Brewing Alcohol Out of Thin Air

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Here's the thing, Jane: it was going far too fast for both of us to have the time to disable even one engine"

"Griet, didn't you forget about thrust vectoring? We would have needed to disable at least two engines; usually freighters of that size are able to vector thrust so as to counter yaw when one engine is down!" Janick argued vehemently with Griet.

Once again, after the failure to intercept that rogue freighter on Kal'shebbol, Janick's morale isn't exactly the best, and neither was Griet's. The latter reluctantly agreed to submit herself to a few venipunctures, but Griet could chalk it up to the need to monitor her own health after that ill-fated ejection on Ancora. While the Verdict was patrolling the northern border of ORC space, in search for additional rogue droid pockets, Janick and Griet were to get ready to take off at any time, flying these Alakaha elite fighters, and they were to stop by Asop, at the far eastern edge of ORC space. Home of one [member="Kami Meran"], who wanted to brew her own tihaar using the alcohol making up the atmosphere of the planet. Yes, Janick knew a bit about alcohol and how to use it to trick unsuspecting criminals, and used it on some Charon criminals on Aing-tii, with the pirates now being behind bars. But alchemizing alcohol is not the same as manufacturing it in the first place. Upon arriving at the outer edge of the asteroid field in which Asop resided...

----------------------------------

ATTN: [member="Kami Meran"]

You probably remember me for that story of alchemized beskad, but this time around you called upon any help you can get to start your own brewery. An alchemical filter that will allow to remove impurities from alcohol without ever having to maintain it.

Janick Beauchamp

----------------------------------

 

[Kami Meran]

----------------------
Attn [member="Janick Beauchamp"]

Yes
well we have a planet core of pure chemical alcohol. so that will be fun.
attached is a ships personality program. use that to get past the debris field.

[ pdf ]
Kami.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

well that was unexpected. but to be honest Lyth was talking about using the alcohol for commercial purposes.
so it would work.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

No way the captain would be taking the Verdict through an asteroid field. But they would be escorting a Neimoidian Yacht filled with brewery equipment, compressors that would allow the atmosphere to be condensed to a drinkable state, drilling equipment that would allow wells of alcohol to be drilled, especially given the description of where the alcohol is inside the planet. So she transmitted the waypoints provided by [member="Kami Meran"] to the yacht, Griet's craft and her own craft. Hopefully there would be no high-g maneuvering involved, and they would be matching speed with that of the yacht containing the equipment. Alchemizing the drill rigs or the compressor equipment would be one avenue, and then the three craft would follow the tortuous path to Asop's surface, where one would need to get to before she could alchemize anything, be it a filter that breaks down impurities in the raw alcohol, or anything else entirely. She is eagerly awaiting to come face-to-face with Kami close to one of the alcohol wells (much like some planets had oil wells or gas wells) being drilled for commercial exploitation.

 

[Kami Meran]

Spoiler

it was strange asop was a weird but strangely beautiful planet.
it;s alcohol geysers and ocean added to it's red sky.
Asop's alcohol core was like a giant chemical dad hyper distilling the chemical alcohol inside to a pure state.
the stuff was toxic to drink pure but is could be refined. she paced in the temple on it's surface. waiting on [member="Janick Beauchamp"] to arrive.
the buffet has become a regular protocol in this.
not that Kami was bothered by this. in fact he liked the food it gave her something to focus on.
in fact the food had helped Kami recover from her own cancer.
she had fitted a prosthetic eye to mask the missing left one. this wasn't an intimidation she was wearing a dress Lyth had bought
then there was the younger version of her. around 13 years old save for the bright green, human colouring eyes and lack of brain problems she was almost identical to Kami

Spoiler

she had named her Tag Meran.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Kami Meran, I presume?"

Upon seeing [member="Kami Meran"] and Tag Meran, the two ORC ladies that were patrolling the northern edge of ORC territory, with Janick wearing her signature black dress and Griet wearing her bracers with shoulderguards, alongside her dress, arrived inside some sort of buffet inside a temple. They served themselves food on their respective plates after introducing herself to the two Mandos. Even though it was the only buffet on Asop, she would realize that alcohol served here is, well, foreign. It was also obvious that Griet knew more about geochemistry than Janick did, so the tall brunette let the blonde woman speak first. That is, after they served their stuff from the buffet: pizza slices, pad-thai, Gyshahl greens, to name the main items on their plates. Then they could discuss the matters of alcohol extraction face-to-face once they were seated. Since they were Mandos, refining the alcohol from Asop would probably be most cost-effective if it was made into tihaar than any more dilute drink. Perhaps the "flavor" would have to come from expensive substrates, be it lemonade, orange juice, or other common substrates she could think about.

