How to Make Ale and Use the Tavern in Manor Lords

Wondering how to make ale to use the Tavern in Manor Lords? This guide has all the answers.

With Manor Lords being out in Early Access, people who want a taste of authentic medieval settlement building experience are in for a good time. Even those who are not well-versed in city-building games are trying it out for its beautiful graphics and immersive gameplay design.

But let’s face it; the game doesn’t hold your hand for too long before hurling you into the chaotic world of 14th-century Europe. On the one hand, you need to grow your settlement and keep your citizens happy. On the other hand, you’ll need to fend off attacks from bandits and warring factions.

Now, there are plenty of mechanics to explore in the game, but today, we’ll go with a weird one.

In this article, we’ll teach you how to make ale in Manor Lords and use the Tavern to it’s fullest extent. Let’s get started!

How to Make Ale in Manor Lords

When you start a new Scenario in Manor Lords, your early hours are spent trying to cover the basic necessities. That means you’ll be spending most of your time trying to get a good supply of food, clothing, and other basic resources. 

As your settlement grows, the need for luxury produce such as Ale becomes more important. It’s what keeps your people happy! And even though you can build the Tavern right from the start, without a steady supply of Ale, it won’t give you anything.

However, making Ale in Manor Lords is a pretty long process. Here’s a quick five-step guide to help you learn how to do it:

1. Build a Farmhouse.

To make Ale, you first need Barley. And for that, you first want to build a Farmhouse. We recommend building it in an area that has high Barley Fertility. Ideally, you also have a Logging Camp built somewhere near the Farmhouse to supply the 3x Timber you’d need to construct it.

2. Build a Barley Farm.

Now that you’ve got your Farmhouse near a Barley Fertility zone, it’s time to build a Barley Farm. Its size depends mostly on what you need, but typically, around 1-1.5 Morgen should be fine. Set it to Barley crop Type and get a family working in the Farmhouse.

3. Build a Malthouse.

With a Barley Farm in place, you should now get a steady supply of Barley. It’s time to turn it into Malt and to do that you need to construct a Malthouse. It’s located in the Industry tab in your Build menu and requires 4x Timber. Building it close to the Farmhouse will improve logistics between the Farmhouse and the Malthouse.

4. Build a Level 2 Burgage Plot with a Backyard Extension slot.

You’re halfway there! The next order of business is to construct a Burgage Plot with a backyard Extension Slot. You should be able to build a new Burgage Plot if you don’t have one free. Upgrading the Extension Slot only costs 4x Timber, which, at this point, shouldn’t be too much.

However, if you’ve got a free Plot with a Backyard Extension slot, you can use that for this step. Click on a Plot and see if you can choose an extension from the dropdown menu beside the Upgrade Button. If so, you can add the Backyard Extension.

5. Build a Brewery Extension in the Burgage Plot.

If you’ve got the Backyard Extension set up, you can now choose the Brewery option. This is what lets you convert the Malt into Ale. It’s a bit of an investment, costing you 5x regional Wealth and 5x Planks, but it’s worth the upgrade.

Remember, it will turn the family assigned to the plot into Artisans. So you’ll no longer be able to use them for other assignments in your city.

How to Use the Tavern in Manor Lords

Once you’ve got Ale production set up, the final piece of the puzzle is to build the Tavern. It costs 5x Timber to construct and ideally you want to place it near the Brewery. After construction completes, assign a family to the tavern, and your citizens will start livening the place up.

Can You Buy Ale in Manor Lords?

As you can see, producing Ale is no easy feat in the game. It requires a lot of time, effort, and in-game resources to set up everything for Ale production. And even though you can build a Tavern early, without Ale, it won’t function.

But there’s an easier alternative if you want to use the Tavern but don’t want to take the hassle of producing Ale yourself. You can simply buy it.

Trading is a huge part of Manor Lords, and to buy Ale, the first thing you’d need is a Trading Post. With a Trading Post, you can buy Ale from foreign Settlements,

Remember, the cost of Ale is pretty steep, with each unit costing you 18 cons. And if you want to run a Tavern, you need way more than one Ale. But then again, if you’ve got coins to spare and want to get your Tavern up and running, this is a good way to start the business.

It also goes both ways, meaning you can export Ale and make a decent chunk of coins in the game. With a trade route established, you’ll be able to set up your settlement to import or export Ale in exchange for any other resource that you’ve got enough of.

Manor Lords takes immersion to a whole new level and the long process of making Ale is just one example of that. If you want to truly make a Settlement that’s bustling with life, you need to put in some work. Hopefully, this guide could help get you one step closer to that goal.

For more guides and tips on Manor Lords, be sure to keep an eye out on ESTNN!