Chapter 641: Terrorists of the Age of Gods
As night fell, it was approaching closing time.
Just as Lorne was about to get up and say goodbye, he saw the female boss Siduri bringing in two large glasses of beer.
The color of the wine is more attractive and golden than before, and the bubbles are denser.
Siduri bent down slightly and sat down opposite him, with a faint smile on her face:
"This is a new drink I just brewed. I added the new ingredients you gave me. I don't know how it tastes yet. If you're not in a hurry to leave, why don't you try it together?"
“It’s my honor.”
Lorne nodded happily and raised his glass to indicate.
Siduri clinked her glasses together and took an eager sip.
The golden liquid rushes into the throat with a slightly bitter base. But then, the rich caramel and nut aroma spreads on the tip of the tongue, forming a sharp contrast. This aroma comes from the high starch content in barley, which is converted into maltose during the brewing process, resulting in an unforgettable full taste and unique aroma.
If you taste it more carefully, you will find that the wine seems to contain the aroma of wooden barrels, fruits, flowers, and whole wheat bread, and the taste is very layered.
marvelous!
Siduri's eyes lit up and she was full of praise for the new product.
However, the comments from the other side revealed some regrets:
"It feels a little bit off..."
"You're still short of that?" Siduri was stunned. "This is ten times, no, thirty times better than the best-selling beer in the store right now!"
Lorne didn't explain, but just asked, "Is there any ice in the store?"
Siduri nodded and immediately condensed the water into ice.
Loen took out a piece and put it in the wine glass.
As the ice melted and the temperature of the beer dropped, he picked up the cup and took a sip again. His frown suddenly relaxed.
“This time it tastes right!”
Siduri couldn't hold back her curiosity, so she followed suit and drank it with ice, which immediately gave her an even more amazing taste experience.
The original hidden bitterness of the beer has been greatly weakened, the freshness has been greatly improved, the aroma has become richer, and the bubbles have become more stable.
After drinking the whole cup, Siduri felt a coolness that penetrated her heart and spleen. All the pores on her body opened up, drawing in wind from all directions, washing her body inside and out, washing away the fatigue and sleepiness accumulated from a day's work.
After thinking about it for a while, Siduri couldn't help but ask:
"How did you do that?"
"Just like different foods taste different when eaten at different temperatures, the same is true for alcohol. I have done some experiments and found that beer is best drunk at a temperature close to freezing."
"Now that you mention it, I remember it. Beer that has been stored or soaked in cold water does seem to taste fresher and more delicious than beer that has been left out."
"That's the truth."
Lorne smiled and nodded.
As a fermented beverage, beer contains a variety of complex substances, such as sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and aromatic compounds. At low temperatures, the volatilization rate of these compounds will slow down, making the taste of beer purer and more refreshing. Secondly, chilling helps maintain the stability of beer bubbles. Bubbles are the key to the rich taste of beer, and low temperatures can slow down the loss of bubbles, ensuring that the beer can still maintain rich foam and layering when drinking. Of course, chilling beer also needs to be moderate. Too low a temperature will inhibit the release of beer aroma, and chilling for too long may cause excessive loss of bubbles. Therefore, the most suitable drinking temperature is usually a low temperature between 4°C and 8°C. And avoid excessive shaking when drinking to maintain its best taste and aroma.
Therefore, there is a certain scientific basis for the fact that beer tastes better after being chilled.
And all this knowledge was once his compulsory courses.
After all, as the god of wine, he must not only know how to make wine, but also how to taste wine.
At this moment, the female wine goddess of the Babylonian Age of Gods opposite was also impressed by this erudition and couldn't help but sigh:
"I didn't expect that after running the pub for so many years, I'm not as familiar with wine as you are. I'm really ashamed."
"You make wine, I drink wine, we just specialize in different fields."
“Don’t be modest. You are not bad even in the field of brewing. After all, this new product can be brewed thanks to your discovery.”
As Sidulli spoke, she took out a green plant with oval leaves, petioles densely covered with hairs and barbed thorns, and spike-shaped inflorescences.
——Hop.
Lorne gave Siduri a gift to improve the taste of ale, under the pretense of an accidental discovery while shepherding sheep.
In fact, the beer of the Babylonian era was the forerunner of beer.
According to records, the ancient Babylonians were the first to transport beer to other regions, and the cellar beer they produced was very popular among the ancient Egyptians. Later, the ancient Egyptians pushed the ancient beer to its peak, planted crops that could be used to brew beer, and based on the research results of the ancient Babylonians, mastered the technology of placing water in the open air to make grains germinate.
