I Regressed and Became Too Good at Brewing - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 63. The Difference Between Memory and Recollection (6)
“Doraji Jeongkwa, sir?”
“Yes, doraji.”

Unlike Ee-eon, who tilted his head in confusion at my words, Samhae’s eyes widened and he let out a stunned breath.
There was no particular garment that suited those children as I saw them.
A tart, earthy flavor and the sweet taste of jochyeong.
Wondering what could contain all of that, it suddenly came to me—
“To be exact, Doraji Jeongkwa.”

“Doraji Jeongkwa? It’s certainly a snack Father used to make often, but…….”
“That might be the final piece.”
The garment of aromas that had danced within the true Samhaejiu I’d tasted before.
The amber hue with its soft luster would have come from the jochyeong.
“But then, how exactly am I supposed to make Doraji Jeongkwa…….”
Though I possessed a goblin’s abilities and ten years of experience brewing alcohol from my past life, Doraji Jeongkwa was a different matter altogether.
I’d made traditional Korean alcohol, but never traditional food.
And even if I followed the Doraji Jeongkwa recipe that popped up on the internet now, there was no chance it would match a master craftsman’s work.
“Ah! Could it be!”
“Did you figure something out?”
“Just a moment… just a moment!”
Ee-eon dashed off somewhere and came running back with a pouch in hand.
Then he abruptly held out what was inside and spoke.
“Could it be this? This?”
“What? If you just say it like that all of a sudden, I can’t tell…….”
…I could tell.
The aromas dancing and playing were entirely amber, flowing thick as honey with the jochyeong, clinging to and playing with one another.
Even from such a distance, the Samhaejiu and the aromas reached out their hands to meet each other as if they knew they were destined companions.
“It’s Doraji Jeongkwa……. This is it.”
“Ha… haha…….”
Ee-eon collapsed and let out a hollow laugh.
That hollow laugh soon became something inexplicable—a mixture of laughter and tears.
“My father showed me.”
“Your father showed you?”
“Yes… back then I wondered why he was teaching me such a thing…….”
He’d thought his father showed him how to make it simply because it was curious that his young son loved jeongkwa.
But thinking about it carefully, it was strange.
What father would teach his son the detailed method of making jeongkwa simply because the boy liked it?
“It’s the only thing my father taught me… the only thing through which I could remember my father……. So whenever it came to mind, I made it…….”

