Where to unlock and build the Distillation Cube in Graveyard Keeper 2, how to make Melted Fat and Alcohol, and which Anatomy Mastery requirements apply.
Updated · version 1.006
Quick answer
The Distillation Cube unlocks through Alchemy, Distillation after Albert introduces the alchemy branch. The technology costs 5 red and 5 green tech points. The Cube can be built only in the tower laboratory.
It is the main way to make Melted Fat. The basic recipe is 1 Fat + 2 Clay Plates + 20 Fuel → 4 Melted Fat with Anatomy Mastery 1. Alcohol is also distilled here, but those recipes need higher Anatomy Mastery.
This is the first major source of confusion.
The Distillation Cube is not a general home, yard or basement workstation.
It belongs specifically to the tower laboratory.
You therefore need two things:
the story must introduce the relevant alchemy progression;
you must build inside the laboratory zone.
If the technology has not appeared through the story yet, simply farming more tech points will not reveal an alternative Cube somewhere else.
The technology is called Alchemy, Distillation.
It branches from the alchemy progression introduced through Albert.
Its cost is:
That is relatively cheap. The real blocker is usually story access to the branch, not the point cost.
If you cannot see the technology yet, continue the relevant quest line instead of searching for a different workstation.
After unlocking it, construct the Distillation Cube in the tower laboratory.
The basic build uses materials including:
By this point Bronze Detail should already be a normal production item.
If it is still blocked, see Why Can't I Craft Bronze Detail?.
It is also worth keeping Fuel in the laboratory area because distillation recipes repeatedly use it.
This is not a decorative alchemy machine.
It solves several major production bottlenecks:
The earliest painful bottleneck is usually Melted Fat.
The basic recipe is:
It requires Anatomy Mastery 1.
Fat can come from corpse pockets. For a corpse intended for burial, that is especially convenient: Fat carries a red skull, so removing it both improves the burial candidate and gives you useful production material.
There is another route:
This is useful when you do not have spare corpse Fat.
Early on, however, Fat is extremely efficient: one piece produces four Melted Fat.
Clay Plates are produced through the basic clay and pottery chain.
You do not need hundreds for your first Distillation Cube batches.
A small supply is enough to unlock the next systems.
If Melted Fat becomes a permanent input for combat and construction later, then it is worth automating clay production as well.
Distillation is a heated process.
Fuel is a separate requirement, so having Fat and Clay Plates is not enough.
If the recipe is visible, Mastery is sufficient and the ingredients appear correct but nothing starts, check Fuel.
Keeping a local fuel supply in the laboratory is much less annoying than running back to your home production area for every batch.
Melted Fat is an ingredient in Polished Bronze.
If Bronze Polishing is open but Fat is your blocker, the Distillation Cube is the missing part of the chain.
See How to Get Polished Bronze.
Melted Fat also feeds polished stone production and related upgrades.
Corpse and Resurrection infrastructure uses materials connected to Melted Fat.
Melted Fat is used to make Oiled Planks, which lead into Reinforced Planks and defensive structures.
That means the Cube unexpectedly becomes part of combat progression, not only alchemy.
Alcohol is also produced at the Distillation Cube.
Unlike early Melted Fat, alcohol distillation recipes generally require higher Anatomy Mastery — commonly 3.
They use alcoholic drinks plus the appropriate ceramic containers and Fuel.
For example, Beer can be distilled into Alcohol when you have:
If the recipe exists but is greyed out, check the Mastery requirement before assuming the Cube is bugged.
Check four things:
Alchemy, Distillation is unlocked;
you are using the Distillation Cube in the tower laboratory;
the required containers and Fuel are available;
your Anatomy Mastery meets the recipe.
Beer alone is not the full recipe.
Missing Clay Urns or Mastery are common causes.
Anatomy follows the same general Mastery model as other branches:
You do not necessarily need to wait through several Inspirations for one missing point.
Check your equipment first.
See Mastery Explained.
After enough Town development, an Alchemist/Apothecary-type shop can stock Melted Fat.
That is useful when you only need one urgent unit and do not want to stop everything to build the whole chain.
The Cube still becomes worthwhile because Melted Fat turns into a recurring resource later.
With developed automation, distillation can be part of zombie production.
As usual you need:
See How Zombies Work.
Once a batch is loaded, the Cube handles its process without the same constant manual interaction as some benches.
That does not mean it produces forever without inputs.
Every batch still consumes its ingredients and Fuel.
For repeated production, nearby storage and later zombie logistics make a major difference.
Once the story unlocks Alchemy, Distillation and your next progression steps ask for things like:
there is usually little reason to delay.
The Cube is one of those workstations that unlocks several otherwise unrelated branches at once.
Only in the tower laboratory.
It is a specialized laboratory workstation.
The alchemy branch after the relevant Albert story unlock.
1 Fat + 2 Clay Plates + 20 Fuel produces 4 Melted Fat with Anatomy Mastery 1.
Alcohol distillation needs additional materials and higher Anatomy Mastery.
Yes if you are producing the required Melted Fat yourself.
Alchemy
How the new Alchemy system works: studying ingredients, red/green/blue runes, Laboratory I and II, Dream Dust, flasks and Reanimation Liquid.
Crafting
Where to craft Polished Bronze, why you need a Tool Rack, how to get Bronze Detail, Sand and Melted Fat, the Building Mastery requirement, and what the material unlocks.
Getting started
How red and white skulls affect graves and zombies, which body parts to keep, why Fat and Blood should be removed, and how to avoid ruining a corpse.
Automation
How to start battles in Graveyard Keeper 2, build Defence Power, equip zombie squads, use pikes and bows, and prepare Barracks defenses.
