Room and Hops Infusers, which have no operating cost). Many buildings and equipment will provide you with some number of Ingredients when you install them. Like all other Ingredients, you must have room to store them in order to keep them, or you must discard other Ingredients to make room for them.
Important: Reference Player Aid cards for the specific benefits of the various buildings and equipment.
Optional Complex Actions
Experienced players may optionally choose any combination of these Complex Actions and add them to the board at game setup as described below. For each action, note the type (Market, Brewery, or Special).
Hire Interns
(Market Action – place on the Market Action Board)
At game setup, place next to the board the same number of Intern meeples (pink) as the number of players in the game. The remaining Intern meeples are not used. As with all other Market Actions, only 1 player may use this action space per season. When you take this action, pay $1 immediately and place one Intern meeple on each of the next two season spaces on the season board. At the beginning of each season, take the Intern meeple. Use it as a Market or Brewery Action that season. You must use the Intern by the end of the season, or it is returned to the supply. Intern actions are taken in normal player order. At the end of the season, place the used Intern back in the Intern supply. You may only hire Interns if there are at least 2 Intern tokens in the supply.
Traders Market
(Market Action – place on the Market Action Board)
As with all other Market Actions, only 1 player may use this action space per season. When you use this action, you may make 1 trade at the rates stated on the card. The Ingredient you give must come from your storage. The Ingredient(s) you receive come from the general supply. A player does not have to take all the Ingredients he is due from the trade if he cannot store them all.
With trade rates, a "/" between items means "or". For instance, a player may trade 1 Advanced Ingredient of any type for 3 Yeast OR 4 Hops OR 5 Malt.
Traders Market rates (give → receive, "/" meaning "or"):
- Give 1 Advanced Ingredient (any type) → receive 3 Yeast / 4 Hops / 5 Malt
- Give 1 Yeast → receive 1 Advanced Ingredient (any type) / 3 Hops / 4 Malt
- Give 1 Hops → receive 1 Advanced Ingredient (any type) / 2 Yeast / 4 Malt
- Give 1 Malt → receive 1 Advanced Ingredient (any type) / 2 Yeast / 3 Hops
Employment Agency
(Market Action – place on the Market Action Board)
As with all other Market Actions, only 1 player may use this action space per season. When you use this action, shuffle the deck of Skilled Workers not being used in the current game, then draw six. You may optionally pay $1 immediately to hire one of those six Skilled Workers. Pay that Worker's operating costs as normal at the end of each Winter.
Community Farm
(Special Action – place on the Market Action Board)
Players may use this space as a Market or Brewery Action. More than 1 player may use this space in a given Market Action phase, and one player may use this action more than once. A player may take this action in Winter or Spring only. When taking this action, he may contribute one Ingredient to the Community Farm (1 Malt or 1 Hops or 1 Fruit). The Ingredient must come from the player's storage, and is placed directly onto the Community Farm card. The first player to contribute takes the "Community Farm 1" token and places it in front of them. The second player to contribute (can be the same person) takes the "Community Farm 2" token, and the third player to contribute takes the "Community Farm 3" token. One player is allowed to contribute all portions of the Community Farm. Each portion can only be contributed once per harvest.
Each Fall, at the very end of the Brewery Phase, after all other actions have been taken, any Ingredients planted in the Community Farm are harvested, even if only 1 or 2 ingredients were planted. Ingredients are harvested at the rates shown on the card (1 Malt becomes 7 Malt, 1 Hops becomes 5 Hops, and 1 Fruit becomes 3 Fruit). The harvested Ingredients are split as evenly as possible among the player(s) who contributed. Excess Ingredients may be selected by the players, in the player order that contributions to the Farm were made.
For example, Ben contributes 1 Hops in Winter, the first player to contribute for this harvest. Chris later contributes 1 Malt, and, finally, Darrell contributes 1 Fruit. When the Ingredients are harvested (split as evenly as possible), each player will receive 2 Malt, 1 Hops, and 1 Fruit. There will be 1 Malt and 2 Hops remaining. Starting with Ben (the first player to contribute), each player will choose one more Ingredient from those remaining. A player must have room in their storage for the Ingredients or must discard Ingredients to make room. Skilled Workers do not apply to the Community Farm. Once harvested, the tokens are returned and contributions may again be made starting the next Winter.
