Brewing Alcohol in Another World for Living

A Traveling Merchant Appears

Translated by Omkar
Edited by Omkar

A month has already flown by since I came to this world. What I have been doing for the past month is exploring the surrounding area and brewing alcohol. When I explored the area, the first thing I thought was that the forests were rich and lush. I was especially relieved to find that the water was fresh, sweet, and very tasty.

Water is so vital to whiskey, or rather to alcohol brewing, that the water used for whiskey is purposely called “Brewing Water”. Yeast, which plays an important role in whiskey making, uses the minerals contained in the water as nutrients to promote the fermentation of the wort. Moreover, these yeasts play a major role in the flavor of the whiskey.

In other words, if the yeast does not like water, the flavor of the whiskey will be lost and the palate will be spoiled. The water that flows here is soft water, and soft water is widely used in Japanese and Scotch whiskies.

Where there is great water, there is great alcohol.

I used a lot of this water to make pure vodka as well as whiskey, and I used up all of the stockpile the goddess had prepared for me for brewing. Barley, peat, yeast, and sugar. Barley, sugar, and peat could be bought in town. The problem was the yeast. How on earth am I going to prepare it……

If I went to town and the cultural level of the town was still only ale and grape wine, the distillery yeast, aka distiller’s yeast, that I used would not exist. That’s because this yeast was developed in the 1950s just to make whiskey.

Whiskey tastes different with different yeasts. Well, if you don’t have it, you can substitute Brewer’s yeast, commonly known as beer yeast, and try your best to make whiskey. As a matter of fact, until the advent of distillers’ yeast, both whiskey and beer were made with beer yeast.

In other words, the immediate task is to get down to the human village as quickly as possible, sell alcohol, and use the revenue from the sales to buy all the necessary items for brewing.

All right, I’ve survived in another world for a month without incident. And it’s been a moderately fulfilling experience, too. This is all thanks to the goddess.

I was standing in front of the stone statue of Chronois-sama, which was set up in the underground brewery. I was there to fulfill my contract with the goddess. I offered a bottle of pure vodka before the statue. The reason why it is not whiskey is because the whiskey has not yet been aged long enough. Therefore, I don’t even want to sell it, so I intend to sell the vodka as a substitute until the whiskey matures.

The vodka is made from barley, the wort is distilled many times in a single distiller, and the spirits are filtered through activated charcoal.

＝＝＝＝[Pure Vodka]＝＝＝＝

Pure vodka is a clear, colorless product with no taste or aroma other than alcohol. It is popular among drinkers to drink it straight or over the counter, as it allows them to enjoy the original flavor of the vodka.

On the other hand, because it does not spoil the flavors of other ingredients, it is often used as a base for cocktails and is widely popular. Pure vodka is recommended for those who want to experience the mellow and gentle flavor of vodka.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

The activated charcoal was made from charcoal made by cutting down oaks around the house. Anyone can make activated charcoal as long as they have charcoal. For example, I used lemons to make activated charcoal. I squeezed a lot of lemons that the goddess had prepared in advance, and soaked the powdered charcoal in the lemon juice overnight. The next day, I drain off the water from the charcoal, and when the charcoal is still damp, I put it over a fire and wait for about three hours.

The next day, the charcoal is drained, allowing the barley’s unique smell and taste to be absorbed by the activated charcoal, resulting in a pure vodka without any unpleasant taste.

The vodka made in this way is then distributed to the guests, who express their gratitude to God with two cheers and a single bow of the hand.

“Thank you very much, Goddess. I will continue to make delicious alcohol, so please take care of me.”

As I bowed deeply, I heard a voice directly in my head.

“I’m watching over you.”

I looked at the stone statue in surprise and saw that the vodka bottle I had offered was enveloped in a faint light and vanished without a trace. The faint light seemed to ascend to the heavens.

“Un…… are offerings really something that just disappears?”

At first I was surprised at the extraordinary phenomenon that happened right in front of me, but as I cooled down, I remembered that everything in this life now was impossible.

“Haha, I’ll have a drink today as well.”

I realized that I have not had a sip of alcohol since I came to this world, except to taste it. So, I decided to get off my ass and have a shot of vodka or something.

I can’t wait to go to town, but with this continuous rain, I can’t even go outside. It’s just the right weather for a drink, you know. But I’m a little nervous. I’m the guy who went crazy and died after a teaspoon of 60 degree vodka …… gulped down.

Despite my apprehension, the desire to drink easily won out in front of the crystal clear vodka in front of me. With determination, I picked up the vodka-filled liquor bottle.

