The Meadgard mead barrel sits behind the counter and is the dispenser for every drink you pour. It runs dry, refilling it is the biggest time sink in a shift, and there is one rule that catches people out: you cannot move the barrel before opening time, because the game puts it back where it was — but you can move it once the shift is running.

Meadgard mead barrel: what it is and how you pour

  • It is the only drink dispenser. Every mug in the demo tavern is filled at the barrel, and the counter is lined with barrels and a row of tankards.
  • Pouring is three steps. Grab an empty mug, fill it at the dispenser, deliver it to the waiting customer. In co-op the usual pattern is to pour and leave the drink on the bar for your teammate to deliver, or to march it over yourself.
  • The floor player's loop is literally this. Pour mead, refill the barrel, pour mead, refill the barrel — that is the whole job description for the person on the bar.
Behind the Meadgard counter the mead barrel stands with its tap and jug, with the dispenser and a row of tankards where every mug is filled.
The mead barrel and the dispenser behind the counter.

Refilling is the biggest time sink

Making beer is particularly time-consuming, especially when you run out and have to replenish the dispenser, and the clock is still ticking. Two upgrades fix it directly:

  • An additional dispenser. Placing a second one strategically makes the shift noticeably easier, and it is the first thing worth buying.
  • More tankards. Fewer trips back to the barrel for the same number of drinks.

Both are bought with the money from the shift, and the full list of what that money can buy is in the tavern upgrades guide.

Move it after opening, not before

If you drag the barrel somewhere new before the shift starts, the game respawns it at its old spot. Once the shift has started it will not fight you, so the way to reposition it is to pull it during service and sacrifice some time in the opening minutes. Plan the layout around that rule rather than around your own instinct.

Mead blends and other drinks

The barrel is only the mead side of the drinks list. Upgrades also unlock new recipes, mead blends and potent dishes, and blends are their own line of progression rather than a food recipe — the recipes guide covers how the book, the menu and the rank-ups work. The other drinkable in the game is the bottle a customer can ask for, which is a potion: the potions guide covers where those come from and what they are for.