The so-called water drops began to fall rapidly to the bottom of the bottle, and the ticking sound became a beautiful movement.
"Is that it?" Otto couldn't help but ask, looking at the mist.
"That's it, Dad. And Uncle Klavasen!" Rurik said proudly.
"What's next? Are we just waiting? Also, is the thing flowing in the pipe water or wine?" Otto's question was very pointed, and Klavasen also had the same question.
"Of course it's wine! It's not just wine either. Maybe I should call it the elf in wine."
"The spirit in wine?" Otto found his son's words very novel.
As a last resort, Rurik also needed to teach them about the concept of alcohol in public.
"Water droplets" kept flowing out of the copper tube. Due to the controlled amount of slow-burning charcoal, the ale in the distilling bottle always maintained a temperature close to boiling, which was also the right temperature for the alcohol to evaporate quickly.
Rurik's little figure danced and danced under the attention of pairs of eyes, and the words he spoke became more interesting.
"Our ale is like iron ore. The most important thing in iron ore is iron. The real beauty in ale is...it's alcohol."
Klavasen, who is very sensitive to nouns, suddenly became serious: "Alcohol? A new word?"
"Yes." Rurik stamped his foot, "I will now name the spirit in the wine alcohol."
To be honest, when Rurik said this word, it seemed to others that he had just coined a word. The original meaning of the word alcohol is "the distillation product of wine". It is the language of the big food, and it exactly refers to alcohol.
Today this concept has not spread to Western Europe at all, let alone Northern Europe.
Tribes in Northern Europe believe in the existence of elves. They describe elves as sacred objects flying among flowers. In a sense, they are actually a beautiful understanding of bees. Because honey, which is regarded as a standard by everyone, is also a brave warrior.
The end result of being stung all over the body was to destroy a wild bee hive and hunt it. The extremely sweet feeling naturally gave people a different kind of emotion towards bees.
The best concept Rurik could think of for them to understand was to describe alcohol as "the elf in the ale."
Since he had forced himself to come up with the most appropriate words, he would not change them.
Klavasen immediately accepted the word. As a senior craftsman, and even an old guy whose fingers had touched the edge of modern chemistry, he completely understood Rurik's words, and even felt that the child's explanation was wonderful, as if everything
It's not a "miracle" as it seems, it's completely based on some inherent principles.
Kravassin and Kavey listened with all their ears, because the words were spoken by Rurik, and they regarded these remarks as the truth.
What Rurik is dictating here is equivalent to the physics knowledge of junior high school, and it is still the entry-level kind. The knowledge may seem a bit low-end, but it is the cornerstone of more advanced knowledge.
While listening to Rurik's description, Klavasen was retelling it in his mind and trying to understand: "The elemental composition of water is also the elemental composition of alcohol. As long as the correct temperature is given, the water stays, and the alcohol flies into the copper pipe and changes again.
It becomes an existence similar to water. The temperature must not be too high? The ale must not boil? Haha, you asked me to twist the neck of the bottle hard to drain the water? "
Klavason and Kawei listened with great interest precisely because they had learned relatively correct "modern atomism" from Rurik and now basically understood the essence of distillation.
But Otto frowned tightly, feeling an unbearable sense of loss.
Because Otto had never imagined that almost all of them were Norse words. When combined with so many words, he could not understand what his precious son said. But the two senior blacksmiths kept smiling and nodding, as if they understood everything.
.
Otto didn't understand, but knowing atomic theory was really not important to him as a leader.
While Rurik was desperately trying to absorb scientific knowledge, the condensed wine liquid after distillation kept dripping, and the flat floor of the large glass bottles used for collection was covered with a thin layer.
At this moment, anyone with a discerning eye can clearly see that the turbid ale is bubbling, and the increasing amount of liquid in the other collection bottle is actually almost pure transparency.
Rurik continued the introduction, and he even directly explained the molecular composition of alcohol!
In the past, his popular science knowledge would have been like fantasy.
Nowadays, many things have changed. Rurik has two close friends, Klavasen and Kawei. Currently, these two are the only ones who believe in "atomism" as the truth.
For Otto, waiting became quite boring. He couldn't intervene in the chat between his son and the blacksmiths, and he couldn't even understand what they were talking about. He just stared at the liquid that magically appeared in the bottle, watching the insertion.
The copper pipe continued to tick, and he kept smelling the aroma of wine that was still permeating the air, hoping that the liquid would accumulate more and more so that he could enjoy it himself.