"There are several ways to go around exploiting the alcohol: direct pumping from the surface lakes, derrick-style alcohol rigs, atmospheric condensers, depending on how much one wants to produce"

"I get that atmospheric condensers is for when you want to produce limited amounts of alcohol, but the former two will yield a lot more than an air well"

 

[Kami Meran]

Kami sat at the table looking distant.
" Hmm i was thinking we do all of them. i have been thinking we diversify the brands. " she said looking ponderous.
" we have over several billion gallons of hyper refined alcohol. im thinking we make it a diverse brew. ale whisky ect. i have to admit i'm not a drinker. "
she admitted with a laugh.
" look [member="Janick Beauchamp"] i think we can tap pockets of the alcohol ."

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"If the proven reserves amount to several billion gallons of pure alcohol, the question is: how much is sustainable in the long run?"

It would do no good to bleed a planet dry for short-term benefits, she thought, while deferring to Griet for all the grittier parts of running what amounts to a mining business. Understandably the more cost-effective way is, of course, pumping directly from the lakes, but Janick could read in Griet's mind that rainfall across the alcohol reservoirs will pretty much determine how much alcohol should be drawn. Jane, my mind is an open book when it comes to mining or its economics thereof. But I have my limits. Be mindful when you stray from those topics, Griet thought, while hearing about how [member="Kami Meran"] intended to use all three methods. As they ate the content of their buffet plates, Janick began to think which of the three applications will have the best use for an alchemized item. Filter or drill bit? Drill bits are going to act on a different level in the chain. Or even alchemized pumps that can take impurities out before the actual brewing takes place. Perhaps if she knew where the pumps were, she could act on them as desired... once she could get to the pumps in the derricks or the pumping stations. Or even the air wells.

"I think I have an idea: an alchemical pump that can take impurities out without any maintenance. Now, where are the pumps that need alchemizing?"

 

[Kami Meran]

" great i'll show to the mining equipment we have." she agreed heading to a load of standard mining equipment.
" i know i know " hay Kami where is the dragon looking walker with drills for teeth yjat grinds rocks?" well.. dam i now have an idea. " she koked.
" well now this is all i have to go with. "
[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Drilling is only half the battle while mining liquids" Griet commented after the two of them finished eating.

Mining solids usually required some internal railroads, hoppers, and, if the mine wasn't a surface mine, venting equipment. But here it is about mining liquids: a derrick usually included a pump, but Janick probably realizes that alchemized filters are going to cause problems, the more alcohol is being pumped and hence impurities filtered out. [member="Kami Meran"] would probably be grateful for alchemized drill bits. She'd better not stumble upon songsteel drill bits; she knows that she would need to re-do the heat treatment if such was the case - unlike most materials, alchemizing songsteel was troublesome for her unless it was done after quenching but prior to tempering. She had a good look at the drill bits because it's pretty much the only thing worth alchemizing inside the equipment being shown. Now, after the brunette took a look at the drill bits and the pros and cons of each piece of equipment in this lineup. A lightsaber-resistant, alchemized drill bit will be requiring some blood to get it done.

"That said, alchemized filters have their own set of problems and I would probably prefer an alchemized drill bit. Drill bits that never break down and never need maintenance would be beneficial, and toughness is going to be important: this is where alchemy comes in"

 

[Kami Meran]

listening to [member="Janick Beauchamp"] Kami thought to herself for a bit.
it was true that she needed to measure consumption. still the alcohol was similar to water on other worlds making weather rivers.
what she envisioned was similar to oil drilling.
" well i'm not the one who is a specialist in alchamization but songsteel sounds too light. especially for industrial use. " she admitted.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"If I may, perhaps alchemizing the tungsten carbide insert teeth would allow us to achieve what we want and render it much less brittle than normal tungsten carbide"

"Alchemizing tungsten carbide will make it much heavier, Griet. Perhaps not as much as neuranium but that ought to be the stuff capable of mining even beskar ore. However, underneath the teeth is durasteel; that will also receive Force-energy"

