Chapter 265 Freshly Made Liquor (1/2)

Chapter 265: Freshly Made Liquor

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The way movies portrayed America’s love for authentic Chinese food was over exaggerated. When Li Du made some diced honey chicken, and sweet and sour ribs, they weren’t exactly authentic Chinese dishes.

He also made General Tso's chicken, which was a dish he discovered after coming to America. For some reason, Americans loved it, so he went and learned how to make it.

Hannah was grilling apples, and said, ”This time, I’m going to make a few varieties. Ice-cream grilled apples, olio grilled apples, and grilled apple smoothies. I think they’ll turn out pretty good.”

Li Du patted her on the shoulder and said, ”Of course—that’s the best dessert in Flagstaff.”

Stephen, who was grilling the meat, turned his head toward them and said, ”No, Li, that’s not the best dessert in Flagstaff. You should try the rainbow rolls that my grandma makes. I swear, you’ll fall in love…”

As he spoke, his voice became softer, as the look that Hannah was giving him was getting sterner.

Li Du laughed loudly, and patted Stephen on the shoulder too. ”Buddy, you’re blessed with a great a girlfriend.”

Stephen gave an awkward chuckle.

Outside, Hans and Godzilla started brewing the alcohol. A bonfire was lit, and the boiler was hung on top of it. It started pumping out hot steam.

”What did you guys use to make it?” Li Du asked.

”Cornstarch and pig’s feed,” Hans said.

Li Du glared at him. ”Huh? This better not be a joke!”

”Buddy, that’s where you need to learn more about this,” Hans said. ”Corn starch is one of the ingredients for making whiskey. Pig’s feed has the same effect because pigs mainly eat corn. Their feet are also much easier to get.”

”And, the ingredients don’t attract attention,” Godzilla added.

As making moonshine was illegal, at one point in time, people had to be careful when buying corn, because they might have been listed as trying to purchase ingredients for making it.

What they were doing now was considered illegal.

Still, if it were just for personal consumption and not for sale, the cops would leave them alone. This was the kind of thing that, as long as no one reported anything, the cops wouldn’t pursue.

Li Du sucked in a breath of air and said, ”You guys really bought pig’s feed to make the alcohol?”

Hans saw that Li had taken him seriously, and cracked up. ”For me, it's not so easy to get pig’s feed. Alright, I’ll tell you the truth. I used a mix of corn starch and malt.”

When Americans made their moonshine, they tended to soak the cornflour in the hot waters of the boiler. Sometimes, sugar was added, and they might even use sugar to replace some of the cereal. This would make the fermentation process quicker.

However, traditional moonshine makers would add in corn to convert the starch in the cornflour to sugar. Then, yeast would be added to begin the fermentation process.

The corn pulp that Hans was using was one the most common ingredients for fermenting alcohol. It was an after-product of converting corn into a sugary mix, followed by the addition of yeast.

The flames below the boiler were burning turbulently, but Hans was still unsatisfied with the heat. ”We’re not prepared enough. We should have used propane as fuel.”

”No need to be impatient—we have enough time to evaporate the alcohol.”

Ordinary brewing was simple. All that was needed was to put the mixture of ingredients into the boiler, and to let the alcohol evaporate.

Alcohol was a volatile substance. With the increase in temperature, the pressure in the boiler would increase, which would increase the volatility of the alcohol.

With that, the alcohol vapor was compressed through the columns, and the first few drops of alcohol formed.