Finally, after waiting for a long time, Otto felt that his waist was about to break from sitting for too long.
"Rurik! Stop talking nonsense with them."
"Ah? Dad, what's the matter?!" At this time, Rurik had to interrupt his obscure science popularization.
Otto stomped the ground boredly: "How long will it take for you to finish? I'm still waiting to drink your best wine."
"Wine? That's what's in there." Rurik pointed casually.
Now Otto couldn't help but frown, because the wine was still too little.
"That's it, forget it. Children, blacksmiths, keep going, I want to go out for a walk."
"Huh? Dad, you don't have to wait any longer."
Otto shrugged, "I will come back when it gets dark, Rurik, and you must satisfy me then. At least, your good wine must be able to fill the entire oak cup."
Filling an oak cup with fine wine? To be honest, it’s quite a challenge.
Since his father personally purchased the ale for him to try, he should indeed enjoy the service of fine wine.
Rurik agreed and promised to complete the task. Judging from the current situation, he felt that if the distillation continued until dark, there might be only a little alcohol left in the ale.
In fact, Rurik's distillation system really solved the problem of whether it can be distilled. Its distillation efficiency is very bad, but it still distilled a lot of real distilled liquor.
Oak barrels made by coopers specifically to hold ale often have a volume of more than fifteen liters.
The capacity of the barrel of ale bought by Otto Lian has reached twenty liters. It is quite large, and the wheat crumbs in the wine make the wine extremely yellow and turbid. The aroma of the wine is also very bitter.
.
Beer is also a kind of ale. The ale in this time and space lacks foam, and the brewing technology is average, so the alcohol that Otto buys from merchants is only slightly higher than five degrees.
This barrel of ale contains a liter of pure alcohol.
Rurik was not a brewing craftsman. He could estimate how much alcohol the barrel of original ale contained, but he could not estimate the alcohol content of the wine in the bottle.
He was certain that the liquor was very pure, far from pure vodka.
Only vodka distilled to 95° or above can be called "water of life". After all, the way to drink vodka itself is to mix it as a base liquor. Since people can brew alcohol with astonishing purity, only then will there really be "water of life".
The term vodka".
What exactly does vodka mean? Its original meaning is closer to the concept of "wine with almost no water". But the pronunciation of this word is somewhat similar to the word vida in Latin, which means Shengmin, which is called the drink of life.
So is water.
However, what was produced in Rurik's crude system was indeed a kind of spirit. Since the bubbles could only be seen with the eyes to estimate the temperature during distillation, a large amount of water vapor was mixed into the liquor.
The steam generated at the beginning is indeed almost all alcohol vapor, but as the distillation enters the later stages, the proportion of water vapor becomes larger and larger.
Rurik had estimated the alcohol content limit of a barrel of ale from the beginning. When there was almost no liquid dripping out of the copper pipe, Rurik paused the distillation operation.
"Clavardson, let's pause. Now pour out the ale in the bottle and we'll put in a new one."
Clavarson was surprised: "Why? Should we waste it? I see there is still a lot of ale left, and I would rather drink it myself."
"This ale is no longer useful. If you don't believe me, you can taste the rest. I'm sure it's only bitter and has no flavor of wine."
Klavason found it strange that this kid had hardly drank, but today he behaved like the most senior drunkard in the entire tribe. He wore thick leather gloves used for blacksmithing, and poured the hot ale residue directly on the table in a very luxurious way.
On the gravel floor outside the blacksmith shop.
Klavasen actually licked some of the residue in the bottle, and the conclusion was exactly as Rurik predicted - it looked like wine, but it was just a turbid, bitter juice.
Klavasen's tongue did not deceive his head, and Rurik did not expect this result.
That is to say, when the distillation reaches the final stage, the alcohol in the wine is almost completely distilled, and what is left are the most difficult substances to distill. The composition of these tissues is very complex. If they are called wine, they really have the smell of wine. As far as substances are concerned,
Composition-wise, they're really not ethanol.
Where did all the alcohol go? Klavasen naturally thought of another bottle, which contained liquid nearly as high as a knuckle on the flat bottom. It looked like Rurik’s metaphor, just like the iron in iron ore, which had been completely mixed with the slag.
Separate. What’s in the bottle is the “slag” of ale!
Using just a small bottle, trying to completely distill a barrel of ale in an afternoon? It's really ridiculous.
Otto wanted to drink good wine. Before that, he did not announce his son's experiment. Although he could not understand his son's words, he completely trusted his son, so a glass of magical wine at night must be his own as the leader.
