Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 104 - 45 Selling Wine_1

Chapter 104: Chapter 45 Selling Wine_1

Yan Fei didn’t know that the two men who came to visit had ulterior motives aside from wine tasting. He didn’t care what they were up to. All he could think of was how to find an excuse to get the wine out of the cave on Vegetable Garden Island!

Fortunately, the house at the entrance of the factory wasn’t just one room. He let his grandfather and his friends in, pretended to go next door, and reappeared with the wine.

He had nothing to hold the wine in, so he planned on giving them the container. As he was about to leave, he felt something was wrong. This was for outsiders, after all. The bone inside the brew was crushed, but it wasn’t for his own consumption.

He found a strainer, cleaned it, and directly put it into the jar, filtering out all the remains of medicinal herbs and bone fragments before he finally took it out.

Seeing this, Old Lin laughed: "Ah, there’s quite a lot! Let me have all of it!"

Yan Fei casually put down the jar: "Once I bring it out, it’s for you. Grandpa, if you ever run out, I will make more. I’ll ask Ma Chao in a few days if there’s still any wine left in his house. If not, I’ll make some more."

Upon hearing this, his grandfather asked: "Why would they be out of wine?"

"Ma Chao’s dad is suffering from liver cancer. His mom said they won’t be making wine anymore. We might have to buy it from somewhere else. I don’t know if other homemade wines are as good as theirs." Yan Fei felt a little uncomfortable thinking about this. He didn’t trust products from outsiders, but what could he do if Ma Chao’s family stopped making it?

"Ah... Everyone has to face their own hardships in life." His grandfather sighed, "Since they’re no longer making wine, aren’t all their wine-making appliances useless? How about this, I’ll give you some money and you can go buy their equipment. Just put it in a corner of your cattle farm. You don’t need too much stuff. If you ever want to brew again, just ask Ma Chao for some yeast. It’s not a big deal."

"That could work. I have money to buy it. You don’t have to worry about this." Yan Fei thought this idea wasn’t bad.

Homemade brewing doesn’t require much. The sorghum and corn used don’t need to be ground, they can be put directly into the pot for steaming. Then take them out, sprinkle yeast, mix well, and close the wine cellar for about a week. Then, steaming it again will get you wine. It’s that simple.

This might seem magical to others, but once you see the process, you’ll understand. All you need is a large pot and stove, but because the wine needs to simmer over a long period of time, the stove must retain heat. Thus, a well-insulated, sturdy stove filled with sandy soil in the middle is necessary.\

After setting up the pot, build a tubular structure around it. This tube needs a larger hole at the bottom for adding water when steaming grains, and an outlet in the middle for inserting a rubber tube used for wine output.\

When the wine is ready, cover the top with a conical iron bucket that points downwards. It can also be cooled by adding cold water on top.\

Place a disc with a rubber tube inside the pot under the pointed end of the conical bucket. The steamed wine vapor rises, meets the cool bucket, condenses into wine, drips onto the disc, and flows out through the tube.\

At this point, the hole meant for adding water initially is used. Water must be continuously added to the pot, otherwise, it would dry up, and wine can no longer be produced. Even when steaming grains, water must be added. Without it, you’d only be left with a dry pot.\

You also need to construct a wine cellar for fermentation, and a place to store fermented grains mixed with yeast. You’ll need space to dry the vinasse afterward as well.\

Yan Fei figured it would be easy to learn, given its simplicity. All he needs is to control the amount of yeast and maintain the right temperature during distillation.\

Besides, distiller’s yeast can now be bought directly from stores. There’s no need to prepare it yourself!\

While thinking about brewing, Old Yang took out 200 yuan from his pocket: "There’s no fixed price for the wine. I only brought this much today, if it’s not enough, I’ll make up for it later."

Yan Fei’s grandfather rolled his eyes in feigned anger: "Old Yang, are you trying to make me look bad?"

Old Yang laughed: "Old Lin, you’re bragging, aren’t you? You, a senior citizen, drink wine until your face glows like a young man’s. How would you price this kind of wine?"

Yan Fei’s grandfather laughed immediately: "Well, that’s because my grandson is dutiful. You can only feel envious! Since I brought you here for the first time, I’ll make the decision for Xiao Fei. We won’t take any money this time. After you experience the effects firsthand, we’ll see how I’ll rip you off!"

Old Yang protested: "No, I have to pay for it. If it gets popular in the future, I may not be able to afford it anymore. I need to pay. My son once bought that so-called Red Hair Medicinal Wine. It doesn’t taste as good as the homemade grain wine. How much would that cost? I feel like I’ve underpaid!"

While saying this, he stuffed the money into Yan Fei’s pocket.

Seeing his grandfather not objecting, Yan Fei tried to dodge and avoid accepting the money. However, his grandfather took the money, gave Yan Fei a fifty yuan note, and gave the rest back to Old Yang: "Forget it! Don’t bully my grandson. Since you’re not short on money, it’s alright to take fifty from you. Don’t worry, as long as he continues to make wine, there’ll be some for you when you come."

Old Yang originally feared that there would be no more wine for him to buy in the future. After being exposed, he felt a little embarrassed: "Alright, I’ll pay more next time!"

The price of homemade alcoholic beverages isn’t that high, after all, it’s in line with grain prices. People often say that it takes three catty of grain for one catty of wine. In reality, you don’t need that much. If you brew it well, slightly over two catty of grain can produce one catty of wine. Selling it at the price of three catty of grain won’t necessarily make a profit, but it won’t cause a loss either.

Generally, however, it isn’t sold at this price alone. After all, brewing requires the use of coal and it’s a laborious task. If you’re not careful, the taste of the wine could change. However, even calculating with these expenses, it still costs less than three yuan per catty of wine.

Some dilute their wine with water, that makes it cost even less than three yuan per catty; and even for wine distilled from the same pot, the prices are different based on the quality and taste. Generally, diluted ones are usually made with lower-grade wine. It’s sold for a cheaper price, but mixing with water can lead to higher profits.

As for those bottled wines sold in the market for a yuan or two, even the common people know they must have problems.

Yan Fei’s jar of wine originally weighed ten catty. After Yan Fei had a taste, there were only eight or nine catties left. So, receiving fifty yuan for it wasn’t little.

Of course, this was Yan Fei’s own thought. The medicinal herbs inside were not valuable, the main ingredient was the bone. As for the value of the dinosaur bone, there’s no need to calculate it. They were all picked up for free, therefore, they bear no cost.

Old Yang took the wine and left with the others, not saying a word when he left. Everyone had work to do in the countryside. Even Yan Fei’s grandfather left without staying any longer.

Yan Fei was overjoyed internally. He didn’t expect he’d make a profit selling the wine he bought from Ma Chao’s family!

Little did he know, his grandfather had already "sold" him as a human shield to the visitors without making a sound. If it weren’t for catching him while he was working, they might have asked him to engage in a trial of martial arts. Instead, they were scared off by Yan Fei’s sheer strength.

However, his grandfather certainly wouldn’t tell him any of this. Since the two visitors didn’t mention it at all, he wouldn’t probe further either.

At this point, Yan Fei was already planning on selling wine to make money, which was a much better alternative to selling vegetables stealthily.

(Friends who have learned how to make wine, please pay your tuition on time. If you have any queries, you may consult via the QQ group number in my profile. I guarantee complete teaching and learning support.)