Time flew by, and five days had already passed!
Brewing wine isn't something you can just start and finish immediately; the most crucial process is fermentation.
So on the first day, Corvinus processed the rice he had bought and began the fermentation process.
That's right, rice.
Actually, the best grains for brewing are corn and sorghum, but he couldn't find these two crops in Canyon City. Perhaps this world simply didn't have them.
Canyon City had a wide variety of grains, many of which he had never seen before. However, he only recognized rice and wheat, so for now, he could only use these two types of grains for brewing.
Compared to wheat, Canyon City actually had nearly ten types of wheat, and there were also several types of rice.
But he chose to brew with rice. Although the quality of wine made from rice might not be as high as that from wheat, rice has a high starch content and low protein and fat content, which is conducive to slow fermentation at low temperatures. The resulting wine is relatively pure.
Of course, different crops have their own advantages when it comes to brewing.
For example, as anyone who brews wine regularly knows, sorghum produces a fragrant wine, corn produces a sweet wine, rice produces a clean wine, glutinous rice produces a smooth wine, and wheat produces a more robust wine—these are basic principles.
Apart from the first day, when he processed the rice and started the fermentation, Corvinus didn't idle around these past few days. He and Tyton were busy working on the equipment for distilling spirits.
To create the distilling equipment, Corvinus essentially became a carpenter.
However, since he had seen brewing tools before and the system store sold blueprints, he managed to put something together by memory and imitation.
...
In the kitchen of Casa Restaurant.
Corvinus was working on another item.
Tyton and Cadia were watching on the side. Over these days, they hadn't understood a single thing their chieftain was doing. Every time they asked, Corvinus would simply reply, "You'll know in a few days."
"Not bad, not bad at all, the fermentation is complete!" Corvinus looked at the one-meter-tall wooden barrel in front of him, smelled the aroma, and smiled contentedly.
Tyton and Cadia looked at the barrel curiously; the smell was quite odd.
They knew that what was inside was a mixture of sprouted wheat, rice, and sweet potatoes that Corvinus had stirred together yesterday.
They had even exclaimed that Corvinus was wasteful, as rice and sweet potatoes were so delicious, yet the chieftain had used them all up in these two barrels.
Corvinus glanced at another barrel and nodded with satisfaction.
That's right!
This wasn't wine.
It was something else—sugar, specifically maltose.
As someone who grew up in Dragon Village, maltose was an incredibly familiar childhood candy.
Regarding sugar, he had also investigated in Canyon City. There was no white sugar, brown sugar, or the kind of sugar he was familiar with. There was only one type of sugar here—fruit sugar and fruit jam.
Actually, fruit sugar isn't really sugar; it's a type of dried fruit similar to persimmon flowers.
As for fruit jam, it's easy to understand, and it's quite similar in both worlds.
Moreover, both fruit sugar and fruit jam were very expensive, and only a handful of shops in the city sold them.
Corvinus had asked about the reason and found out that they were difficult to preserve. Transported from afar, any minor issue during the journey could spoil them, hence the high price.
Moreover, ordinary people rarely had the means to afford them; most consumers were merchants.
In other words, maltose, once made, might also become a very popular sugar product.
"Gava, start the fire!"
"Cadia, bring over the burlap we bought!"
"Yes, sir!"
The boar man, Gava, quickly sat in front of the earthen stove and added firewood to make the fire burn.
Cadia also swiftly brought over a piece of burlap measuring over a meter in length and width.
Everyone was puzzled.
Corvinus took the burlap and had already set up a rack over the large iron pot. With the burlap in place, they could filter the fermented maltose and sweet potato juice.
The filtering process began soon after!
The two barrels of malt juice weighed about a hundred pounds. After nearly two hours, the filtering was finally complete.
The large iron pot was specially made by Corvinus, who had commissioned a blacksmith in the city. It could hold not just a hundred pounds but even two hundred pounds of liquid.
"I'm exhausted. Gava, you take over the stirring for a bit!"
Although the malt juice had been filtered of its residue, it was still quite thick. If not stirred, the bottom of the pot might burn, especially since the pot was so large and the heat wouldn't be evenly distributed before it boiled.
However, after two hours of filtering, Corvinus felt like his arms weren't even his own anymore.
Tyton and Cadia, who had helped with the filtering, also looked exhausted.
Upon hearing Corvinus's words, the boar man Gava took the wooden stirring paddle from Corvinus and began to stir.
Although the pot was large, the fire in the earthen stove was even larger. Soon, the iron pot began to boil.
Seeing the boiling, Corvinus quickly took the wooden stirring paddle back from Gava.
Boiling was the most crucial step, and the biggest concern was burning the bottom. This was the easiest time for that to happen. Although burning the bottom wouldn't ruin the entire batch, it would affect the overall quality of the maltose.
"Cadia, add the firewood more slowly now!"
"Yes, sir!"
Tyton and Gava stared at the bottom of the pot, their eyes filled with curiosity. The originally milky liquid in the pot was now slowly turning into a dark red color.
"Hey, what are you guys doing again? Boiling sweet potatoes again?" At that moment, a soft and melodious female voice appeared behind them.
Inside the kitchen, while Corvinus was focused on stirring the maltose syrup, Cadia and the others quickly greeted her: "Miss Agif has arrived!"
After all, this beautiful werewolf was going to be their chieftain's wife. If things worked out, she would be the chieftainess, so they didn't dare to be negligent.
Plus, Agif had been bringing food and drinks these past few days, and as the saying goes, "One who eats another's food will find it hard to speak ill of them."
Agif nodded at the three of them and came to Corvinus's side, cooing, "Don't you even welcome me?"
Corvinus glanced at Agif and said indifferently, "Do I need to welcome you? Coming here is probably more convenient for you than going home."
This woman came every day, and Corvinus had grown accustomed to it.
Although he had some reservations at first, after getting to know her, Corvinus had to admit that she was the type of woman he liked.
Bold, tactful, intelligent, and spirited!
These were Corvinus's criteria for a wife, and Agif undoubtedly met them perfectly.
Because Corvinus was not the type of person who liked to take the initiative, or rather, he was not someone who liked to slowly build a relationship.
"Hehe... hehe... You're making me blush with your words!" Agif covered her mouth and giggled.
"By the way, what are you making here?" Agif looked at the pot that Corvinus was stirring vigorously and asked with some confusion.
"Making sugar!" Corvinus said.
Agif did not come from an ordinary background and surely knew and had tasted sugar. He hadn't explained it to Cadia and the others mainly because these guys probably had never tasted fruit sugar or fruit jam before and might not even know what sugar was.
"Sugar?"
"What do you mean? This is sugar? It looks like jam!" Agif said, looking at the increasingly viscous liquid in the pot.
"You'll know in a bit," Corvinus replied without further explanation.
The liquid in the pot had already started to thicken, and he estimated that it would be ready in less than an hour.
"By the way, Corvinus, my father is back, and he wants to meet you!" Suddenly, Agif's expression turned serious.
Upon hearing this, Corvinus's wooden stirring paddle stopped abruptly, but he quickly realized that this was the easiest time for the bottom to burn.
"Your father?"
"Why does he want to see me?" Corvinus asked, puzzled, while inwardly cursing: This woman moves way too fast.