Chapter 22

In September, the harvest of summer barley began.

In the golden fields of barley, the villagers, with their entire families, were sweating over the task of cutting the barley.

When I heard about the barley, there was something I wanted to try.

That was making whisky.

Most of the summer barley in this village is barley, and they only produce the necessary amount of oats for livestock.

If there are no special circumstances, such as a poor wheat harvest, a considerable amount of barley is turned into ale.

The brewery is on the west side of "Nishigaoka," along the Fin River, where they brew wine and ale.

As a lover of alcohol, I had a grand plan.

There is no distilled liquor in this world, or at least not in this area.

Even the dwarf Beltram, who is knowledgeable about alcohol, said he didn't know about distilled liquor. If a dwarf who is passionate about alcohol doesn't know about it, it probably doesn't exist anywhere.

So, I thought about making whisky or brandy as a specialty product of this village. To be precise, a malt whisky of the Scotch type and a distilled liquor made from the pomace of wine, which is a marc type, are the candidates.

However, I'm not very hopeful about the marc because I don't know how much pomace will be produced from the wine.

In my previous life, I often drank Scotch and marc.

I had been going to a Scotch-only bar called "MM" in a port town in Kansai for over fifteen years, and I used to buy quite good domain marc. Personally, I prefer fine, which is distilled wine, such as Cognac or Armagnac, but I drank marc due to the price.

The important thing is that distilled liquor gets better with aging. Not everything gets better, but if I start making it when I'm old enough to drink, it will take too long.

If I succeed at the age of five, I'll have a twelve-year-old by the time I'm seventeen. And before I turn thirty, I'll have a twenty-two or twenty-three-year-old, which is my personal favorite.

The barrels at the carpenter Craig's place were made of oak. The barrels were well-made enough to withstand long-term aging, as far as I could see.

To make it a specialty product, I need to release young ones aged for about three years, but it won't be a problem if I secure enough for my own consumption.

The problem is the still, but the principle is simple, and I can trust Beltram's skills as a blacksmith. More than anything, he will be the most enthusiastic about it. If I ask him to make a tool to create the strongest and best alcohol in the world, he will do it without hesitation.

Once the tool is made, I can do the rest, so it won't affect my other work.

Even if I plan to increase the number in the future, two small ones will be enough for the first few years.

Fortunately, the installation of the pump is almost complete, and the only other tasks are the maintenance of farm tools during the off-season and the maintenance of the vigilante group's weapons.

I want to make the still during the winter and somehow produce distilled liquor.

To be honest, I'm getting the urge to do something else because the results of the toilet and soap projects, other than the pump, have not been good.

The compost made by mixing it with livestock manure has turned into something like leaf mold, but it won't be clear until next year or later whether it can be used. If it fails, there is the option of liquid fertilizer, but I'm not confident that it will succeed.

The installation plan also depends on the results in the area where Gordon lives, so I can't move on to the next step until around next summer.

As for the soap, I don't think it will work at all so far. The first batch I made in June didn't solidify after three months, so I concluded it was a failure and burned it.

The second batch I made in July is still a suspicious, gooey substance stored at Nicholas's house.

The third batch I made in August has changed color slightly and has the potential to succeed, but I'm not very hopeful.

The raw materials are cheap—animal fat is apparently not very popular and is cheap—so I can continue, but if it becomes a burden for Nicholas, I will give up on production.

On the other hand, Nicholas and Kate are burning with unusual determination, and I can't stop them. Their notes have already exceeded a hundred pages, and they have accumulated a considerable amount of data on quantities and other factors.

I'm more concerned about whether I'm wasting their time due to a mistake in my memory.

I've given various instructions, such as adding other ingredients, changing the source of the lye, and adding another process, but if it doesn't succeed, I'll have to give up.

Getting back to the topic, the price of ale, which is produced in large quantities in this village, is cheap. In fact, it is distributed according to the amount of raw materials supplied, so most households have a barrel of ale.

When I first saw it, I thought this village was full of alcoholics, but I was told that in this village, which has suffered from epidemics, people start drinking ale as a substitute for water from around the age of ten.

On September 20th, I went to Beltram's place.

He was sharpening the vigilante group's swords, so I sat next to him and started talking about the still.

By this time, my relationship with Beltram had become more like colleagues or comrades, and our way of speaking had changed from formal to casual.

"I want to make a tool to create delicious alcohol..."

