Night 70: Archetto, Landen Draft Beer
The Late Night Diner is a part of Rhodes Island's canteen. That goes without saying – to whom had anyone ever heard of a diner in the boiler room?
As the name implies, it opens around midnight. There are only a handful of customers at a time.
Operators off their night shift could take an order and bring back to their quarters. Night owls could sit dining-in while leeching off the Diner's wi-fi. The Doctor would come for instant noodles from time to time.
Drinks are in the cooler. Anyone burdened by their own thoughts could take one and chug it down, anytime.
Menu? No such thing exists. What the Chef prepares is what you get. It all depends on his mood of the day.
Welcome to the Rhodes Island Late Night Diner. In here, you might even meet a familiar face or two.
"I wouldn't drink these much ice cold beer if I were you, especially in this weather."
A rare sight to behold, there were only two people in the Diner tonight – the Chef and Hoshiguma. Looking at all the empty bottles on the table, the former frowned hard. "It's getting chilly lately, and I'm having trouble selling all cold drinks. Them down in the Medical had been busy dealing with paitient with stomach trouble. My customer flow was almost cut down by half."
"No need to worry about me, my body can handle it!" Hoshiguma put down the dark brown bottle and thumped her chest in confidence. "Last time when we celebrate Missy getting a raise, I drank them all under the table – *hic*"
"What I mean is," the Chef said with a sour expression. "You have been drinking beer brought from somwhere else, and I am not making anything from my stock. Where did you get them? Closure's store? Why don't they even have lables?"
"It's Landen draft from Hildgard." Hoshiguma shook her head, "She said the monastery had a good harvest this year, so they brewed lots of draft beer. Buy a dozen and get half for free. Also with a badge certified by the Pope for winning the brewing contest. Here." She took out a small round badge from her pocket, and printed upon it was the seal of Landen Monastery, decorated with image of wheat and hop, as well as the scrawing signature of the Pope.
"She knows how to brew beer huh?" The Chef said, raising his brow. "I thought them clerics know only how to chant hymns. Though I heard she got wrangled by some idol group. Hopefully she knows more about brewing than singing."
"I donno. Though the beer tastes really good." Hoshiguma said, downing another large gulp. "Full of sudsy goodness...where are you going boss?"
"I'm going to take a look at her brewing business." The Chef said, taking off his apron and walked into the kitchen. "Can't miss the chance to expand my business."
"Closing early tonight?" Hoshiguma shouted, a bottle in hand.
"Yeah. No customers tonight. Just turn off the lights for me after you are done, alright?" The Chef said without turning around.
Hildgard's brewing workshop was not hard to find – One could spot her posters in the hallway of the Dorm and Commerical zone. On the poster was the golden flowing weat field and foamy mugs full of beer, while the background was the gothic archetecture of the monastery. The Chef found Hildgard in an open-to-public workshop down at Engineering. At the moment, She was checking the new batch of brew. Few fermenting barrels as tall as she sat behind her, on the counter besides were several beer mugs, and a few boxes of empty beer bottles. The aroma of fresh beer and fermenting goods permeated the entire workshop.
"Welcome! Please help Landen Monastery and buy our beer!" Hildgard greeted the Chef warmly.
"Quite a brewery you have here." The Chef said. He picked up a beer mug and filled it. The dark golden liquid was not as clear as its stream-lined counterpart, instead being opaque and slightly muddy. "Your monastery is allowed to sell beer?"
"We in the monastery were having financial trouble in the recent two years. The Pope had said this change is necessary to safeguard our faith." Hildgard sighed. "As long as we don't sell out our faith like common commdities, the Pope and the Lord would condone us for this act."
"Your Lord is quite...lenient." The Chef took a sip from his mug. Rich aroma of wheat and the freshness of the hop rushed into his mouth with thick foam, and when the cold beer had been swallowed, lingering behind was a delightful sweetness. "The beer is great. No wonder Hoshiguma bought a lot. Is this made with traditional craft of the monastery?"
"Of course!" As soon as beer was brought up, Hildgard beamed. "I did some modification to the traditional Landen brewing technique and brewed this batch. I used two kinds of wheat and the choicest Leithanian hops. Brewed for fourteen days and twice fermented, too! It had won me the grand prize of the 377th ferment goods competetion! Wasn't that grand? It's just that the weather is getting cold lately and people aren't buying as much as before."
The Chef patted Hildgard on the shoulder and said "You should think about the versitility of your product, young miss. If you can't sell beer directly, how about changing its presentation?"
"But how do you change the beer's presentation? From bottlesto mugs, or...in cans?" Hildgard also poured herself a mug, and chatted with the Chef while drinking."I still have so much of it in the barrels. If I can't find a way to sell it all, it'll be past the best fermentation period and expire. Then all those wheat and hops I spent a fortune on will be down the drain!"
"Have you heard of butter beer?" The Chef gestuered."Butter with red sugar in the beer and heated up, then add a thick layer of milk cap on top. It's richer in flavour, and suits the weather in recent days. Most importantly, you can sell them at a higher price. Also the Leithanian staple beer bread, instead of water and yeast, they used beer to form the dough..."
"...And it would not only help the leavening better, but also added extra flavour of wheat and hops to the bread!" Hildgard started to follow the Chef's train of thoughts. "If I can added some fruit juice during beer fermentation, then I could make different kinds of beer bread with nuts and dried fruit! Grandpa, you are a genius! Wait, do I know you from somewhere?"
"I'm the Chef of the Late Night Diner. Heard from Hoshiguma that you are brewing beer, so I came down to see if we can strike a deal." The Chef raised his mug and clinked with Hildgard's "Looks like there's ample opportunity. I'll take the rest of your brew, and by the end we could split the revenue."
"...You are taking all of it?" Hildgard stared at the Chef with disbelief. "Are you sure you can sell all of it just by making it into butter beer and beer bread?"
"Trust me, I am fully confident with my craft, as well as your beer." The Chef poined at the mug in his hand and said. "By then the entirety of Rhodes Island would know how good your brew is – well, as long as this venture does not go against your monastery's rules."
"Not a thing!" Hildgard smiled, took out her pesonal tablet and ready to strike the deal "The Pope had once said we should not be so stringent on fruit tart, beer and bread. If this could help the monastery and letting more know about it, he would be very glad!"
Looking at the barrels of draft beer, the Chef had already forming plans in his head. Ham sandwich with beer bread and large butter beer. He would just call it the Landen special combo. As well as breakfast for the all-nighters, with sliced bread, hot milk and fried egg, sunny-side up. Along with their prices.