Chapter 105

Wine does not yet exist, but Baifeng is certain that once wine appears, it will surely play an important role in this era.

Not only can wine ward off the cold and disinfect, but people of this era have no other beverages; they usually even drink water from stagnant pools, let alone having higher requirements, whereas the Baifeng tribe at least drinks boiled water.

Baifeng always feels that plain boiled water is tasteless and unsatisfying, so his cup is always steeped with different Chinese medicinal herbs—sometimes Licorice, sometimes Astragalus and Codonopsis, or things like goji berries; in any case, there are many wild ones, and steeping them into water not only adds flavor but is also good for the body.

Yi follows his example, spending all day like his master Baifeng, steeping different Chinese medicinal herbs in his cup to highlight his difference from other tribespeople, but unfortunately, the kid hasn't mastered it and dares to steep anything inside; it was normal at first, but later he tried to steep all kinds of medicinal materials, and if Baifeng hadn't discovered his cup smelled too strongly of mutton and taken a closer look to find a handful of Epimedium that had been cauterized with sheep fat inside, he wouldn't have known the kid was so bold.

However, this time Baifeng did not stop him; only when he was stifled, red-faced and thick-necked, scurrying around the houses looking for a woman, did Baifeng feel he could teach him a lesson.

Baifeng even played a trick, making Yi follow him to manage the medicine warehouse that day, not giving him a chance to find a woman, and only when it was almost time to finish work in the evening did Baifeng lecture him, telling him that it is fine to steep things to drink, but not to do so recklessly; some things make you uncomfortable after drinking them, and some might cost you your life.

A young man has a fiery temper, and having drunk so much, he was already distracted; Baifeng did not torment him further, giving him a piece of meat and telling him to go quickly, as he couldn't show up empty-handed.

As for tea, Baifeng searched for a long time but could not find any, though according to legend, the Shennong Clan certainly had Tea Leaves, but Baifeng still wanted to plant a Tea Tree himself; in later generations, this area of his probably couldn't grow tea, but it is still very moist now, so planting tea shouldn't be a difficult task.

For now, Baifeng is still focusing his mind on brewing wine; those Sorghum must be tried to be made into wine, although the tribespeople will eat them when there is no grain, in the current situation, it might take a year or two before they get to the Sorghum, and by then, whether the Sorghum has molded or not is anyone's guess.

To make wine, one must first have wine starter, and this is also Baifeng's first attempt, so he doesn't know if it can succeed.

Making wine starter is, to put it plainly, the process of cultivating bacteria; wheat bran and rice flour are indispensable because they contain enough starch, and Licorice is also needed, though Baifeng doesn't know what role Licorice plays in this; when he learned it, that was how people taught it, seemingly to make the taste of the wine better?

Smartweed is very important, and fortunately, it is everywhere and easy to find; Poria is a type of fungus under pine trees, a very commonly used Chinese medicinal herb, and there is plenty of it here too.

Among the Chinese medicinal herbs of later generations, Poria is the one most severely faked and with the most methods of forgery.

Grind all these things into powder, then put them in a clean container and add water to stir; Baifeng does not let others interfere in these processes and even specifically found a clean room.

After rolling the paste made from various raw materials into balls the size of fingers, put them into a wooden bucket lined with Wild Rice straw, sprinkle water to moisten the straw again, cover with another layer of straw, and finally put on the lid.

The current temperature is quite suitable, suitable for the growth of bacteria, and the humidity is also quite suitable, so Baifeng is just waiting for another two days to see if the wine starter can actually succeed.

Heaven is still very kind to Baifeng, perhaps it is a beginner's gift package; the wine starter Baifeng made grew very well, with white fuzz growing on every ball, without a single speck of impurity.

Baifeng hurriedly took these balls out to dry in the sun, and in this way, a wine starter ball can be considered ready for use.

To make wine from Sorghum, first steam it in a large pot; the craftsmanship of the Baifeng tribe's blacksmith is getting better and better, though Baifeng has already retreated to the second line and can no longer compare to those blacksmiths who forge iron every day, but Baifeng will explain to them some special methods of forging, such as the Steel Wrapping Technique, three-fold tempering, clay-tempered blade, folded Damascus, etc., rather than just blindly hammering, so the level of the Baifeng tribe's weapon is rising day by day, and those that Baifeng made before are almost at the level of being phased out.

Iron sheets with holes punched in them make a steamer, and spreading a layer of Hemp Cloth allows for the Sorghum to be placed, but Baifeng does not dare to make too much at once, for if it fails, that would be a waste of grain, so he first steamed fifty jin of Sorghum.

After it is steamed, spread it out to cool down; Baifeng also added some wheat bran, which is a byproduct of milling white flour and is also very suitable for brewing wine.

After everything is steamed and spread out to cool, and the temperature has dropped enough, Baifeng took out his carefully made wine starter, crushed it, and sprinkled it evenly into the cooled Sorghum and wheat bran, then stirred it evenly, and put it into a large vat to seal it and let it ferment slowly.

Baifeng does not know how long it will take to ferment, but he made the amount of three vats, so he has the opportunity to learn from mistakes; previously, making fermented glutinous rice took three days if the temperature was right, so brewing wine should take longer, right?

So, on the eighth day, Baifeng opened the first vat; the wine smell was rich and very fragrant, and even other tribespeople were attracted by this smell.

Baifeng intends to wait another two days for the other two vats, as perhaps after two days, the fermentation will be more thorough.

Now it is time for distillation, but one must add some rice husks to the wine mash; the Baifeng tribe has plenty of this, so stir it evenly with the wine mash, and then Baifeng set up the large wooden steaming barrel.

Because it needs to be condensed, a bamboo pipe was connected to the top of the barrel to serve as a pipe for the wine steam to exit, and a large wooden bucket was connected in the middle, with the bamboo pipe passing through the bucket.

The connection was not tight enough and kept leaking water, which can be considered an effect Baifeng wanted; only by constantly adding cold water can there be a condensation effect, and Baifeng was afraid the effect wouldn't be good, so he even used Saltpeter to make a large lump of ice and threw it inside to lower the temperature.

Distillation officially began; Baifeng kept staring at the wine outlet, and only after the fire had been burning for a while did the bamboo pipe start to drip liquid out.

Baifeng caught it with a Pottery Jar and smelled it first; it had a very heavy wine smell, and there is no doubt the brewing was successful, but this "wine head" cannot be drunk, as the methanol content is likely seriously excessive, and drinking it would send one to Heaven, though it can be used to trick others in the future, such as Baoxi—could he even taste the difference?

After the wine head was collected, the real wine was collected; Baifeng estimated that this vat of wine mash produced five or six jin of wine, and Baifeng was very satisfied; he tasted a mouthful himself, and the fragrance was rich and the entry was smooth, but his body had not yet experienced alcohol entering it, so one mouthful made his face turn completely red and his facial features twisted together; the tribespeople on the side thought the Tribal Chief had an accident and were at a loss, but Baifeng smacked his lips and said, "Good wine."

Of these thousands of jin of Sorghum, keep some in reserve, keep some for seeds, and just brew all the rest into wine; however, some high-proof wine must also be distilled to be used as Alcohol, as this can save lives.