Chapter 44

Spontanity Beer.

Hawkin

Thrush and I celebrated his first sale over a few mugs of Ale from the Vale of Ara. The long bottle was now less than half filled and it never ceased to amaze me how fresh the beer continued to be. The perfect chill it maintained.

Every sip brought me halfway to summer fields where I searched for Dellia. Dew still clung to vivid honeysuckle petals. The sun was just a rising bruise upon a limitless sky. Every blink brought me back to my freezing cabin.

“He wants as much warm-spit beer as goblin spit beer,” Thrush said, flipping a silver coin over his paw.

“I can do that,” I said. “When it comes to doubling our production next month, I won’t be able to do that unless I magically reach silver rank in that time, or increase my brewing capacity.”

“I expect you’ll be quite busy,” Thrush said.

“Yea. Something I’m quite happy about. I never knew I’d love brewing so much. I’ll still make time for food and chopping wood of course.”

“Food,” Thrush said. “Yes, well I can fish and smoke fish.”

“That goes a long way, Thrush. Thank you.”

Talking about food had stirred up Thrush’s hunger. Since he was low on fish, he decided to go diving. I took the opportunity to start brewing as much as I could.

It was the coldest day of the year so far and the fire took some time to catch. Once it did, I put some pots of water to boil and started mashing. I could comfortably brew 10 barrels a day now. 5 goblin spit beers. 5 warm-spit beers.

I had just finished my last batch of the day by the time Thrush returned with silver speckled eyes and fish scales spreading over the tip of his nose. After a brief chat, Thrush fileted a massive tuna and put it to smoke. I helped him with the fire.

Now to figure out how to brew these spontanity beers and get those shards.

After having leveled a few times over the past few days and absorbing my 15 skill books, I was now a level 27 brewer. I acquired a lot of brewing knowledge with every level up and learned that some beers were left uncovered so that they could collect native wild yeast. I would try the same thing, even in winter.

Erik Skullander’s Spontanity Peat Ale was brewed this way. I consulted my collector’s journal which confirmed my new knowledge. Erik Skullander’s Ale was Coolship fermented using the natural yeast of the Northern Quartz Valley. I just didn’t know what a coolship was. Otherwise, I would leave a freshly brewed wort uncovered and hope for the best.

I resolved that I would brew 5 gallons at a time, pop off the head of a barrel, fill it, and then let nature take its course. I had finished brewing that batch by the evening. Instead of using my worst hops, I used one of the new green ones I’d received. Thrush had been eager to eat one to let me know what it was.

“Southern dessert hops from the floating canyon,” he said. “Are you starting your shard quest?”

“Yes. I’m brewing big batches at a time and hoping to bottle them. Five gallons would net me around 25 beers if I bottle them in 750ml bottles.”

“But you don’t have any bottles, do you?”

“That’s the problem.”

“Would this be a good size?” Thrush said and withdrew the Blue Bestie waterskin filled with warm-warm root tea from his inventory.

I empty the waterskin, and then used water to fill the 750ml bottle which contained the Heart of Time Ale. I poured from the bottle to the empty waterskin and learned that it was around 800ml.

“Same size?” Thrush said.

“Pretty much,” I said and returned the warm-warm root tea to the waterskin. “Ninety nine of these would be perfect. I haven’t received any gourds from quests of late. I don’t want to go use my summer squash just to turn them into gourds. I’d rather save them for their intended purpose. For food.”

“I’ll see if I can barter more of these waterskins from the Blue Besties,” Thrush said. “I’m sure Boggo would be willing to part with a few more.”

“It doesn’t have to be waterskins,” I said. “It just needs to be a container that can be sealed by cork, wax, or by other means.”

“Could you brew some more wheat ales? I shared one of your first brews with Boggo and he liked it. I’m sure if you added some warm-warm roots, he’d be more keen to barter waterskins for beer.”

“I can do that,” I said. “In fact, I’ll get started right after I chop some more wood.”

Though the freezing temperature was exhausting, a little bit of warm-warm root tea was all I needed to shrug the chill from my bones. Thus, chopping wood was a breeze. I didn’t have to work against stiffening and shivering muscles. Brewing was easier too, and after I’d brewed my final batch of beer for the day, I sat by the stove with the intention to relax. I instantly fell asleep.

When I woke, I discovered my bedding had made its way from my bed to my lap. A heap of smoked fish awaited me in a bowl and it was unbelievably cold. The cold was painful and had entered the marrow of my bones. A cold easily defeated with a few sips of warm-warm root tea. As I went about a new day of brewing, I heard Thrush and Boggo shooting dice and having a blast together in the cellar. Their camaraderie brought me joy and I brewed with a smile.

I brewed another 10 barrels, split evenly between goblin spit and warm-spit beers. I brewed another 10 the next day, and another 10 the day after that.

In that time, I reached level 42. Thrush had been able to barter for 20 waterskins, and my first spontanity beer had finally begun fermenting. I kept a cloth over the beer and then neglected it.

On the day before our first and largest delivery of 50 barrels, I sat with Thrush in the igloo where he tended to his smoker.

“I think tuna is one of my favorite fish,” the beast said as he put a claw through the tender flesh of the fish to gauge its temperature.

“I have to agree,” I said. “Especially with the level of smoke you’ve been able to give it. Even though your fish runs a little dry, it's still good.”

“It has been a little dry, hasn’t it?” Thrush said.

“You get a smokier fish in exchange.”

“But I want it to be both smoky and juicy.”

“That might be a trade off you have to balance.”

“No,” Thrush said. “I’ll find a way to get both.”

I admired his spirit and honestly hoped he could find a way to achieve his goal. He’d been doing well with his new merchant class lately and tomorrow was a big day for both of us.

“Are you excited?” I said.

“About tomorrow?”

“It’ll be your biggest sale yet. Your biggest delivery yet. Will it be FlyBooger who comes to collect our shipment?”

“BarnacleEyes,” Thrush said. “I think she’s the only one who can count.”