Rebirth of Jiuyouyan

On the morning of the first day of the new year, Xia Yue woke up with a crackling sound.

"Firecrackers?"

Shi Yan's nest blinked in Xia Yue's arms, as if he was awake but still reluctant to get up.

Seeing how cute he looked, Xia Yue kissed his forehead.

The sound was not close, intermittent, Xia Yue thought it should be the servants burning bamboo knots in the outer courtyard.

Burning the bamboo festival should be the opening of the house. Thinking of going to the wine storehouse to sacrifice to the God of Dionysus today, Xia Yue didn't dare to neglect, and felt a little excited, so he quickly got up from the bed.

Seeing that Xia Yue was getting up, Shi Yan was embarrassed to continue to hang around, and got up to help Xia Yue get dressed, the two of them washed up, ate some snacks, and gave out red envelopes to the servants who came in to serve.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Xia Yue took Shi Yan to pay New Year's greetings to the elders, and then left Shi Yan with several red envelopes in her arms, and followed Master Yun to the wine store.

The wine cellar is actually just behind Yun’s house. It occupies a large area and is surrounded by a large courtyard. The layout looks like a quadrangle. The north house is a tall two-story building. There is a wine cellar there. chimney.Wine-making apprentices are cleaning wooden barrels of various sizes in the yard, and white smoke is constantly coming out of the chimney, and there are bursts of aroma in the air.

Master Yun led Xia Yue into Tibet, where the brewers were already waiting.The leader was a middle-aged man, who looked older than Master Yun, not tall, but with a determined face, there was a sense of coercion that could not be ignored.

"This is Master Du of our Yun family wine cellar," Master Yun introduced to Xia Yue, "His wine-making skills are among the best in Luo Yue."

Xia Yue hurriedly saluted and said hello.Master Du is the soul of the brewery. In modern terms, he is the chief winemaker. Master Du is in charge of the brewing process and all affairs.Du Shi's technology directly determines the taste and depth of the brewed wine.After drinking several kinds of wine from Yun's family, Xia Yue really wanted to pay a visit to this skilled Master Du. Now that he saw him, he was naturally respectful.

Master Du smiled, "My master is too well-reputed. I dare not say that he is number one or number two, but it's okay to be number three."

Everyone laughed when they heard this, and Xia Yue liked such arrogance even more.

"The last time I saw the young master, the young master was still young, and I was still a Koji master. So many years have passed in a blink of an eye." Du Shi squinted at Xia Yue, with some emotion in his tone, "But I don't know if the young master is here today. There is no red envelope prepared."

Master Yun laughed out loud when he heard the words, "Master Du, you don't have to give him a red envelope, you will need him to give you a red envelope in the future."

Master Du was stunned, and looked at Master Yun in disbelief.

"Sir, what do you mean..."

Master Yun patted his son on the shoulder proudly, "I didn't just take him to see him today, but he will come here often in the future."

"The young master is coming to inherit the wine storage?" Not only Master Du, but also other wine brewers looked at Xia Yue in surprise.

Xia Yue felt the expectations of many people gathered on him, and when he thought of Yun Xiayue who didn't even take a step into the wine store, his mood was a bit complicated. As the only son of the Yun family, how many people's expectations did he live up to?

"Yes," Xia Yue bent down slightly, and looked into Master Du's eyes sincerely, "I was ignorant before, and I will study hard in the future. I hope Master Du can give me more guidance."

Master Du was very excited, he held Xia Yue's hand and kept saying yes, and the faces of the other people behind him also had expressions of joy.The problem of the heir is not only the worry of Master Yun, but also the worry of everyone in the wine store. The young master has a very good character and education, but he refuses to inherit the wine store, which makes Master Du and the others very sad and regretful.

So in an atmosphere where everyone was full of joy, Master Yun took Xia Yue and everyone in the wine store up the stairs step by step.

The place for offering sacrifices to the Dionysus is in the attic. The attic is neither spacious nor high. Xia Yue's height is barely enough to stand upright, and he needs to bow his head when he encounters a slightly lower beam.The altar is located deep in the attic, and there is a very special atmosphere around it. The people who were talking in low voices with smiles on their faces, became quiet as soon as they stepped into the attic, and everyone looked solemn.

The more winemakers love wine, the more they fear Dionysus, and no one dares to disrespect Dionysus.The brewery sacrifices to the god of wine twice a year. One time is before the start of cold brewing, after the wine storehouse is cleaned up, all people are required to worship the god of wine together, and the other time is on the first day of the first lunar month.