When I said that much, his hand stopped sharpening the sword. Then he leaned in and said, "Tell me more."

I smiled wryly at his expected reaction and began explaining the still.

"You know that alcohol has a certain strength, right? There's a way to make it even stronger..."

Judging from his reaction, he seemed to understand alcohol intuitively and urged me to continue.

"Water and alcohol have different boiling points. We use this difference to extract only the alcohol. That's what this tool is for..."

I took out the blueprint I had brought and spread it in front of him.

He looked at the blueprint suspiciously and said, "What is this? It looks like a failed kettle."

"You put the alcohol with a low concentration in this part. Then, when you heat it from below, it gradually starts to boil. You adjust the temperature so that only the alcohol evaporates. Then, the alcohol can be extracted from this long, narrow part."

"I don't really understand, but what does the alcohol with a higher concentration taste like? Boiled alcohol sounds terrible."

His question triggered my "alcohol lover switch."

"How can I put it? If it's just stronger alcohol... First, there's a strong, burning sensation on the tongue. Then, the unique aroma of the alcohol spreads in the mouth and up the nose. After that, there's a burning sensation in the throat and a warm feeling in the stomach."

Beltram listened to my explanation with a slightly dubious expression.

"From your description, it doesn't sound delicious at all."

I smiled and said, "Of course not."

"This alcohol is all about aging. The best one I've tasted was a thirty-five-year-old. It has a complex mix of fruit, nut, and herb aromas... but they are all smooth and don't interfere with each other. One sip, and the aroma spreads endlessly. It's a bit exaggerated, but the aroma lingered until the next day. At this point, it's more of an art form than just alcohol."

He muttered, "Thirty-five years," and was speechless. I continued without paying attention to him.

"For regular drinking, at least three years. Personally, I preferred those aged over twelve years."

I added more detailed descriptions of the aromas.

"Through aging, the wood of the barrel imparts its aroma. But that alone is not enough. As it ages further, it gains the aroma of sweet fruits, fresh herbs, flowers, and spices. It's surprising how such aromas come from a wooden barrel. But they are not too strong. Aging also makes the taste smoother..."

He listened intently, occasionally swallowing.

"As for the taste, young alcohol just burns the tongue, but aged and matured alcohol changes in at least three stages. The moment it touches the mouth, the moment it sits on the tongue, and the moment it goes down the throat. It shows various expressions at each moment... You don't need food to enjoy it straight. If you dilute it with water, it goes well with meals, but I preferred to enjoy the alcohol alone..."

I think I had a distant look in my eyes at that moment. And in my mouth, the distinctive, peach-like, viscous fruit aroma and vanilla flavor of BenRiach, a single cask distilled in 1976, and the sweet, rich aroma of Roland's Ladyburn 23, which is no longer available, were spreading.

From an outsider's perspective, it must have been a surreal scene: a four-year-old child reminiscing about the aroma of Scotch with a blissful expression.

But Beltram was different.

"Let's make that 'still' right now! Come and see it every day! I'll finish it in ten days!"

His eyes were burning.

He seemed to desperately want to taste it after hearing my description.

(As expected of dwarves. They are stereotypical alcohol lovers. This enthusiasm is a bit scary, but if the distillation fails... I might have pushed it a bit too far...)

I was slightly taken aback by Beltram's appearance, but as an alcohol lover, I wasn't about to back down.

"Alright. First, I want you to make it according to the blueprint. To be honest, the shape of this neck part greatly affects the taste. So, I want to make at least two types, preferably four."

I planned to start with a simple straight head and then make a lantern head, a ball type, and a T-shape.

"Tell me anything! And for the brewing, I'll talk to Scott. When the still is ready, explain it to him."

Scott is the person in charge of the brewery along the Fin River, responsible for brewing the ale, beer, and wine produced in this village.

"Thanks. I'll come again tomorrow, so if you have any questions, let me know then."

I returned to the mansion, satisfied with the progress of the conversation.

I intended to have a prototype of a small still, about one meter in diameter, made.

I don't think it can be made immediately in this world, where there are no thermometers or pressure gauges, just by intuition.

(If it succeeds, it can become a specialty product. Fortunately, the Kingdom of Caum, which has many dwarves, is nearby, and the adventurer town of Periclitus, which consumes a lot of alcohol, is not far away. There's no need to expand beyond the scale of this village. We can aim for a high-end brand by confirming long-term aging and branding it.)