But unfortunately, there was no hops plant in the Mesopotamian region when beer was first created, and the technology to use hops for fermentation was not mastered.
The true origin of this craft is in Europe.
According to his personal experience, the essence of ale is still beer. Hops need to be added during the brewing process to maintain the balance of sugar and produce a complex flavor.
When more hops and grain barley are added to ale, not only can a higher alcohol content be achieved, but also the balance of sugar and the complexity of flavor can be ensured. At the same time, hops can give ale a unique bitterness and aroma, and also have the functions of preserving and clarifying wort.
In order to quickly establish a good relationship with the beer lady of the Babylonian Age of Gods and to get the news about Ishtar from her, Lorne played to her needs and not only gave her the hops he cultivated in the God's Domain, but also pretended to accidentally reveal the brewing method he had developed.
And Siduri did not disappoint him. Through repeated attempts, she soon transformed the original Babylonian beer into modern European beer.
The relationship between the two sides has become increasingly intimate with each other's exchanges, and has now risen to the level of friends.
However, before he could formally speak to Siduri, his brother, the sun god Utu, had already revealed the whereabouts of his sister Ishtar and was ready to act as a matchmaker for him and Ishtar.
After drinking the beer with ice in the cup, Siduri hesitated for a moment and slowly spoke to Lorne opposite her:
"You shouldn't have agreed to this."
"What?"
"I agreed to go to Mount Ebifu and marry Inanna. From what I have heard, she is not an easy person to get along with."
"But didn't Shamash (the sun god Utu) say that his sister has a good personality?"
“I would say the same thing if I encountered some wines that were not selling well.”
“…”
Seeing that Lorne still didn't believe it, Siduri had to make it clear:
"I know you are not a mortal, but a descendant of a god, or a deity."
As a goddess with wisdom and authority, and a tavern owner who has entertained all kinds of guests, she is better at judging people than Wutu.
How could he be an ordinary shepherd when he could graze leisurely near Mount Mashu and had unique insights and knowledge in the fields of justice, administration, winemaking, and plants?
After his identity was exposed, Luo En did not deny it, and a shy but reserved smile appeared on his face:
"As you can see, I am a shepherd god who wandered here and I am not worthy of being on the stage."
The shepherd god Dumuzi, this was the second identity he made up for himself.
The Mesopotamian region was dominated by agricultural civilization, and gods related to animal husbandry and the like were not well-received and were often not well-known.
Coupled with the environment where humans and gods coexist and the ages of gods intersect, it is difficult to verify the truth.
Of course, in a sense, he is indeed a shepherd god.
However, the sheep he shepherds are called——[human beings].
This incident is also recorded in the latest Bible compiled in Rome.
Siduri didn't think much about it, but gave sincere advice:
"Even if you are a god, that woman is not someone you can mess with. Take my advice, it's best to stay away from her."
"Why? I heard from Lord Shamash that you have a very good relationship with them, right?" Loen asked knowingly.
"His name was Utu, the Babylonian sun god, and his sister was Ishtar, the goddess of Venus and the sky."
Siduri pierced through the two people's vests and added faintly,
"Although Ishtar and I have a good relationship, I have to admit that she is a real troublemaker. Even if you can marry Ishtar with Utu's recommendation and guarantee, I'm afraid you won't have a good life after marriage. The wisest choice is not to go to Mount Ebifu."
Hearing Siduri's repeated persuasion, Loen felt quite sad.
On the one hand, in order to prevent him from falling into the fire pit, she exposed her best friend Ishtar's past, which was enough to prove that the lady of ale valued him very much and regarded him as a friend sincerely;
On the other hand, Siduri is a goddess of wisdom after all, and she is conservative and calm in character, and doesn't like to talk about other people behind their backs. The fact that Ishtar can make Siduri make an exception is enough to prove how outrageous this goddess of heaven is.
Luo En couldn't help but be curious and asked:
"What did Ishtar do that made you evaluate her like that?"
"Nothing much. They just released the Bull of Heaven, causing a seven-year drought in Uruk. They got Enki, the god of the earth, drunk and stole Maana, the ship of heaven. They sneaked into the temple of Apsu in Eridu and stole a large amount of [divinity] from the remains of the god. Afterwards, in order to get rid of the monsters sent by Enki, they blew up the river bank and almost caused a flood in the Mesopotamian region..."
