I once cooked 70 serpent stews in one go. It took 20 minutes and gave me a hand cramp, so I'm totally on board with cooking soup/stew in bulk and in the same way you ferment mead.

Maybe if you overcook it you get left with ooze or guck...

And speaking of mead...why can't we get drunk in the game? The idea of a tipsy viking lumberjack appeals to me.