After everything was done, Xu Han covered the small jar with a piece of gauze, and then covered it with a cotton quilt.
Although the temperature is still quite high now, it gets very cool at night. The temperature difference between day and night is quite large, so it won't ferment well without covering it with a quilt.
The temperature is high now, so it will ferment in about three or four days. The rice wine produced from the first fermentation is sweet and the alcohol concentration is not very high.
If you want the wine to be stronger, you can perform a second fermentation. The rice wine produced by the second fermentation will be spicier and stronger.
Fully fermented rice wine can be stored in a wine jar in a warehouse.
However, for many reasons, well-made rice wine can be preserved for a long time, and the longer it is preserved, the better it tastes.
If not stored properly, it will spoil in about a month.
However, Xu Han thought to herself that the rice wine probably wouldn't last that long; it would have been drunk up by the group long ago.
However, in modern times, rice wine is usually made and consumed immediately. Only those with good skills who brew rice wine regularly will make more and store it.
After Xu Han finished making all the rice wine, Lu Chuan and the others had already piled up all the corn stalks.
The group is now planning to start piling up soybean stalks.
"It's getting late, let's go back and rest first, we can finish the rest this afternoon."
“Okay, we only have soybean stalks left. We can get everything done in a little while by evening. As for the sweet potato vines, they haven’t been dried yet. We’ll pile them up after they’ve dried in a while.”
When the Taoist priest saw Xu Han approaching, his first question was, "Have you made the rice wine yet?"
Xu Han smiled helplessly, "It's just been made. It should be ready to drink in about three or four days."
"Oh, three days? I thought it would be ready to drink as soon as it was done."
"Three days is already very fast; making sweet potato wine takes even longer."
The Taoist priest chuckled and said, "Alright then, as long as there's something to drink."
Xu Han also laughed and said, "Let's go, I'll make you braised chicken and corn pancakes today."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chuan asked in confusion, "The cornmeal has been ground? I've never seen you grind any?"
As Xu Han walked back, she replied, "I didn't grind any. I haven't had time to grind any flour lately. This is what's left over from my space. Haven't I been wanting to eat braised chicken with cornmeal pancakes? I'll eat the cornmeal from my space today, and grind some more cornmeal to make it again when I have more free time."
Lu Chuan said in a simple-minded way, "They're all the same, and everything in the space is fresh. I really can't tell the difference."
The Taoist priest joked, "You're just like a pig, eating whatever's available without even tasting it. If you could taste the difference, pigs would be flying."
Upon hearing this, Grandpa Zhao quickly retorted, "It's not like you can taste the difference."
The Taoist priest glanced at Grandpa Zhao and thought to himself, "Well, this old man Zhao is indeed very refined when he eats. I can't compare to him, so I won't say anything more about him."
At noon, Xu Han made the braised chicken with corn pancakes that she had been talking about for a long time, just as promised.
The family enjoyed the meal immensely, and Xu Han even specially prepared cold drinks for everyone.
Since summer began, there has never been a shortage of ice in our house.
However, with Grandpa Zhao around, people weren't allowed to eat too much ice, and even ice cubes couldn't be used all the time.
According to Grandpa Zhao, people should follow the changes of the four seasons. If the temperature of the four seasons is disrupted, it is easy to get sick.
Xu Han agreed with Grandpa Zhao's statement. In her previous life, she spent all her time in air-conditioned rooms, which greatly weakened her immune system, making her prone to catching colds and getting sick, and leaving her feeling weak all over.
They can't stand anything too cold or too hot because their bodies have become accustomed to that temperature.
After lunch break, Xu Han took Lu Chuan for a walk in the mountains.
During this busy farming season, no one has been able to venture into the deep mountains, and they rarely even visit the areas near their homes.
As they walked, they chatted. "The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner. What are your plans for this year's festival?"
"It'll be the same as usual. I'll make some mooncakes these next couple of days so we can all have a meal together. It's busy farming season, so we don't have much time to celebrate properly."
Moreover, the festivals are the same every year, and in recent years we haven't been able to go to the county town to celebrate. Living deep in these mountains, it seems there's no other way to celebrate except by having a good meal.
"The county town and the prefectural town should hold lantern festivals this year. Let's go and take a look together."
"Well, let's just make do with this for the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's the same every year anyway, always the same few people, so there's nothing new about it."
"Okay, that's good enough. Everyone has been busy farming and building houses this year and hasn't had a chance to explore these deep mountains. Why did you suddenly decide to come here?"
"Aren't we going to make wine? We don't have much yeast left at home, so I'm going to find some materials to prepare for making yeast."
Lu Chuan looked at Xu Han with a serious expression and asked, "How do you make yeast? If you don't have yeast, can you not make sweet potato wine?"
Xu Han smiled and teased, "Congratulations on getting it right."
"We can't delay. Just tell me what you need. I've been to the mountains more often than you, so I know where to find it."
"You need smartweed to make the yeast. As for the other ingredients, we have them at home."
"I know where to find this. Come on, I'll take you there."
After Lu Chuan finished speaking, he took the lead and walked forward. Xu Han quickly followed.
After walking for nearly an hour, the two finally saw the large patch of smartweed that Lu Chuan had mentioned.
At this time, the smartweed is covered with small pink and purple flowers, and each spike is particularly beautiful.
Lu Chuan asked with disbelief, "This hot knotweed is really spicy, can it really be used to make yeast?"
Xu Han plucked a flower spike from a smartweed plant and casually said, "Of course it can. Without smartweed, it's impossible to cultivate fungi to make yeast. Smartweed is the most important ingredient."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chuan said, "If you hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have imagined that the yeast was made from Polygonum hydropiper. In my mind, the two seemed to have nothing to do with each other."
"Many things are just that amazing. This yeast can be used not only to make sweet potato wine and rice wine, but also other types of alcohol. Generally speaking, yeast is used whenever alcohol is made."
Hearing this, Lu Chuan was even happier. "Alright, how should we harvest this? Should we cut it directly or pull it out by the roots?"
Xu Han took out a sickle from her spatial storage and handed it to Lu Chuan, saying, "We only need the flower spikes on top, but these flower spikes are too small. Let's just use the sickle to cut off the top part and discard the roots and stems below."
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