Siduri enumerated the glorious deeds that Ishtar had done one by one.
Finally, she looked up at Lorne with a look of pity:
"Do you know why Utu asked me to lead you to Mount Ebifu instead of having Ishtar come and meet you?"
Lorne shook his head.
"Because Ishtar was imprisoned there as a punishment, she couldn't get out..."
"Why?"
"When Tianzhou Maanna first got it, she used Mount Ebifu as a target to test its power, and she accidentally killed the mountain spirit inside..."
When Sidulli said this, she couldn't hold herself back.
In the Babylonian Age of the Gods, Mount Ebif has a long and undulating terrain with a majestic outline. Its main body is the highest sacred peak in the entire Mesopotamian region and has a special significance of connecting heaven and earth.
Its existence is even older than some gods.
Therefore, even Anu, one of the three pillars, maintained a certain respect for it.
Richness, grace, beauty, and majesty have all been its synonyms.
However, the charm that once shrouded Mount Ebifu has long since disappeared, and nearly half of the mountain range has even experienced varying degrees of collapse and collapse.
Desolation and barrenness have become the background color of Mount Ebifu at this moment.
The reason for this was, of course, a certain lawless goddess who, dissatisfied with her father Anu's worship of a dead object, brought all her weapons and came to Mount Ebifu to practice.
In the end, this pampered goddess who made her way to this sacred peak won the final victory.
She stood on the top of the mountain, pulled the divine bow transformed by Tianzhou Maana to its full length, and shot the arrow condensed by divine power into the heart of the mountain, wiping out this ancient existence.
Eventually, without the support of the mountain spirit, the environment of Mount Aibifu deteriorated, the ground energy changed abnormally, and a large number of magical beasts bred.
As the pillar of heaven and earth, the collapse of Mount Ebifu also caused the gates of the underworld to open, and the deathly air leaked out. Many evil spirits escaped to the world through the cracks in Mount Ebifu.
Seeing that she had accidentally caused a big disaster again, Ishtar used her usual tricks and cried to the gods including Anu, the god of sky, Enki, the god of earth, and Sin, the god of moon.
However, because of her previous reckless behavior, Ishtar had already brought disaster to all the Babylonian gods.
How could the gods dare to continue to indulge this living ancestor to continue to act recklessly, so they unanimously decided to move Ishtar's temple to Mount Ebifu to suppress the out-of-control earth veins.
Moreover, she was confined to Mount Aibifu and was responsible for clearing out the monsters that were breeding in the mountain and the evil spirits that escaped from the underworld.
Only when the disaster subsides will the temple's ban be lifted and she will be allowed to leave Mount Ebifu.
This is also the reason why Loen came to the Tavern of the Gods and waited there for so long but failed to meet Ishtar.
After hearing the whole story, Loen was shocked.
He is worthy of being the prototype of Lucifer. To say that he is capable of doing things is simply a compliment.
But, after being harmed so much, how could the Babylonian gods still bear it and not skin Ishtar alive?
In response to Lorne's question, Siduri's answer was somewhat vague:
"Ishtar's status is quite special. Her father, the moon god Sin, and her brother Utu are also very prestigious. The gods are reluctant to criticize her too harshly out of consideration for their feelings."
That's not right.
In terms of status, which of the sky god Anu and the earth god Enki is not more noble than the moon god Sin and the sun god Utu?
They were harmed by Ishtar but remained silent. The problem must not be as simple as it seemed.
It was not out of consideration, but for some reason he did not dare to act easily against Ishtar.
Loen thought for a moment and had a vague guess.
Could it be that after Ishtar's death, her soul and divinity would flow into the underworld, causing the two seeds to merge and lead to the resurrection of Apsu, or Tiamat?
That's probably the case.
It seems that these two are indeed the people he is looking for.
"So, I said all this because I don't want you to jump into this fire pit. After all, the gods showed mercy to Ishtar because of her special status, but they have no friendship with you. If the two of you get married, you are likely to be implicated by her actions."
Siduri spoke seriously and dissuaded him again.
But finding Ishtar was the purpose of Lorne's trip, and he had to go to Mount Ebifu, so he had to decline Siduri's kindness:
"But I promised that master that I must finish what I started..."
"Well, I'll go with you tomorrow and see if there are any measures to save the situation."
Siduri made the final arrangements and invited Lorne to stay.
(End of this chapter)
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