True to his word, Beltram completed the still in ten days.

I thought he would struggle with the neck—the part of the still that resembles a bird's neck—but he finished it surprisingly quickly, either due to his passion for alcohol or his inherent skill.

(To think he can make a still from copper plates enhanced by magic... I want to visit the capital of the Kingdom of Caum, the city of Ars, where craftsmen gather.)

On September 30th, the day before the autumn harvest festival, we conducted a test at his workshop.

First, we put only water in and checked the temperature rise and steam generation.

When steam started coming out of the arm part, we checked for any leaks.

There were no leaks, and the still was almost perfect.

"Beltram, as expected, it's perfect. Once Nicholas learns temperature control and explains it to Scott, we should be fine."

Temperature control is crucial in distillation. We need to evaporate the alcohol without boiling the water, so we need to maintain a temperature of around eighty degrees, the boiling point of alcohol.

Without a thermometer or pressure gauge, we initially boiled the water too quickly.

After some trial and error, I came up with the idea of using the sound of the steam and the pot.

I asked Beltram to make an iron rod about five millimeters in diameter and one meter long, and we listened to the sound as we increased the temperature. The sound changed gradually as the temperature rose, and we tried to confirm it by ear.

After a few attempts, I got a feel for the temperature changes. The rest depends on how much it changes with the actual materials, but we can only confirm that once it's installed.

When the test run was over, Beltram asked when we would install it.

Beltram seemed ready to take it today, but the villagers were busy with festival preparations, and Scott, the source of the alcohol, couldn't spare a hand. When I told him I planned to move it the day after the festival, he looked dejected.

The day after the harvest festival, Beltram, showing no signs of fatigue from the festival, was sweating over the transportation and installation of the still from early morning. I was a bit taken aback by his enthusiasm.

Originally, I planned to go in the afternoon, but I couldn't resist Beltram's intensity and had to supervise the installation from early morning.

As we transported it through the village in a cart, we were exposed to curious gazes.

Occasionally, someone would call out to Beltram, "What are you up to, Mr. Dwarf!" but he would confidently raise his fist and say, "Just wait and see!" and keep going.

Nicholas, who was with me, walked behind the beaming Beltram with a slightly troubled look.

I entrusted the explanation to Scott to Nicholas and had been giving him lectures for a few days.

"Basically, it's just using the difference in boiling points between alcohol and water. You can think of it as a form of alchemy. The key points when explaining to Scott are not to raise the temperature too high and to cool it properly. If he asks strange questions, tell him to come and ask me."

Nicholas nodded with a resigned expression, as if it was a regular occurrence.

Scott's brewery was a facility where barley for ale was germinated, dried, and then crushed, fermented, and filtered. It also had a crusher and filter for wine.

There was no space to place the still, so we decided to put it in the warehouse where the ale was stored.

Beltram handled all the negotiations, and I could feel his enthusiasm.

(What if we can't make good alcohol? It could be a problem.)

Nicholas then explained the still to Scott.

Scott, not really understanding, but resigned to the fact that the lord was starting it, provided the space.

Beltram and Nicholas installed the still.

The still itself was placed in the warehouse where ale barrels were temporarily stored, and the condenser, which could have been air-cooled, was made water-cooled for efficiency.

We set up the condenser to use the water from the Fin River flowing nearby, but since the water was already being drawn for barrel cleaning, we only needed to make a simple modification to create a branch.

However, it took more than a day to modify the window for the chimney and the water line, so I left it to Nicholas and Beltram.

It would take about three days to install, so I returned to the mansion with Nicholas.

This time, making the still made me think about how much modern knowledge I intend to spread in this world.

I like this world. No, I should say I like this village, as I haven't seen anything else.

Beautiful scenery, simple people, fantasy races, and magic.

Is it okay to spread material civilization in this world? Is it okay to destroy the culture of this world? Is it okay to cause environmental destruction like on Earth?

I'm not particularly concerned about environmental issues.

It's unfortunate if the people of this world destroy their environment on their own, but I can't help it. However, I want to avoid being the cause of it as an outsider in this world.

Getting back to the topic, the still I made this time can be considered the prototype of a fire-tube boiler.

If a turbine is attached and the temperature and pressure are increased, steam energy can be extracted.

If someone sees the still I made and comes up with the idea of a steam engine...

To be honest, I'm more worried about the technology I bring in than the crisis that might come