And when I pulled the cork, its nice sound echoed in the rimming, and I poured it into a shot glass. Even then, the sound of the air as the vodka was poured from the freshly opened bottle was pleasant to the ears.

“Oh, yeah!”

I couldn’t help but let out a few excited katakana English words.

A full course meal includes appetizers and soups that raise the customer’s expectations and stimulate his or her appetite for the main course. The same is true for alcohol, which raises customers’ appetites with its sound. Is this just me ?

The sound of glass clinking as you buy your favorite whiskey and prepare the glass, the sound of the cork being pulled from a brand new bottle of liquor and the liquor being poured into the glass, and sometimes the sound of the ice cracking from the difference in temperature, all tell you that the liquor is about to be drunk.

“In other words, it’s the signal for a feast. The end of work, the time of paradise.”

Well, in the end I didn’t even finish a shot in my last life, and I felt so pathetic and uncompromising that I had to use a funnel to pour the undrinkable liquor back into the bottle……. but that’s all over today.

I wanted to do something when I got sober.

It is a scene that often appears in movies where a stern old man takes a sip of a strong drink and slams the shot glass down hard on the desk.

I poured a shot glass full of the stuff and held it up.

“Come on, let’s lose my shot virginity, shall I ? Cheers !”

I slurped down the vodka, which must have contained about 70 ml, with my exuberant energy. The liquid was once put down in my mouth. Ah, so this is alcohol and shots. I could feel the high concentration of alcohol taking over my taste buds, my sense of smell, my sense of everything.

But why don’t I hate it ? In my previous life, my body would have rejected it at this point and I would have thrown up and fallen asleep. But now, I even feel comfortable.

And this vodka, which has been thoroughly filtered through activated charcoal, has none of the characteristic harshness of barley. It was refreshing on the palate, and I could feel the pure alcohol.

I swallowed it quickly and settled it in my stomach.

“Puhaーーーー ! ! ! !”

Then, with the same momentum, I slammed the empty shot glass down on the wooden table.

“Yummy ! ! ! I can’t believe that vodka, which was so bad just from the smell of alcohol, tastes so good now…… God, it’s amazing. My liver is amazing! What a lot of stuff already ! ! But I still think pure vodka is a bit bland. Maybe I should try making flavored vodka?”

Flavored vodka is vodka that has been flavored. I guess I need to look into the plants of this world. Sometimes it’s a real pleasure to add your own flavor to the drink, like, “What would you like, a flavor like Sakura-mochi would be nice…” and so on.

After that, I continued to drink as if I was savoring what I couldn’t drink in my previous life. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

I found myself waking up in the morning sun. It is a knock at the front door that tells me someone is coming.

The sound rang out four times, and then I heard a human voice. The tone of the voice was calm and clear.

“Anybody home ?”

Yeah, I’m not good at just getting up early. I used to work at night, so I’m still not used to being up early in the morning. It was irritating, as if a delivery service had ignored my time schedule and prevented me from getting a good night’s sleep.

“Hmm….? What is it ? People are sleeping comfortably. Is it morning already? U~u~u~u~……. it’s so refreshingly sunny.”

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I got up and stretched my body state toward the ceiling. Then I noticed five or six empty one-liter bottles lying on the desk in the living room.

And even a great number of shot glasses…… Ah, I gradually remembered about yesterday.

So I set up about a dozen shot glasses, poured vodka into all of them, drank one after the other, lit them all up and drank them, and indulged in every shot trick I could think of.

“No matter how much I try, I’m sure I’m too far off the mark. Phew, I’m a liver monster for not getting a hangover after all that drinking !”

In the short time that I had to reminisce and reflect on yesterday, the banging on the front door grew louder.

Right it was. Was someone coming ?

“I’m a merchant, thoughー!”

“Ah, yes, yes, yes. I’m coming.”

A merchant ? In this world, do merchants visit private homes ? What if they are bandits or something ?

At any rate, I picked up an iron fire shovel with which to play with the wood in the fireplace. It was better than nothing. I tucked it behind my back and headed for the front door.

I walked to the front door and called out to someone who might be standing there.

“Who are you ?”

I was alarmed and opened the door slightly to take a peek outside. Of course, I kept my weapon hidden behind my back.

“My name is Lynlandia, and I am a merchant. I am here to discuss business.”

I didn’t speak a word. The master of the calm voice stood like a tree, with long blond hair, green eyes, and long pointy ears. It was exactly like the long-lived elves that appear in many fantasy stories.

Omkar’s Notes: Need to rack up my brain due to a lot of alcohol researching.. should’ve expected when picking up T-T
You guys enjoy~

Footnotes:
桜餅 = Sakura-mochi (Cherry Blossom Sweet Rice Cakes)