In Wang An's memory, whether in his previous life or this one, his old man, Wang Dazhu, had never brewed his own liquor. Whenever he really wanted a drink, he would just go to Han the Big Vat and buy two jin.
Hearing Wang An's skeptical words, Wang Dazhu turned and glanced at him, saying
"How would you know? Since you were born, our family hasn't distilled any liquor. Mainly because, in the past, we didn't even have enough grain for our own family to eat; where would we get surplus grain to distill liquor!"
Wang An thought about it and realized that was true. He remembered clearly that before the land was divided into households, there hadn't been a single year where the family had enough grain to eat.
They had to mix the grain with sweet potatoes, potatoes, wax gourds, radishes, as well as wild vegetables, mushrooms, and whatever other filling things they could find.
It wasn't just Wang An's family; every single household was in the same miserable state.
Therefore, when even getting enough to eat was a major problem, brewing liquor was absolutely impossible. What the hell would they use to brew liquor?
Wang An nodded without speaking, and he heard Wang Dazhu continue
"Distilling liquor is simple; basically everyone my age in the village knows how. The thing is, we don't know how to blend it. The liquor we distill isn't as tasty as the stuff Han the Big Vat puts together."
Once Wang Dazhu finished, Wang An said with a face full of excitement
"Hah, blending is simple. I've heard the easiest way is to mix old liquor with new, or blend liquors made from several different types of grain. Anyway, it's great that you know how to distill, Dad. Let's distill a lot; the older the liquor, the better it tastes."
In fact, Wang An understood the principles of brewing. If it came to actual operation, he probably wouldn't have any problems, but he felt that brewing was too much trouble; it would be easier to just buy some to drink.
The key was that traditional home-brewing—using the traditional solid-state fermentation method—was not cheap. There has been a saying since ancient times that "three jin of grain makes one jin of liquor," which shows how high the grain cost is.
Of course, "three jin of grain for one jin of liquor" usually refers to brewing high-proof spirits. The common white spirits of later generations that are only around 30 degrees don't require that much grain—maybe about one and a half to two jin.
Regardless, the liquor Han Shuisheng sold was made from pure grain and blended quite well, so even if they brewed their own, it might not end up tasting better than Han Shuisheng's blend.
However, Wang An knew that newly distilled liquor tastes bad because it contains irritating substances like methanol, hydrogen sulfide, acetaldehyde, and fusel oils, some of which are toxic.
To make the liquor taste good, the new brew must be left for at least half a year to allow the liquid to undergo redox and esterification reactions, and to let those irritating substances evaporate.
Only then would the flavor improve significantly.
Of course, to make it taste even better, one had to do as Wang An told Wang Dazhu: mix in some aged liquor or other grain liquors.
With a simple mixture like that, the flavor would suddenly "pop" and come alive.
Wang Dazhu put all the weighed medicinal herbs into the liquor jar and said with a smile
"Mm-hmm, let's distill a lot. If you know how to blend, you can be responsible for the blending once the liquor is done, hehehehe."
It was clear that the prospect of having enough grain to brew plenty of liquor made Wang Dazhu exceptionally happy.
Wang An looked at his watch and said
"I think we shouldn't wait until tomorrow. I'll go buy the yeast now. No matter what, I'll be back in less than an hour."
Just as Wang An turned to leave, he heard Wang Dazhu say
"What's the rush? The grain hasn't been washed or soaked yet. It'll be just in time once the grain is steamed."
Wang An shook his head and said
"Buying it early saves trouble. Tomorrow I still have to go with Lao Wu and the others to pick out a dog."
Wang Dazhu suddenly added
"Oh, by the way, I'm almost out of cigarettes. Buy me a few more cartons. Just get the Changbaishan ones; the Bingcheng ones are a bit expensive."
Wang An waved his hand, a smile on his face, and said
"With our family's current situation, are we really worrying about a few cents?"
Hearing this, Wang Dazhu smiled and said
"Alright then, you decide."
In the last two years, not only had the prices of grain and meat risen, but the price of cigarettes had climbed even faster.
The cheapest Changbaishan, which used to sell for 7 cents a pack, had now risen directly to 12 cents. The ordinary Bingcheng, previously 12 cents, had jumped to 20 cents. Even the non-filter grape cigarettes had risen to 5 cents a pack.
As for the classic Bingcheng that Wang An often smoked, it had risen to 50 cents a pack, though a full carton was 4.5 yuan.
It had to be said that price changes in this era were very rapid.
The only thing that hadn't changed was the workers' wages. Official employees still earned 37.5 yuan a month, averaging 1.25 yuan a day.
But as a reincarnated person, Wang An knew very well that the current price hikes were nothing; they would continue to rise year by year.
Wang An remembered that by '85, even the filtered grape cigarettes were over 20 cents a pack.
Especially by '88—damn, the prices of various goods practically shot up like a rocket.
The main theme was "fast and fierce," leaving you no time to even react!
Fortunately, no matter how prices changed, it wouldn't affect Wang An, because he already had enough money to handle any inflation.
Just as Wang An was about to step out the door, he heard Wang Dazhu speak again
"If the bike can fit them, buy two more 12-inch pots to use as 'heaven pots' (condenser lids)."
Hearing this, Wang An instinctively turned and asked
"Dad, you want to buy iron pots to use as heaven pots?"
The Wang family had quite a few pots. The largest was a 15-inch iron pot used for heating bath water; the pots used for cooking and stewing in the outer room were 9-inch, and the two pots in the yard were 12-inch.
Buying more pots would be useless, which is why Wang An guessed they were for use as heaven pots.
A "heaven pot" was actually the pot lid used during the distillation of liquor, hence the name.
The way it worked was that during distillation, cold water was filled inside it to serve as a condensing device.
Wang Dazhu said
"Mm-hmm. I can make the pot collar, but for the heaven pot, using an iron pot is more convenient. Otherwise, there's not much else to use."
The so-called "pot collar" was actually an extension of the pot—essentially a wooden bucket as thick as the pot's mouth but without a bottom.
Wang An frowned and said
"Iron pots are so deep, will that work? You'd still need a pipe to let the water out. Besides, the grain fermentation takes two or three months. Why not just go to the blacksmith and have two heaven pots forged? Make them shallower, and they'll be easier to use."
Wang Dazhu thought about it and nodded
"If we have them forged now, it should be just in time. Alright, go check the blacksmith in the county. Blacksmith Luo's tools aren't complete; if he were to forge such a large heaven pot, who knows when he'd finish."
Wang An said casually
"Mm-hmm. Don't make the pot collar out of wood either; it'll be a hassle if it leaks air. I'll just have them make the whole thing to save the trouble."
Wang Dazhu replied
"Mm-hmm, you handle it then."
During distillation, it was absolutely critical that there be no air leaks. On one hand, it would affect the purity of the liquor, and on the other, there was the fear that escaping alcohol vapor could cause an explosion.
Wang An gave his agreement and stepped out the door once more. (End of Chapter)