Chapter 62: Distilled Liquor (3)
Unfortunately, although I remember a vague impression, I can't remember the details clearly.
Just remember that alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature than water.
The wine jar was heating, and Li Mengxi didn't know how efficient the heat transfer was in the clay wine jar, nor did he know when the alcohol would come out, so he could only wait.
In this way, Li Mengxi's arms were sore when he lifted the diversion tube. In order to prevent the long-busy wine distillation business from being ruined, he had to endure it and not move.
Li Mengxi didn't even know when his younger brother drank the decoction.
The younger brother drank the bitter medicine and did not cry or fuss. After drinking it, he asked to find his elder brother.
At this time, Liu Bei saw that Li Mengxi and Guan Yu were holding on to the bamboo tube and motionless for a long time, so he knew that they must be busy with something important and could not be disturbed.
But because I had already promised Xiao Zhuan, I would go to my brother after drinking the medicine.
Most adults never take their promises to children seriously.
Liu Bei, on the other hand, knew that once a promise was made, he could not break it easily, even if the target was a three-year-old child.
Liu Bei then came over with the little brick in his arms and leaned towards the fire. He couldn't hide his curiosity, "Hey, Xi'er, what are you doing?"
Liu Bei was curious about what Li Mengxi was tinkering with.
"Steam strong wine." Li Mengxi looked at Liu Bei, stretched out his hand to squeeze Liu Bei's arms, and his brother's little face returned, "Strong wine can heal wounds. This method can make the wounded soldiers in our army live five more years."
become."
"This is a method worth ten thousand gold."
What Li Mengxi said is that I remember learning from a high school biology textbook that an alcohol solution with a concentration of 75% has a good sterilization effect.
Li Mengxi didn’t even remember the principle.
Just remember that 75% alcohol has the best sterilization effect.
It is also mentioned in history textbooks that before distilled alcohol existed in ancient times, the alcohol content was very low, around 20 degrees at most, and good wine might have around 30 degrees.
Therefore, most ancient people drank alcohol like drinking water.
When modern people drink beer, two people, each with a skewer, can drink two beers.
Two pieces of beer are quite a lot when converted into a jar.
Li Mengxi said that steaming strong wine is worth ten thousand gold. Liu Bei did not doubt that Li Mengxi would tell lies, but he was very surprised.
Liu Bei never expected that Li Mengxi set up a fire and led a bamboo pole, which could heal the metal wound.
Li Mengxi had a lot of skills. Thinking that Li Mengxi claimed to have some medical skills, Liu Bei suddenly realized that this must be another magical skill that Li Mengxi had learned from that god-like teacher.
The ancients were superstitious, and superstition means that the logic is not very strict. If it is not very strict, there will be ambiguity. If there is ambiguity, it is easy to automatically find a reasonable explanation for the phenomenon that is not understood.
Liu Bei believed that there were immortal masters in the world who were knowledgeable about astronomy and geography and could do anything.
Liu Bei's excessive belief in superiors is not superstitious.
Therefore, although Liu Bei couldn't understand what Li Mengxi was doing, he thought of it as an outsider. Without Li Mengxi's in-depth explanation, Liu Bei had his own understanding, and Liu Bei actually believed what Li Mengxi said.
Suddenly, Li Mengxi moved his nose.
"Do you smell the aroma of wine?"
Li Mengxi asked Liu Bei and Guan Yu.
When Liu Bei and Guan Yu heard Li Mengxi's question, they also twitched their noses and sniffed.
When I smell it, I can indeed smell the refreshing aroma of wine.
Liu Bei and Guan Yu were surprised.
Li Mengxi knew in his heart that the condensation effect was not good, and the alcohol ran out before it was completely liquefied by the condensation.
Li Mengxi lowered his head to the empty wine jar and got closer to smell it. Sure enough, the smell of wine was strong in the empty wine jar.