The so-called cold brewing refers to wine making.The brewing season starts from the autumnal equinox to the spring equinox. Most sake breweries choose to brew wine in the coldest winter season of the year, so it is called cold brewing.

Candles were already burning on the altar, and the offerings were arranged. Master Yun stepped forward with incense sticks in both hands, followed by Master Du, Xia Yue and the others stood behind Master Du, knelt on the ground together, closed their eyes and prayed silently.

Master Yun prayed in his heart that the new year would be smooth and rainy, that the brewing would go smoothly, and he asked the God of Dionysus to bless the brewing so that there would be no rotten brewing.Wine making is not a complete handicraft, and it also depends on the weather. The impact of climate on wine making is not small. After all, wine making requires a long period of low temperature, suitable humidity and temperature, and relatively clean air. Warm winters are what winemakers do not want to see .

After the silent prayer, Master Yun stepped forward to offer incense, and then made a toast.There is only one incense offering, and everyone must participate in the toast. There is a wine urn in front of the altar, and everyone goes up one by one, pours a glass of wine, and then pours it into the urn respectfully.

The whole process of offering sacrifices to the Dionysus was very quiet, there was no unnecessary noise, and everyone was solemn and serious.

After everyone finished toasting the wine, Master Du sealed the wine urn. The wine in this urn should be left in front of the wine storage door after all the wine making work is finished, to show that the wine making of this year has been successfully completed, and thank the God of Dionysus for his protection. .

After offering sacrifices to the God of Dionysus, the brewers in Tibet returned to their posts and continued to work, while Master Yun took Xia Yue to visit the wine storage.

The brewers in the brewery are also called Tibetans.In the wine store, Mr. Du is the highest person in charge, followed by the chief who assists Mr. Du, and then the koji master who is in charge of making koji. These three are the core of the wine store.In addition to making koji, brewing also needs to make koji, which is the wine mother. The Tibetans who specialize in making koji are called jishi. In addition, there are kettle houses in charge of steaming rice, and the bow of the boat that goes into the trough.The rest are apprentices.

The apprentices have to clean the wine storage every day and scrub all kinds of wine making tools. Xia Yue recognizes that the one-foot-high wooden barrel is used to transport water and mash, and the shallow flat big round basin is used for washing rice, heating, and making wine. There is also a rectangular koji lid, a stick for stirring the mash, and a wooden shovel for turning and steaming rice. These tools that I have only seen in pictures all appear in front of my eyes, and Xia Yue is fascinated by them.

Master Yun saw that Xia Yue was just staring at Xia Yue in the yard with interest and refused to move, and finally believed that his son had become interested in wine making. At first, he was a little worried that it was just a temporary enthusiasm, but now he was completely relieved.

But he couldn't be allowed to stand in the yard all the time and watch the apprentices wash their tools, so Master Yun told him to follow and walk into the brewery.

"This is steaming rice. You said that you read the wine book, so you should know how important steaming rice is," Master Yun said, pointing to the huge steaming wooden barrel. The quality of wine directly determines the quality of wine."

There was a Tibetan washing rice next to him. Xia Yue squatted over to watch. After getting permission, he reached out and grabbed a small handful of rice and put it in front of his eyes for a closer look.

The rice grains are plump and look very fair. Xia Yue knows that this is ground rice.

"Is this [-]% polished rice?" Xia Yue asked the Tibetan who was in charge of washing rice.

The Tibetan replied with a smile: "Yes, young master can see it?"

Xia Yue nodded, picked up a piece of rice, and looked up at the light.

Rice is the life of sake. Unlike ordinary edible rice, the grains of sake rice are large. This is because the center of the rice has a white and opaque part called xinbai.Xinbai is rich in starch, and the starch will be saccharified by koji, and then fermented with yeast to ferment the alcohol. Therefore, whether a good wine can be brewed has a lot to do with the degree of grinding of the brewing rice.

The unmilled wine rice is called coarse rice, and the milled rice is called polished rice. The purpose of grinding is to remove the surface layer of coarse rice, leaving only the heart white part as much as possible, because the protein and fat contained in the surface layer of coarse rice will lead to the generation of miscellaneous odors.[-]% polished rice means that [-]% of the surface layer has been milled and [-]% of the rice remains.Of course, the lower the rice polishing ratio, the better the sake will be.In modern times, the rice can be milled to [-]%, [-]%, or even [-]% by a rice mill, which can be used to brew high-quality wine.

Luo Yue didn't have a rice mill, and Xia Yue was surprised that he could grind [-]% of the polished rice. He was very curious about Luo Yue's rice milling techniques and methods, but he could only see it after harvesting the wine rice this year.

