I have the same issues, except that I haven't found the jerky. Where did you find that? It wasn't in the barrel, was it? If so, how did you get into the barrel?
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The barrel was the key. I had tried everything I could think of to clean the mold off the barrel and all I had to do was USE soap. I wish authors wouldn't use USE. It's a real cop-out. This game uses it a lot.
Anyway, once I had the big jerky, the rest of the game was a doddle. I've finished now.
P.S. Don't use the flask on Dennis, as you need it somewhere else.