Stardew Valley enthusiasts are well aware of the multitude of items available for crafting, which can significantly enhance both the efficiency and profitability of farm life. Among these valuable creations is the keg, an essential tool that transforms various ingredients into artisan beverages, typically yielding much higher resale values. Indeed, having kegs is vital for any aspiring farmer aiming for success within the game.
Updated May 18, 2025, by Artur Novichenko: Crafting artisan goods is one of the primary pathways to wealth in Stardew Valley. One of the most effective strategies involves utilizing kegs to process different resources. To streamline your production process, this guide outlines how to unlock kegs and provides comprehensive recipes for their use.
How to Craft Kegs
To unlock the crafting recipe for kegs, players must achieve level 8 in farming. Once this milestone is reached, constructing a keg requires:
- 30 pieces of wood
- 1 copper bar
- 1 iron bar
- 1 unit of oak resin
The first three components—wood and metal bars—are relatively easy to gather. Simply chop down trees and logs, go mining for ores, and then smelt these ores into bars using a furnace. To create a furnace, you will need 25 stone, 20 copper ore, 5 ore of your choice, and 1 piece of coal.
After obtaining the required wood and metal bars, the final component, oak resin, can be acquired by crafting a tapper. This requires level 3 in foraging and the following materials:
- 40 wood
- 2 copper bars
Place the tapper on an oak tree to collect oak resin approximately every week.
Besides crafting, there are alternative methods to acquire kegs in Stardew Valley:
- Prize Machine – You can win 4 kegs by reaching the 19th prize.
- Artisan Bundle or Brewer’s Bundle – Completing either of these bundles rewards you with one keg.
Utilizing Kegs for Beverage Production
Kegs can be employed to produce a variety of beverages, which includes:
- Beer
- Coffee
- Green Tea
- Juice
- Mead
- Pale Ale
- Wine
- Vinegar
To produce beer, simply place wheat in a keg and wait one day; it sells for 200 gold. For coffee, use five coffee beans, which takes only 2 hours to process, resulting in a cup that sells for 150 gold. Notably, coffee can boost player speed temporarily.
Green tea is crafted using one bundle of tea leaves and requires 3 hours; it sells for 100 gold and temporarily increases the player’s maximum energy by 30 points for just over 4 minutes.
Any vegetable can be converted into juice by placing it in a keg and waiting four days. The selling price of juice is 2.25 times that of the original vegetable, and its health and energy benefits are doubled compared to the fresh ingredients.
Additionally, using honey in a keg results in mead after 10 hours, which sells for 200 gold. Pale ale is produced using hops over 1 to 2 days, selling for 300 gold. Fruit can be fermented into wine over 6.25 days, with a selling price three times that of the used fruit. Similar to juice, the health and energy benefits from wine are amplified by a factor of 1.75.
Lastly, placing 1 rice into the keg for 10 hours yields vinegar, which sells for 100 gold. While not highly effective in health recovery, vinegar is a useful ingredient for various culinary creations.
It’s noteworthy that obtaining tea leaves can be a bit more complex. They typically come from tea saplings sold by the traveling cart found in Cindersap Forest. Players can also acquire them from Caroline, but only after earning 2 hearts of friendship with her. This relationship will unlock her tea saplings, which require 2 bags of wild seeds, 5 fiber, and 5 wood for crafting.
Moreover, once wine, mead, beer, and pale ale are produced, their quality can be enhanced further using casks. Players can acquire multiple casks by upgrading their house, or they can construct casks with 20 wood and 1 hardwood. If these beverages reach iridium quality with the aid of a cask, their value will be significantly doubled.