Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

In Wang An's memory, whether in his past life or this life, his father, Wang Dazhu, had never brewed wine for himself. If he really wanted to drink it, he would go to Han Dajiugang and get two jin (1 kg).

Hearing Wang An's skeptical words, Wang Dazhu turned and glanced at him, saying:

"How could you know? Since you were born, our family has never brewed any liquor. The main reason is that in the past, our family's grain was not enough to feed us, let alone have any surplus to brew liquor!"

Wang An thought about it and realized that made sense, because he clearly remembered that before the land was distributed to individual households, his family never had enough food to eat for even a year.

You have to eat grains mixed with sweet potatoes, potatoes, squash, radishes, wild vegetables, mushrooms, and other filling foods.

It's not just Wang An's family that's like this; every household is in the same sorry state.

So when even getting enough to eat was a big problem, brewing wine was absolutely out of the question. What the hell would you brew wine for?

Wang An nodded without speaking, and then Wang Dazhu continued:

"Liquor is simple to make; most people my age in our village know how. The only problem is, we don't know how to mix drinks, so our liquor doesn't taste as good as the stuff that Han the Big Liquor Jar makes."

After Wang Dazhu finished speaking, Wang An said excitedly:

"Hey, mixing drinks is easy. I heard the simplest way is to mix old liquor with new liquor, or mix several kinds of grain liquor together. Anyway, Dad, it's great that you know how to make liquor. Let's make more. The older the liquor, the better it tastes."

In fact, Wang An understood the principles of brewing and should have no problem brewing in practice, but he felt that brewing was too troublesome and it would be easier to just buy some to drink.

The key is traditional brewing, which uses the traditional solid-state fermentation method. The cost is not low. There has been a saying since ancient times that "three catties of grain make one catty of wine", which shows how high the cost of grain for brewing is.

Of course, the saying "3 jin of grain to 1 jin of liquor" normally refers to the cost of grain needed to brew high-proof liquor. If it were the kind of liquor commonly seen in later generations that only has an alcohol content of around 30 degrees, it wouldn't require that much grain; it would only be a little over 1.5 jin to less than 2 jin.

Anyway, the liquor Han Shuisheng sells is all made from pure grains and is properly blended, so even if you brew your own liquor, it may not taste as good as the liquor Han Shuisheng blends.

However, Wang An knew that the reason why freshly brewed liquor didn't taste good was because it contained irritating substances such as methanol, hydrogen sulfide, acetaldehyde, and fusel oils, and these substances were also toxic.

To make wine taste good, new wine must be aged for at least six months to allow the liquid to undergo oxidation-reduction, esterification, and other reactions, as well as for any irritating substances to evaporate.

Only wine made in this way will have a significantly improved taste.

Of course, to make the wine taste better, it must be mixed with some aged wine or other grain wine, as Wang An and Wang Dazhu suggested.

With just that simple mixing, the flavor bursts forth instantly.

Wang Dazhu put all the weighed medicinal herbs into the wine jar, then said with a smile:

"Okay, make a lot. If you know how to mix drinks, you can be in charge of mixing them once the liquor is ready, hehehehe."

It's clear that Wang Dazhu is extremely happy about having enough grain to brew more wine.

Wang An glanced at his watch and said:

"I think we shouldn't wait until tomorrow. I'll go buy the yeast now, and 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. We'll get there as soon as it's steamed."

Wang An shook his head and said:

"The sooner we buy it, the easier it will be. I still have to go pick out a dog with Lao Wu and the others tomorrow."

Wang Dazhu suddenly said:

"Hey, I'm running out of cigarettes. Could you buy me a few more cartons? Just get the Changbai Mountain brand, the Bingcheng brand is a bit too expensive."

Wang An waved his hand, smiling broadly, and said:

"Given our family's situation, do we really need a few cents?"

Wang Dazhu smiled upon hearing this and said, "Alright, then you decide."

In the past two years, not only have the prices of grain and meat risen, but the price of cigarettes has also risen rapidly.

The cheapest Changbaishan cigarettes, which used to sell for 7 cents a pack, have now increased to 12 cents a pack. The regular Bingcheng cigarettes, which used to cost 12 cents a pack, have now increased to 20 cents a pack. Even the unfiltered grape cigarettes have increased to 5 cents a pack.

As for the classic Bingcheng cigarettes that Wang An often smokes, the price has now risen to 50 cents a box, but if you buy them in cartons, it's 4.5 yuan.

It must be said that prices changed very quickly in this era.

The only thing that hasn't changed is the workers' wages. Regular employees still earn 37.5 yuan a month, which is an average of 1.25 yuan a day.

However, Wang An, as a reborn person, knew very well that the current price increase was nothing, and that prices would continue to rise year by year.

Wang An recalled that by 85, even a pack of filtered grape cigarettes cost more than 2 cents.

Especially in 88, the prices of all kinds of goods skyrocketed.

Its main selling point is that it's super fast and super powerful, leaving you no time to react!

Fortunately, no matter how prices change, it won't affect Wang An, because Wang An already has enough money to cope with all kinds of price increases.

Just as Wang An was about to leave, he heard Wang Dazhu say again:

"If the car can fit them, I'll buy two more 12-inch pots."

Upon hearing this, Wang An instinctively turned around and asked:

"Dad, are you planning to buy an iron pot to use as a cooking pot?"

The pots in Wang An's house were quite substantial. The largest was a 15-inch iron pot used for boiling bath water, while the pots used for cooking and stewing in the outer room were 9-inch pots, and the two pots in the yard were 12-inch pots.

If they bought another pot, they wouldn't need it at all, so Wang An guessed that it was meant to be used as a pot that day.

The so-called "heavenly pot" is actually the pot lid used in distilling liquor, hence the name "heavenly pot".

This thing is used to fill with cold water during the distillation of spirits, serving as a condenser.

Wang Dazhu said:

"Hmm, I can make pot surrounds, but it's easier to use an iron pot for this kind of thing, otherwise it's not very useful."

The so-called pot surround is actually an extension of the pot. Overall, it is a wooden bucket that is as thick as the pot's rim but without a bottom.

Upon hearing this, Wang An frowned and said:
"How can a deep iron pot work? You have to put a pipe in it to let the water out. Besides, the grain fermentation takes two or three months. Why don't you go to the blacksmith and make a couple of shallow iron pots?"

Wang Dazhu thought for a moment, then nodded and said:
“If we make the cauldron on the spot, it should be ready in time. Okay, go to the blacksmith shop in the county and take a look. Luo the blacksmith doesn’t have all the tools. He doesn’t have time to make such a big cauldron.”

Wang An casually remarked:

"Yeah, don't make the pot surround out of wood anymore. It'll be a hassle if it leaks air. I'll just have them make it all by themselves to save you the trouble."

Wang Dazhu said:

"Okay, then you can do whatever you want with it."

During the distillation of spirits, it is absolutely essential to prevent any leakage of gas. This is because it would affect the purity of the spirit, and also because any escape of alcohol vapor could cause an explosion.

Wang An agreed and then went out again. (End of Chapter)