Since smithing takes so long now, would dwarven stout still do the trick when wanting to smith something that's just a level above your own? Or has it become useless for anything that takes longer than 60 secs to smith?
Now this is interesting: even though my lvl dropped to its normal lvl again I can continue to smith the item! I get a message my progress is halved, but the game allows me to finish a product started with the help of dwarven stout after its effect has worn of!