Chapter 160: Baochaifang, one of the twelve lanes of Bianliang (the author teaches you how to brew beer)
After many setbacks, the Qingmiao Law was finally implemented. Grain and agricultural tools worth five million strings of cash were distributed on a voluntary basis in various areas north of the Yellow River.
As long as the common people who apply for loans have good character and have not been labeled as lazy, scoundrels or rogues by the local government, they can borrow at least one thousand wen of green seedling funds.
At the prices at that time, the people living in Bianliang City spent about 20 wen a day, which is equivalent to about 16 yuan in today's RMB. In fact, the value of the copper coins in the Song Dynasty was comparable to that of the Hong Kong dollar.
In contrast, the cost of living for farmers living in the villages is actually lower, around 8 wen. A thousand wen of green seedling money is barely enough for them to survive until the autumn harvest.
Fortunately, in spring and summer, the weather is warm and the vegetation is lush, so the possibility of people starving to death is not great.
Zhao Huan looked at the loan records compiled by the Ministry of Revenue and felt helpless. He prayed for good weather this year. If there was a drought or locust plague, the five million strings of cash would basically be wasted.
The Song Dynasty is full of disasters!
Daiyufang's business was booming, and it was no exaggeration to say that it made a fortune every day. Zhao Huan and others made a lot of money.
Under secret manipulation, the court quickly passed a memorial allowing private wealthy businessmen to lend money within the conditions set by the court, but the interest rate could not exceed 50% of the court's rate during the same period.
In this way, the first private bank with an official seal in the Song Dynasty that assumed the obligations of the court was established, specifically responsible for lending Qingmiao loans in areas not covered by the court.
The boss behind the scenes is Zhao Huan. Are you afraid? The emperor will personally take action, rob the rich to help the poor, fleece the rich, and then subsidize the poor people.
The bank's official boss was Wang Huai'en, the younger brother of Wang Huaiji, who was heroically executed in the Jin Kingdom's sneak attack on the Song Dynasty's Bianjing Palace. Zhao Huan had to work very hard to find him.
Wang Huai'en worked as a housekeeper in the mansion of the prefect of Jinling City. He managed everything in an orderly manner and was quite capable. After asking for his opinion, Zhao Huan appointed him as the person in charge of the bank.
Zhao Huan didn't have any particularly high requirements for this, as long as he didn't lose too much, and the purpose was not to make a profit.
Everything is moving in a good direction. The Dream of the Red Chamber as told by the storyteller is currently the most popular book in Bianliang City, and the character portraits and restaurant names derived from it are endless.
Of course, the most authentic and official one is the picture of the Twelve Beauties of Bianliang hanging in Daiyufang. Except for Daiyufang, the other elevenfangs only have names and a poem, but no portraits.
It whets people's appetite.
As the weather was getting hotter, the troops sent by Liu Guangshi to the Beijing area finally brought back some news that the plant called Hubu was found in the mountains.
Xiang Jun also brought back a sample, saying that the sample might be a little inappropriate, weighing about 100 kilograms.
At this point, the plan of pairing beer with barbecue can finally be implemented, which is another good opportunity to make money.
Hop, whose scientific name is Humulus lupulus, can be used to make beer, so it is also called hops.
Why isn’t it called beer fruit? I really can’t explain this.
Hops can increase the bitterness of beer to neutralize the sweetness of wort, making the beer taste less sweet.
Beer is fermented, and hops can inhibit the growth of various bacteria species, have antiseptic and antioxidant effects, and can extend the shelf life of beer.
Increase the aroma of beer, fruity aroma and tropical fruit aroma, making the taste of beer more colorful.
So, without Hob, there would be no beer. Although it looks similar, it can only be called sweet water.
Many people believe that hops originated in the United States. This is a prejudice. Hops can be found in Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and other places in China. They were used hundreds of years earlier than in the West, but beer was not invented there, which is quite a pity.
Zhao Huan called together his core class members and happily announced the development plan for his next star product - beer.
The first step in brewing beer is to get malt. Because it was a trial production, Zhao Huan did not make too much and asked someone to purchase 200 kilograms of last year's newly produced wheat from the market.
Everyone worked separately, spreading the wheat evenly in a large steamer, then covering it with a layer of transparent, breathable gauze, sprinkled a little source of life, and let the wheat germinate in an environment of about 18°C.
"This process is simply the conversion of starch catalyzed by amylase produced when the seeds germinate. The starch is broken down into smaller and simpler sugars. The one that needs special attention is maltose. Their growth needs to be stopped after four days."
While working, Zhao Huan never forgot to popularize knowledge and combine education with entertainment. He felt that he had been elevated as a person.
“Then it’s dried with hot air at around 55°C. This process is very important as it affects the colour and flavour of the malt.”
Zhao Huan briefly talked about the subsequent processing of malt, and then began to have people pick the fruits on the hops, which are the so-called hops.
Of the more than 100 kilograms of hops, the fruit accounts for about one tenth, which is about 10 kilograms. Zhao Huan really doesn't know the proportion of hops added to brew beer, but the amount should not be too much.
Some people specialize in recording the growth conditions of malt for future research and improvement. They are used to speaking with data.
So, four days later, everyone gathered together, and Zhao Huan looked at the densely packed malt sprouts about an inch long in a serious manner, took them out of the steamer, and placed them in the drying room to dry out the moisture.
After another three days, the moisture has been removed from the malt. At this time, the dry malt should be crushed with a stone mortar and soaked in 75℃ water for eight hours.
"This process is similar to the previous one, which is to convert starch into sugar, which is also called saccharification."
"Beer is also alcohol, and the process is very similar to brewing baijiu. At this point, it can be considered sweet water without hops, but with a much lower alcohol content."
"At this point, hops need to be added. Hops can give it a unique taste and convert sugar into alcohol. As for how much to add, it's hard to say. It requires further experiments."
Zhao Huan said, "I think we should conduct a comparative experiment. Everyone should record the data, and after the beer is brewed in a few days, we can use the results to determine which ratio is more appropriate. This is the simplest method."
We did it right away. Even after saccharification and two filtrations, the wort was still turbid, one portion per five pounds.
Hops are added to the wort in a sealed container for fermentation, starting with one ounce of hops per portion.
Fermentation would take about three more days. Zhao Huan looked at the not-so-transparent glass jar and thought, "We need to get the glass made right now, otherwise it will be difficult to observe the color changes during the experiment."
In this way, after three days, most of the sealed wine became clear and transparent, which looked very tempting, but three parts became mottled and looked like failures.
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