Beside him, Samhae smiled brightly and shared in the pain Ee-eon must have endured in those days gone by.
It wasn’t long before Ee-eon, who’d been shedding tears like drops of chicken droppings, came to his senses.
He wiped his puffy eyes with his sleeves and, standing up, asked me a question.
“So what should we do now?”
“I think you used Infusing.”
Infusing.
In other words, the art of imparting the flavor of secondary ingredients into the spirit.
The alcohol provides a solid foundation, and it’s a technique used when you want to layer various aromas and tastes on top.
Even Meari employed this method using pine needles to create Flavor Layering, and Meari: Autumn did the same.
“Though I never could have imagined it was Doraji Jeongkwa.”
“Then… if this is Infusing… at what timing exactly…….”
“We got lucky. It’s exactly the right moment now.”
Infusing is merely about coating the spirit with aroma, not pressing it in to excess.
Because of this, it’s generally added either when the alcohol is finished, or just before making it.
But…….
“In the Samhaejiu my father made that I tasted before, I could sense the aroma of Doraji Jeongkwa. Even in a spirit that had aged so long.”
“Which means…….”
“It went in from the fermentation process. Though it couldn’t have happened right from the start.”
The most important thing when brewing alcohol is the Fermentation process.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the process of yeast breaking down sugars and producing alcohol is the very process of making spirit.
That’s why, to ensure the stability of this yeast, the ingredients being added must be managed with the utmost care.
“With an ordinary alcohol, the moment you added something as sweet as doraji jeongkwa, it would spoil instantly.”
It’s not just yeast that craves sugar.
In fact, nearly every microorganism that exists loves sugar.
That’s why if you added doraji jeongkwa during the early stages of fermentation, before the yeast had properly taken hold, there’d be a significant risk of other bacteria proliferating.
Of course, even in the late fermentation stage, if such a large quantity of additional sugar were introduced, anything could happen.
“But this is Samhaejiu.”
“I’m sorry—what do you mean?”
“It matures at low temperature, doesn’t it?”
Samhaejiu is an alcohol that undergoes fermentation slowly, at roughly seven degrees Celsius, proceeding to its absolute limit.
That’s why the nuruk used by Samhae distilleries is made up of molds with excellent viability even at low temperatures.
The yeast they use also seemed to have strong viability.
“So most stray bacteria will simply freeze to death—it’s something you can do. Though certainly not during the early fermentation stages.”
“Which means…….”
“Yes, now is the right time.”
Samhaejiu, a Samyangju.
We’re now at precisely the point where the first Secondary Addition has been added and fermentation is complete.
If we were to add the doraji jeongkwa during the fermentation process, now—when we’re adding the second Secondary Addition—is the ideal moment.
You could say we’re rather fortunate.
“So then…….”
“How much doraji jeongkwa do you have?”
“Quite a bit, actually. I tend to make things in large batches—big hands, you see.”
“Then let’s use some of that.”
The preparations were complete.
First, we’d need to make the Secondary Addition over again.
The Secondary Addition we’d originally planned to use wouldn’t produce the flavor we wanted.
“Since we’re adding doraji jeongkwa, we need to adjust the sugar content.”
“Then the goduban should be about this much…….”
“Yes. That’s just right.”
We needed to adjust the amount of goduban to maintain the total sugar content.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“Do you happen to have the jochyeong you used when making the jeongkwa?”
“I do have some… but it’s back at home.”
“You haven’t discarded it?”
“No—the taste is actually quite good, so I’ve been using it often as a substitute for honey when cooking.”
“I’ll need some of that.”
Whether it was hope he’d glimpsed or simply the weight of those words, Ee-eon drove back to his house at once.
<How wondrous…….>
“What is it?”
<Truly… Si-woo, it’s as though that young one has come back to life. The way those hands work this alcohol—as if she knows every detail of the recipe…….>
“Is there a difference in the recipe?”
<…….>
Perhaps the promise with Master Kim Si-woo kept his lips sealed, but from his expression, it was clear he was perfectly recreating that recipe.
I allowed myself to relax slightly.
And where anxiety had been, anticipation rose to take its place.
How long had I been waiting?
“I’m back! I’m here!”
“Mind the step! Take it slowly!”
“Oof… I’ve brought every bit of doraji jeongkwa we had at home! I even scraped together all the jochyeong!”
“You’ve done well.”
Ee-eon had returned with a large plastic bag full of doraji jeongkwa.
He’d also brought a single jar of jochyeong syrup, thick with the essence of doraji.
His remark about having big hands wasn’t mere idle talk.
“I didn’t need quite this much…….”
“Just in case! I’m planning to keep making doraji jeongkwa for a while!”
<Watching the noble one work, it doesn’t seem it will take long at all…….>
Generally speaking, Ee-eon’s words would be true.
How long did it take to make a single alcohol?
It was not uncommon for people to spend an entire lifetime perfecting a recipe.
But I am different.
“First, the syrup like this…….”
She replaced part of the water used in Secondary Addition with Jochyeong syrup.
Water that tasted deeply sweet while carrying the subtle bitterness of Doraji Jeongkwa.
To that, she added Goduban.
“And the Doraji Jeongkwa…….”
Not much was needed.
Just a touch—barely enough to layer the flavor.
She placed it in a hemp sachet and dropped it into the fermentation vessel as if steeping broth. That was all.
This alone would suffice.
“Doraji Jeongkwa has such a powerful fragrance on its own.”
“I’m embarrassed……. It was all my father’s work…….”
“You were able to do this because you remembered it, weren’t you?”
The preparation was complete.
Now only waiting remained.
Ee-eon, who had been fretting until now with hopes of a good result, suddenly found himself anxious now that there was nothing left to do, and asked me a question.
“Do you really think… it will truly work?”
I could answer him with confidence.
“It will.”
Samhae nodded.
Through his eyes, I could see the flavors grasping each other’s hands like lovers reunited after decades, spinning in circles as they began to dance.
The final whispers that came through were from the yeast.
– This is sweet, isn’t it?
– Delicious. So delicious!
– Strange, but delicious.
– We should eat it all!
Watching them enjoy the Doraji Jeongkwa, a flavor they’d never encountered before, made it clear.
“It’s going to succeed for certain.”
And so another fortnight passed.
“Wooow…….”
“Is this… is this really it?”
<Magnificent… Ahhh! I never thought I’d taste this again!>
“How is it? Not bad, right?”
Ee-eon, who had just tasted the completed Samhaejiu, spoke to me.
“It’s the very flavor my father made…….”
A perfect success.
* * *
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.
Click.
An alarm sounding in the morning, and a hand shutting it off in rhythm.
As if he’d been awake and waiting before the alarm even rang, the timing was sharp and precise.
Han Gyeong-su’s day begins there.
Though he couldn’t jump out of bed as quickly as he once did, the habits worn into his body over the years were impossible to break.
“Huh…….”
Upon waking, he stares blankly at the empty space beside him before folding back the bedding.
It was better to clear his eyes of it quickly.
Because once he began looking, his thoughts would spiral without end.
So it was better to go out onto the veranda instead and gaze blankly at the yard.
“Oof…….”
Moving too hurriedly, he nearly turned his ankle.
It wasn’t like this before—lately, his body keeps acting up in different places.
His back aches, his neck aches.
His eyes grow clouded, and his field of vision narrows; he bumps into things constantly now.
“Mm… I’m getting old…….”
It was simply natural aging.
That’s what he told himself.
Though he didn’t much like thinking it.
A memory surfaces unbidden.
‘Be careful!’
‘What will you do without me?’
‘Lunch! Don’t forget your lunch!’
Her voice still lingers at the edge of his ear, buzzing softly.
He’d moved to escape the memory, yet each detail remained stubborn, impossibly sharp.
He can still hear her footsteps.
Those small steps—quick, light, pattering.
She’d been behind him, then suddenly darted ahead, grabbed his hand, and pulled him along.
That’s what she was like.
Not someone meant to leave like that.
Not someone who should ever be alone and lonely like……
Crack!
Han Gyeong-su strikes both cheeks hard enough to sting, forcing himself back to the present.
He’s thinking too deeply again.
This won’t do.
“I should take a walk.”
Staring blankly at the courtyard won’t settle anything.
Even with the calendar hidden away, his body remembers the date.
Because today is that day.
Today—that day has come again.
Beep-beep-beep!
His phone rings.
Probably his son calling.
The boy worries about his father and calls often enough.
But surely even he can spare his old man a day to sit alone with his melancholy.
With that thought, he pulls out the phone to find……
“Hm? Song-ha?”
A message from someone he didn’t expect,
[Song-ha: I’ve made the Samhaejiu again.]
an unexpected contact had arrived.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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