Exclusive.
Otto did not tell the clan members about this, so he called a few men to patrol the rugged streets of the clan to observe the lives of the clan members and even evaluate whether the old and infirm clan members who had been mobilized by his son's money were really alive.
are working hard.
The sky finally dimmed, and Otto arrived as promised. He came, carrying a skewer of grilled fish, with more than twenty delicious, sizzling herrings grilled on top.
Needless to say, this was actually a gift from his tribe as a leader.
It was in his robe that he was holding a skewer of grilled fish in his hand. The way he was skewering the skewers was really sloppy and rough. This was completely different from Rurik's clean appearance, which looked like a legendary forest elf.
Rurik also thought his father looked very funny.
Otto had just entered the blacksmith shop, and the first thing he looked for was the legendary wine. His sharp eyes were still there, and he immediately saw what looked like water in the large glass bottle.
"Dad, you are finally back." Rurik greeted subconsciously.
"Where's the wine? Is it in the bottle?"
"It's right there." Rurik pointed casually.
"Okay, let me drink quickly."
Otto didn't hesitate at all. He put the fragrant grilled fish into his son's hand, walked straight to the glass bottle, and pulled out the cork.
The leader's move startled Klavasen, who was about to continue talking. He originally had too much to say, so he had no choice but to approach him with a glass in hand.
"Chief, this is all the best wine! It's concentrated in half a barrel of ale to get the most critical essence."
"Oh? Really? I...have already felt it. Let me drink it!"
Rurik has really felt the wine in the glass bottle. As a man of action, Rurik has already tasted his own masterpiece. He took a few sips himself, and Klavasen, this old guy
At least it was a nice sip.
Klavason drank it, Kawei drank it, and even Lilia drank half a sip.
Now, it's Otto's turn to try it out.
But this attempt cost the blacksmith's family an afternoon to distill the precious liquor into the big leader's belly.
Although Rurik felt something was wrong, it was too late now.
Because based on his own estimation, the alcohol content of this liquor must be Erguotou level. If the old father wanted to drink tons and tons of it, he would probably be an "Er Jin Brother".
It seems that the mere "Two Jin Brother" is not worth mentioning? But, which madman in this time and space can have such a drinking capacity? Wu Song, the tiger hunter, drank countless bowls of rice wine before he got himself drunk. If he hugged him directly
He drank Erguotou so much that one pound or two of it could paralyze him. After that, he fell into a deep sleep and the tiger let out a long breath.
In Rurik's view, the distilled liquor he currently produces is still at the level of earth-burning. Although it is already a strong liquor, there is still huge room for improvement.
However, he somewhat believed that his old father might be in a state of hangover soon after drinking the masterpiece of the blacksmith shop all afternoon.
Although one's drinking capacity can be increased with practice, that's a story for another day.
A glass with a cup ear is filled to the brim with wine, and the smell of wine in the air becomes more fragrant.
At this moment, Otto held the glass bottle in both hands, and his old face with a huge beard faced the treasure in his hands. Suddenly, an indescribable sense of distortion arose spontaneously.
He looked down at his son who had already stepped forward: "Rurik, is this still ale in my hand? Its smell is unprecedented!"
"Dad, try it. I think you will fall in love with it in the future, hehe."
"Okay! This is the gift you gave me, and I will do my part."
Otto really felt the preciousness of the things in his hands. He opened his big mouth and drank in an extremely rough way, just like he used to drink ale from an oak cup or a horn cup. Now he still drank most of it.
cup.
Because just when he smelled the full aroma of the wine, a strong possessive desire to drink it completely dominated his head. His mouth was already full of alcohol.
However, the moment the wine entered his mouth, he realized how stupid his actions were.
Otto swallowed the sip of wine without even savoring it, and then opened his mouth and shouted loudly: "Ah! Ahhh! What kind of wine is this?!"
Rurik was shocked, and Klavasen and Kawei were even more at a loss.
"Chief, are you...are you okay?" Klavason tested weakly.
Otto's big mouth finally closed, and he kept rubbing his belly with his left hand, and slowly spoke: "It's really... a magical feeling. I feel as if I have eaten a whole onion. I have never...
Such a warm and spicy feeling. Now, I feel warm in my belly, it’s really... so comfortable."
Otto's old face was also filled with happiness. Needless to say, he was drinking beautifully.
He held the wine glass and took a few cautious sips, closing his eyes to experience the intensity of the wine and the warmth after entering his stomach.