The Black-Briar Meadery is the brewery and shop that has made the Black-Briar family rich for generations. It sits in Riften and brews almost all the mead drunk in Skyrim, employing a good chunk of the city in the process. The honey comes from Goldenglow Estate on the islands of Lake Honrich, west of town. You can enter from both Dryside and Plankside.
What you’ll find
- Indaryn – the overseer, with a note from Maven Black-Briar in his bedroom.
- Ungrien – the shop attendant at the counter.
- Romlyn Dreth – a worker skimming off the top, and a marriage prospect if you like them shifty.
- Niluva Hlaalu and Valindor – fellow workers.
- A small shop front with no-nonsense notes on the walls, a leveled sword hidden in the counter and coin under the bed.
- Two balcony levels above the brewery floor, two huge vats, a chest, and a bag of coins in the rafters between floors.
Quests
Romlyn sells stolen Black-Briar Mead for 10 gold a bottle; with a decent Speech skill you can resell it elsewhere for profit. He also asks you to deliver a stolen barrel – which you can do, then turn him in to Indaryn. Ratting him out earns leveled gems and the meadery’s friendship, which means you can help yourself to the mead. There are around 120 bottles, mostly in barrels. A locked chest here opens only with Sibbi’s Chest Key, given by Sibbi Black-Briar after The Lover’s Requital.
Tips
Arriving in Riften for the first time? Enter through the meadery and you dodge the guards’ fake “visitor tax” at the gate. It also delays your chat with Maul, since both fence gates near the entrance need a key. Respectable citizens use the front door; smart ones use the brewery.
Good to know
The meadery’s direct rival is Honningbrew Meadery. Keerava grumbles that Riften used to live off fishing and honey until the Black-Briars took over. Because the building connects the city to the outdoors, it plays wilderness music instead of city music.
Details checked against community wiki articles and the Skyrim game files, summarised in our own words.