Develop Secret Recipe
(Brewery Action – place on the empty spot on the Brewery Action Board)
When you take this action, choose an Advanced Recipe from the box that is not being used in the current game. Place it in front of you (you may keep it face down until you brew it). Only you can brew that Recipe. When you first brew the Recipe, reveal it, and place 5 Rep on the Recipe card. The first time you sell that Recipe, you collect the Reputation. When you brew a Secret Recipe, use its own beer batch tokens. Each batch is worth that Recipe's normal Rep at scoring. Secret Recipes are bottled and sold normally, and you may brew them on your Brewery floor or in your Brewpub. You may develop more than 1 Secret Recipe during the game.
Credits & Thanks
Game Design: Ben Rosset
Graphic Design: Chris Kirkman
Art: Chris Kirkman, Darrell Louder, Jacqui Davis
Playtesters: Kevin Barefoot, Lauren Kologe, Eric Handler, Clyde Wright, Chuck Hughes, TC Petty III, Darrell Louder, Nick Ferris, Ruth Boyack, Tod Sirois, Chris Kirkman, Eli Persky, Jason Paul Fletcher, Jed Arnold, Leslie Louder, Paul Owen, Kathy Owen, Adam Bee, Mike Manglitz, Michael Taylor, Mike Swiryn, Ken Grazier, Sam Browne, Melissa Merrell, Vince Incarvite, Jon Abrams, Nick Henning, Anne Walek, Sara Kemme, Greg Giles, Adam O'Brien, Dan Patriss
Special Thanks: Fordham Brewery; Motley Brüe, the 3-time Dogfish Head intergalactic bocce tournament champions (Forever rising to light!); Table Treasure Games Design Group; Brennen Hilgendorf; the Unpub program; our amazing Kickstarter backers; and Guinness and Murphy's Irish Stout for existing and making the world a better place.
Download scoresheets and a video tutorial at dicehatemegames.com/brew-crafters.
"Dice Hate Me," the Brew Crafters logo and all art contained within are ©2014 Dice Hate Me Games.
Frequently Asked Questions
| Category | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| Brewing | Can I brew the base Recipe of a style (for instance, Everyday Ale) and an Advanced Recipe of that style (for instance, Lambic) at the same time, if it is the first time I am brewing Everyday Ale? | No. |
| Brewing | If I have a Double Brewing System, do I have to brew 2 batches at once? | No. You can brew only 1, or even 0 batches when you Process Beer. |
| Brewing | Do collaboration batches count toward the 3/9 requirement a player needs to hire additional Brewery Shifts? | No. |
| Brewing | When I take the Process Beer action, do I have to brew? | No, you can choose to only Sell and/or Bottle beer. You do not have to also brew new beer. |
| Buildings & Equipment | Can I still claim the Gold Label for being the first to sell an Advanced Recipe, if that Recipe was sold from my Brewpub? | Yes. |
| Buildings & Equipment | Can I move Ingredients between my various storage locations? | Yes, you may re-organize stored Ingredients at any time, as long as you don't exceed the maximum in any particular storage location. |
| Buildings & Equipment | Can I plant one item into my Farm at two different times during Spring? | Yes, as long as both items are planted by the end of Spring. |
| Buildings & Equipment | Do I still get the Ingredients that normally come with a building or equipment if I install the building or equipment due to a free Skilled Worker or Lab Research Action? | Yes. |
| Buildings & Equipment | If I've previously installed Hops Infusers, and then I add a new fermentation tank to my Brewery later, do I automatically get a Hops Infuser on that tank? | No, you would have to take the "Install New Building/Equipment" action again to install more Hops Infusers. |
| Game Setup | Which Recipes should we choose to use? | The Everyday Ale, Pleasantly Porter, and Simply Stout Recipes are always used. With new players, use the 6 Advanced Recipes mentioned in Game Setup. After that, explore using the other Advanced Recipes. Always use 6 Advanced Recipes, with an equal mix of ale, porter, and stout-style Advanced Recipes. |
| Game Setup | Which Skilled Workers should we choose to use? | With new players, use the 9 Skilled Workers with the dice symbol on the bottle cap. After that, explore using a different mix of Skilled Workers every game. Nine workers is a good number, but you can also choose to use more or fewer. |
