Beer Bubble (3)
Despite the cheap image of beer, the brewery owner was skeptical of Joshua's words.
"Even so, the idea of nobles drinking beer instead of wine... I can't really imagine it. There have been inquiries from nobles recently, but it must be a temporary phenomenon."
The brewery owner knew more about beer than anyone else.
For now, someone buying all the beer they had made was one thing.
But if they were to produce that much beer again soon, who would give beer its rarity value?
"Beer is just a popular food for commoners."
Joshua just thought to himself at the brewery owner's words.
'It might have been like that in the past, but not anymore. At least not until the time I release it.'
"Anyway, it seems there's no beer. Alright."
After leaving the brewery, Joshua visited a few more breweries in the area.
Fortunately, some places were not affected by the hoarders, so it was not too difficult to get beer. And because of the stories he had heard earlier.
Joshua belatedly began to hoard barley and hops as well.
He swept up all the beer and the ingredients needed to produce it at every brewery he visited.
* * *
A few weeks after the beer hoarding began.
Now, getting beer in the empire was as difficult as plucking a star from the sky.
As a result, the price of beer, which had been a favorite of ordinary people, soared sky-high, rising up to five times the original price.
"What? There's no beer?"
"I told you there's none. Just drink wine or something else. We have rum, how about that?"
"How can there be no beer?"
People who had found their only pleasure in drinking a glass of beer after finishing their daily work were puzzled by the beer shortage.
Just a few days ago, beer was easier to get than water, but now it had become more valuable.
"Is there really none?"
"You knew there's been none for the past few days, right?"
"What's the brewery doing? They're not selling beer. Didn't you say the price of beer went up?"
"That's the bigger problem. As the price of beer went up, these damn brewery bastards started hoarding it and not selling it."
"What? The brewery isn't selling beer?"
The tavern owner, who seemed to have heard a recent story, whispered to him.
"I heard that these days, it's even hard to get the ingredients to make beer at the brewery."
"What do you mean?"
"You know, to make beer, you need barley and hops in the first place."
"I know that."
"But it seems like someone swept up those ingredients along with the beer. So the brewery owners can't make beer even if they want to."
"So they're not selling beer because they can't make it?"
"Well, that's part of it, but more importantly, the price of beer skyrocketed overnight. Which crazy brewery owner would sell beer at this price? They're holding onto it, and when the price goes up even more, they'll sell it."
Never had they expected to hear such a story.
People who had intended to shake off the hardships of the day with a glass of beer were simply dumbfounded.
"What nonsense."
"Anyway, even if there was beer, it would be more expensive than this rum, so just drink rum."
So, with no other choice, people started drinking rum instead of beer.
"Ugh, what kind of price is that for beer? If it's that expensive, I'd rather drink rum. Give me a glass of rum. I'll drink it and get up."
And this phenomenon was not just a story of the poor commoners.
Among the nobles, those who managed to obtain beer started showing off to other nobles at social clubs.
"Isn't that the beer that even commoners don't drink much?"
An elderly nobleman expressed his displeasure to another nobleman who offered him beer, and the one who brought the beer laughed slyly and began to boast.
"You don't know, do you? It's very difficult to get this beer these days."
"What do you mean? It's hard to get beer?"
"They don't sell it at the brewery, and if they do, the price has gone up five times. And no one knows what will happen when they wake up tomorrow. The price of beer keeps going up, and it's getting so precious that someone says it's worth the call."
"Really?"
It was initially a popular food for commoners.
But as it became more scarce, the nobles began to change their minds about beer.
"Ahem! Let's have a drink. It's been a while since I've experienced the commoner life."
"Please try it. Oh, and I heard this somewhere. It's really good to drink beer when it's cold enough to have a thin layer of ice. The bursting sensation when it goes down your throat is amazing."
Hearing that, the nobleman who drank the beer quickly was intoxicated by the carbonation that burst out afterward, unconsciously narrowing one eye.
"Phew~ It's my first time tasting it, but it has a unique flavor. I usually drink strong alcohol more than this. This doesn't have much alcohol, so it doesn't get you drunk, right?"
"That's why women like it so much. Women don't usually drink strong alcohol, do they?"
"Oh, is that so?"
"But since it does get you drunk, when you give them a drink or two, they get tipsy. It's perfect for making a move at a ball or something."
"Really? That's interesting."
After drinking a glass of beer, the nobleman who examined it carefully asked the nobleman who had offered it.
"How much is this? It seems like it would be fine to buy a few."
"Ha ha, are you interested now?"
"It's just a commoner's drink, how expensive could it be? I'm just curious and want to buy some."
"But you won't be able to get it that easily."
"What do you mean? Can't we easily obtain this?"
"Didn't I tell you earlier? Obtaining this is like plucking stars from the sky."
"What are you talking about? Isn't this something you can easily get at a brewery?"
At that, the noble who served the beer shook his head.
"Oh, that's nonsense. If anyone could easily get it at a brewery, would I have served it like this? And if it were that easy, the price wouldn't have gone up like this."
The other party began to show curiosity at the mention of it being difficult to obtain.
"That's interesting. An elusive commoner's drink..."
"I heard that the scarcity is temporary due to the approaching war with the dwarves."
"But what's the background? A war with the dwarves? Who are the dwarves fighting with?"
"Didn't you know? It's the Montefeltro territory. Recently, a large amount of gold ore has been discovered there, and wasn't that land once belonged to the dwarves?"
"Ah, was there such a thing?"
"Yes, so people are worried that the dwarves might invade because of that, and they say the beer prices have gone up. I don't know if you've heard, but the dwarves are so rich that they don't need to supply their war materials from other places, right?"
"That's true."
"They can manage food supplies similar to ours, but as beer becomes more scarce, the dwarves who want to buy it will also be in trouble. So, the price skyrockets."
"Hehe..."
It became even more interesting as they listened.
"So, is there no beer at all now? Are beer seeds drying up?"
"That's right. At least from what I've heard, it's become too difficult to obtain beer. So recently, people like us serving this precious beer to each other has become a new trend."
The first fashion-conscious noble.
Always be sensitive to trends.
The noble who reminded them of this said,
"I thought someone was joking when they kept inviting me to drink beer. But that wasn't it. I never thought beer would become so precious."
"If there's a place nearby where you can get it, I'd like to ask for your help too. Since the price changes every time something like this happens, I've become interested."
"Is it like a new investment opportunity?"
"Well, that's what I'm thinking for now."
"Hahaha, that's interesting. Who would have thought beer would become like this?"
The noble who served the beer joked,
"Even though the price is high now, if the dwarves really wage war on us as rumored. I don't know, but this beer price will go up insanely. We don't have to buy it, but."
He continued with a smirk.
"The dwarves say it's not that. They can't have a war without drinking beer."
"Hahaha, what kind of people are they?"
"Would there be a beer curse that the dwarves have for nothing? It must be something like that."
"Hahaha, that's interesting. The curse of beer... It doesn't seem like humans have that."
"Anyway, if you can find a way to get it, please try to get it somehow. At least it doesn't seem like a loss."
"If I can get it, that would be great."
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