Xia Yue put the rice in his hand back into the water, got up to watch the steamed rice.

A few Tibetans stood on a high place, turning over the steamed rice with wooden shovels, their figures hidden in the dense steam, their movements were clean and neat, there was no redundant dialogue, they just kept repeating the same work, as if they were performing a ritual quietly.

Surrounded by the tangy aroma and heat of steamed rice, Xia Yue wanted to go up and try it, but he looked down at the loose robe he was wearing today, because he wanted to sacrifice to the god of wine, he specially dressed formally, but it was not suitable for work.Moreover, if you suddenly say that you want to try, it will probably cause trouble for everyone.Xia Yue silently endured the impulse, thinking that there would always be a chance in the future.

Xia Yue followed Master Yun to another room. This is a drying field. There are dozens of wide wooden boards on the floor, covered with thick white cloth, and the steamed rice is poured on it, and the brewers keep kneading and turning the steamed rice , Let the rice cool and dry as soon as possible.

At this time Master Du also came in. Some Tibetans saw Master Du coming, so they grabbed a ball of steamed rice, clapped it back and forth, pressed it into a cake on a wooden board, and handed it to Master Du.

"Father, this is today's biscuits."

Master Du is the boss of the wine store. People who are generally called Master Du are not young. Tibetans in Tibet will respectfully call him Daddy, and the younger Master Du will be called the boss.Few people in Tibet can call Master Du's name, even the owner of Tibet calls Master Du.

Master Du made twisted cakes and kneaded them carefully.Making twisted mochi is an important ritual in the morning of the brewery. Not only is it delicious, but it can also be used to confirm the quality of the steamed rice of the day.

"Master, give it a try." Master Du smiled and handed the twisted cake to Xia Yue. "A qualified twisted cake should be very elastic. It can be stretched well when kneaded. When you bite down, the outer layer of rice is hard. Yes, the inside is soft, and only this kind of steamed rice can make good koji.”

Xia Yue took the biscuit, but didn't dare to bite it directly, he knew that the biscuit he made every day was to be dedicated to the God of Dionysus.The twist cake is very hot, the kneading feels good, and the stretching is smooth. Xia Yue pinches a small piece and puts it in his mouth. The steamed rice is very sweet and tastes good after chewing.

"As Master Du said, the rice is hard on the outside and soft on the inside, and the quality of the steamed rice is very good." Xia Yue took note of the texture and taste, and returned the twisted cake to Master Du.

Seeing that he was seriously studying, Master Du couldn't help but look at Master Yun with a satisfied smile.

After the steamed rice has cooled off, wrap it in a white cloth and move it to the koji room, spread it on the koji making table, scatter the koji bacteria on the steamed rice, and then the brewers start to knead the koji bacteria by hand, so that the koji bacteria cover all the steamed rice, and knead the koji rice After uniformity, wrap the white cloth again and tie it up, and leave it for a whole day and night.

During this period of time, the koji bacteria will quietly start to reproduce, and when the rice is opened again, white spots will appear on the rice grains. This phenomenon is called broken sperm, which is the proof that the koji bacteria have invaded the rice grains.

When Master Yun brought Xia Yue to the koji room, what he saw was that the Tibetans kneaded the broken rice and moved it gradually into the rectangular koji cover. This process is called Shengko.

The koji room was very hot. Xia Yue knew that koji making had to maintain an average room temperature of [-] degrees, but even though he was mentally prepared to walk in, he was still caught off guard by the oncoming heat wave.

But he didn't dare to make a sound, didn't dare to say a hot word, everyone in the koji room looked dignified, and they were doing their work very seriously.

Xia Yue just approached the koji rice, lowered his head and sniffed it, remembering the soft and sweet fragrance, and didn't dare to reach out to touch it, so he followed his father out of the koko room.

Originally, Master Yun planned to take Xia Yue to see the brewery, but when he left the koji room, a Tibetan came and said that Xia Yue's young man came to find him, because the wine storehouse was not allowed to enter casually, and he was waiting at the door.

Xia Yue went out to ask and found out that Steward Fang and shopkeeper Cheng had come to pay New Year's greetings.

Master Yun also knew that those two people came to pay New Year's greetings, so he probably wanted to talk about Xi Jiuzui by the way, so he asked Xia Yue to go back first, and there will be plenty of opportunities after visiting the wine store.

Xia Yue bid farewell to Master Du, promised to come often in the future, and then rushed back to Yunzhai with his servant.