| Game Setup | Can we use more than 1 Complex Action in the same game? | Yes. |
| Harvesting | Can I harvest part of my Farm now, then part of my Farm later? | Yes, but you must harvest a full "item" at a time. For instance, if you have one planted Hops and one planted Fruit, you can harvest the Hops, then Process Beer, then harvest the Fruit, but when you harvest the Hops, you must harvest the full amount you are due for that Hops (typically, 3 Hops). If you don't have space for all 3 Hops, you must throw something out. |
| Harvesting | When I take the Process Beer and/or Collaborate action, can I Collaborate, then harvest from my Farm, and then Process Beer, all with the same action? | Yes. |
| Harvesting | If I am brewing 2 or more batches at once, can I brew one of the batches, then harvest from my Farm, then brew the second batch, all with the same Process Beer action? | No. When you take the Process Beer action, you must brew all batches at the same time. |
| Harvesting | When I take the Process Beer and/or Collaborate action, can I Process Beer, then harvest from my Farm, and then Collaborate, all with the same action? | Yes. |
| Harvesting | Can I immediately harvest Ingredients and brew with them if I don't have room for them in my storage? | No. All Ingredients you receive (including from harvesting) must be processed through your storage before you can brew with them. |
| Loans/Money | Can I voluntarily take a Loan if I need money to pay for something during a round? | Yes |
| Loans/Money | Can Skilled Workers or Brewery Shifts be "fired", so that their operating costs do not have to be paid? | No. |
| Loans/Money | If I am short only $1 for paying operating costs, do I still have to take a full Loan? | Yes. In this case you will end up with $1 after taking your Loan, since the Loan gives you $2. |
| Market Actions | Can I use a Market Action space and not take the Ingredients? | You may throw away Ingredients at any time if you don't have room to store them, including immediately after you take them from an action space. But you must "take them". You cannot leave them on the space. |
| Market Actions | When I receive Ingredients from a Skilled Worker or through Lab Research, does that count as having taken those Ingredients "from a Market Action space?" | No, only what the Market Action space itself provides counts as coming from the Market Action. However, more than one Skilled Worker and/or research benefit can separately activate on the same action. |
| Market Actions | Are the Traders Market and Community Farm considered to be "Market Action spaces" for the purposes of receiving Skilled Worker and Lab Research benefits? | The Traders Market, yes. The Community Farm, no. |
| Other | Can players keep anything hidden? | Unless specifically allowed in the rules, No. |
Quick Reference
Season Phases
- Restock Phase — New ingredients are added to some Market Action spaces.
- Market Action Phase — Players take 2 Market Actions each.
- Brewery Phase — Players take one Brewery Action for each Brewery Shift they employ.
Important Reminders
- Pay operating costs at the end of each Winter. Add the dollar signs found on your Buildings & Equipment, Brewery Shifts, and Skilled Workers.
- Once you've brewed 3 batches of beer (you don't need to have sold all 3 yet) you are eligible to hire a 2nd shift. Once you brew 9 batches, you are eligible to hire a 3rd shift.
- The first player to sell each advanced recipe (not just brew it) receives the gold label for that recipe.
Scoring
Tally each player's Rep on a score sheet. Players score Rep in the following categories: all brewed beer; Game-end research (2 Rep for each of the 3 different basic recipes brewed); Tasting Room (1 Rep per different Advanced Recipe brewed); Reputation tokens; Gold Labels (3 Rep per Label); 1 Rep per contributed portion of unfinished Collaboration (3+ player games only); subtract Rep for Loans.
The player with the most Rep wins. Any beer that has been brewed but not yet sold is counted in a player's final score. If there is a tie, the player with the most remaining money is the winner. If there is still a tie, players share the honor of best local brewer.