The preliminary story got quite long, but now I’m planning to brew alcohol from barley.
Of course, I intend to make it an industry in the Bard Kingdom.
In my previous life, when thinking about barley-based alcohol, what comes to mind? Even though I was underage, I can only think of beer and whiskey.
It seems there are drinks similar to whiskey, but there’s no beer. At least, not in this country. So, it should be fine to brew beer.
Well, since I’m a complete novice at alcohol-making, I’m relying completely on the sake yeast. Wait, is beer made with yeast?
In any case, as always, I’m grateful for the barley.
- Conversion of 10 kg of barley into 1 kg of barley beer yeast: Consumes 400 mana points.
- Barley beer yeast: Yeast made by the Apostle Toma of Deuro for brewing barley beer. It is mixed with crushed barley for fermentation, and by adding hops, you can brew a fragrant beer. Adding light grains results in a beer with a rich taste.
Speaking of beer, doesn’t it require hops? So, I guess I can substitute hops with the light grains.
Hops and light grains are plants found commonly in the southern forests. People don’t typically eat their fruits or leaves.
In another world, there’s no need to follow the exact brewing methods from my previous life, and not everything will be the same. Just knowing that these alternatives can work shows how amazing this conversion skill is.
At the Rocksfall Marquess family’s mansion in the capital, there are several warehouses.
I had them open the smallest one, and started brewing beer there.
Crushing the barley is a hassle, but once the industry is established, I can build a water mill.
I started with four barrels (two for hops and two for light grains). I added the crushed barley and barley beer yeast, and waited for a few days.
Five days later, when I checked, the barley had dissolved into a gooey mass. I stirred it, added the hops and light grains, and waited a few more days.
Another five days passed, and it was getting quite liquid, so I stirred again. After that, I stirred it every day, and after five more days, it had been fifteen days in total. The brown liquid was bubbling with foam. I was told to just leave it alone after this.
On the twentieth day, the beer was finished.
The best part is that it takes a shorter time to brew than the horse king.
“I’ve heard that beer is best when it’s ice-cold, but is that true?”
I have no idea since I’ve never drunk it before.
For now, I’ll transfer it into a one-liter unglazed container, seal it, and put it in the cold.
Come to think of it, did I mention that slime gel is used in unglazed containers?
When you mix clay with slime gel and fire it, you get highly practical unglazed containers.
The same containers are used for Affelpopp and medicinal wines. Since the clay is common and slime gel is easy to obtain in large quantities, mass production is simple.
Thanks to this, the Ashwood territory has also developed an industry for making these unglazed containers.
Returning to the story, I placed three bottles of beer into the fridge I had previously created and waited for them to cool.
“Grandfather, could you try this alcohol?”
It would have been great if my father was around, but he returned to Ashwood. So, this time, only my grandfather is trying the beer.
“Is it horse king?”
“No, it’s a drink called beer.”
“I’ve never heard of such a drink.”
“I made it using barley as the main ingredient.”
“I see, you used barley, which can be harvested in large quantities in autumn. As expected of Toma!”
I made sure to chill a glass mug in the same way as the beer.
When I poured the beer into the mug, the characteristic foam began to form.
“Oh, foam? It’s thicker than Affelpopp’s, and it’s brown.”
My grandfather seemed intrigued by the appearance.
“It’s cold.”
Grandfather muttered, holding the mug.
“I chilled it in the fridge. Please have some edamame with it.”
Since soybeans are commonly grown, getting edamame is easy.
“Edamame?”
“Soybeans harvested while still green, boiled, and salted.”
“Well… it’s slightly sweet, and the saltiness makes it delicious!”
“Edamame goes really well with beer.”
“Then, the beer…!?!”
My grandfather’s eyes widened in surprise.
“It’s delicious! It’s bitter, but the creamy smoothness of the foam and the bitterness blend together nicely!”
I’m glad to see such a positive response.
Grandfather quickly drank the whole mug.
Even though I tell him not to drink it all at once, it’s something people tend to do.
“This is great! But chilling it like this must be difficult, right?”
The fridge I made previously is a box with high insulation properties, where I put ice to cool things.
I can easily make ice through conversion, but few mages can make ice.
Water attribute mages can create ice, but they need to be at a reasonably high level to do so.
“That’s why I made a magical tool.”
“A magical tool?”
“Yes, it’s a fridge turned into a magical tool.”
“Oh, can anyone make that?”
“I think craftsmen can do it.”
The most important part of the magical fridge is slime gel.
Here comes slime gel again!
It turns out that if you mix slime gel with a mineral called Iceckle and magic stone powder, it becomes a material with heat-absorbing properties.
- Slime Gel (500g) + Iceckle Powder (500g) + Magic Stone Powder (30g) → Slime Heat Absorber (1kg): Consumes 100 mana points.
One kilogram of slime heat absorber can cool 3 cubic meters down to 5°C. For one cubic meter, it can cool down to -5°C.
By increasing the amount of slime heat absorber, it’s possible to cool down to as low as -60°C, which means you can create industrial freezers.
This requires a well-insulated box, though.
“That’s good. Iceckle should be a mineral from the Bard region. It’s always been useless until now, but with this, we can establish an industrial sector in Bard!”
Iceckle ore had no use and was considered worthless. Many mines have untapped minerals, like Iceckle, that have no clear applications. Being able to use them for something practical is a good thing.
We just need to be careful of pollution and accidents.
“Slimes really have many uses.”
“Slimes are an all-purpose material, Grandpa.”
There are many other uses, but I’ll reveal them gradually.
For now, I’ll have the craftsmen produce fridges and freezers.
“Grandfather, the key to both the fridge and the freezer is the slime heat absorber. I’d like to arrange for trustworthy craftsmen.”
“I’ll contact the vassals in Bard right away.”
So, we installed large freezers and refrigerators in our home.
The freezer is huge, like a warehouse full of tuna, and uses a lot of slime heat absorber to maintain a temperature of -60°C.
As for the fridge, I also installed it in the living spaces of our servants and retainers. Since one cubic meter isn’t too big, it can fit in individual rooms.
Employee benefits are important!
The slime heat absorber’s effect decreases after about ten years, so it’s designed to be easy to replace.