Although Li Mengxi didn't know much about wine, he was able to judge at this time that a little wine condensed in the empty wine jar. This wine was definitely higher than the original water and wine.
In this way, when it was determined that the condensation effect of fragments of metal such as copper coins, armor pieces, metal arrows was not very good, but some high-strength liquor was successfully condensed, Li Mengxi was very motivated.
He silently counted another three hundred, that is, roughly estimating the time of five minutes. If the previous unestimated time is added, it is estimated that it has been seven or eight minutes since the wine in the wine jar was heated until it made a gurgling sound.
The alcohol should have almost evaporated.
So Li Mengxi removed the jar of wine and asked Guan Yu again for another jar of wine.
At this time, the younger brother fell asleep at some point.
Li Mengxi stood up, touched his brother's forehead, and found that his body temperature had dropped.
A false alarm.
Li Mengxi didn't know whether the acupuncture worked or whether he drank the medicine, which was too strong and cured the disease.
Moreover, why did my little brother suddenly have a fever? It's because he is already weak. In the past two days, there was a heavy rain and the temperature dropped sharply. Is it because he caught a cold or because he went to the prison camp and the people in the prison camp were treated indiscriminately. I guess he was infected at that time.
Got the flu or something.
Li Mengxi was even afraid that it was a plague or something. Otherwise, he had just met a little baby with a fever in the prisoner camp in the evening, and his younger brother also had a fever not long after?
Li Mengxi looked up and looked for the peasant woman holding the child, but found no one.
After asking Liu Bei, Liu Bei said that the baby drank the medicine and his condition improved slightly, and the peasant woman went back to sleep with the baby in her arms.
His younger brother fell asleep, and Li Mengxi was also extremely sleepy. As a child, Li Mengxi was not as energetic as an adult and could not endure the night.
However, although he was sleepy and began to yawn repeatedly, Li Mengxi did not want to just sleep. Alcohol distillation had finally made progress. If it did not achieve results, how could he sleep peacefully.
So, he put his little brother on the bed and covered him with a quilt to sleep first. Li Mengxi continued to lead Liu Bei and Guan Yu to steam wine.
Steamed three more jars of wine, adding up to four jars of wine.
However, the harvested wine was only about two-thirds of the empty jar. If the volume of things like armor pieces, copper coins, arrows, etc. in the empty wine jar were removed, the amount of spirit distilled out of the four jars was only half a jar.
For eight parts by volume, you get one part of liquor.
The wine that has been steamed for a long time, because the condensation is not enough, a lot of wine odor is diffused, and the wine has a strong aroma.
Liu Bei and Guan Yu both waited quietly until Li Mengxi said he would no longer steam wine. Although Liu Bei and Guan Yu were not as addicted to wine as Zhang Fei, they were big-blooded and passionate men, and some of them were not good at drinking.
Impatient, Liu Bei went to get a bowl to try the so-called alcohol. He could smell the aroma of the wine and what it would taste like when he drank it.
Li Mengxi met Liu Bei and Guan Yu, brought bowls, held the wine jar and poured out the strong wine in the jar. They were very detailed and knew that they had placed several bowls. Not only were they ready to drink it by themselves, but they also prepared some for Li Mengxi.
I also prepared bowls for several doctors in the tent, preparing to invite guests to drink too.
In the wine jar, Li Mengxi placed many things used for condensation, such as nails, arrows and so on.
Guan Yu first poured wine for Liu Bei. With a clang, an arrow was poured into the bowl along with the wine.
Guan Yu poured himself another bowl, and with a splash, two nail-piercing tablets were poured into the bowl.
Liu Bei and Guan Yu did not let the sundries affect their interest in drinking.
Liu Bei picked up the bowl and shook it gently, but he saw that the wine in the bowl was as clear as water. The cold light of the arrows in the bowl blended with the glimmer of the rippling wine.
Strong wine makes a man proud, so he drinks it with arrows and chews his armor. This is a happy thing! Come on, brother, do it!"
Chapter completed!