Songsteel being too light for an alchemized drill bit? I thought alchemy would be the way to make lightweight drill bits, Janick thought, while [member="Kami Meran"]'s words rang in her head, and also sensing that Griet's mental activity increased along with her own, in a synchronous fashion. Also, the blonde woman knew what she was dealing with, in terms of drill bits in use for mining boreholes in the world of liquid mining, and immediately sensed that Meran Mechanics' mining equipment included what's standard for drilling boreholes in liquid mining. Like oil drilling. Janick thus prepared the vials of blood, knowing that each drill bit will require one venipuncture vial to treat prior to alchemizing. Three each from Janick and Griet respectively. If they needed more blood, that is, if there were more than six drill bits to alchemize, she could always have Kami and Tag submit themselves to venipunctures. She could feel that her wingwoman was eager to learn more about alchemy, beyond that it can be used to render stuff more resistant.

"I would like the drill bits brought to me, please"

 

[Kami Meran]

admittedly all the drill bits Kami had were Duranium a medium weight hardened metal used in armor.
" this is the stuff i use for ripping apart ships." she admitted heading to heavy mining equipment.
" admittedly salvaging is my main thing [member="Janick Beauchamp"] i am better at cutting metal than drilling. that being said i have mined before. "
ahe admitted.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Pumpjacks. From my understanding, once the well is drilled, the pumpjack is there to help extract the liquid from the underground reservoir. From the size of the drill bits I see here, 310mm, one well may be able to yield circa 500 barrels of alcohol a day, and it seems the well can take a week or two to be drilled, depending on area; do you have pumpjacks capable of pumping out alcohol at that rate? I'm talking about the very sort of stuff used on the oil fields on Manpha: they seem to work here"

"One last thing before the alchemizing process begins: this is a major business undertaking that you're talking about. Do you have brewing equipment on order? Producing 500 barrels a day per well will do you no good if you can't brew a thing"

The drill bits were duranium? Perhaps that's my hyperactive brain playing tricks on me, Griet thought, while her own mental activity was spiking, alongside Janick's, causing headaches in both. Poor Griet... she has been fooled on the drill bit materials. Sure she preferred durasteel with tungsten carbide inserts for drilling oil wells, but duranium drill bits were what [member="Kami Meran"] gave Janick to work with. She promptly used one vial of blood on each drill bit that could be covered, and, once all six tricone duranium drill bits were covered in blood, Janick placed one of the drill bits in front of Griet, making sure that she could get the Force-imbuement lesson started, while their mental activity was at a maximum. She knew their brains were fast, and, with that said, the process of infusing the Force into the drill bits began in earnest. As they began infusing the Force into drill bits, Janick also began to tell another precaution to Griet as the latter learned Imbue Item under her watch, intending to let her alchemize at least one drill bit to render it tough as well as lightsaber-resistant.

"Griet, here's the thing: blood makes for a good conductor of Force-energy since it is the lifeblood of the organisms. Also make sure that your mind is properly warmed up first in the future: you will need a lot of concentration on what you want the item to achieve"

 

[Kami Meran]

" don't you worrt about equipment i have pump jacks pipes barrels and stills. ad for the duranium well we now own a mine "
kami admitted honestly and if i have a stronger metal to use i use it.
" question is what do i do once i get the alcohol pumped out. " she half joked
" im no brewer dos hyper destilled alcohol need distilling?" she asked honestly asking
[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Brewing alcohol was more within Janick's area of expertise than mining, so Griet just left the questions of alcohol to her commander, while she painfully but successfully managed to make that duranium drill bit lightsaber-resistant among other things. Meanwhile, Janick's Force-batteries are nearly empty from alchemizing five tricone drill bits, and Griet's brain is just... fried. Granted Griet is a beginner as far as Force-imbuement is concerned, so it's entirely possible it's due to the skill difference between a beginner in the topic and someone capable of acting as an instructor. Yet she was immediately reminded of Griet's estimate of well yield. 500 barrels a day. The barrel is defined as 159 liters in the world of liquids mining, and this is what Griet means by barrels. Again a few wells producing at the rate of 500 barrels of tihaar a day per well is going to be able to provide the whole sector with that very tihaar, given that's nearly 80 cubic meters a day in raw alcohol; the real amount being bottled will be higher, given the refining considerations. The answer to [member="Kami Meran"]'s question came at the tail end of the process:

"If anything, refining pure alcohol really means that you're adding non-alcoholic flavor and other stuff, like water, so that you can produce tihaar"

 

[Kami Meran]

Kami nodded listening to [member="Janick Beauchamp"] she semi trusted her.
and well she could ask the brewers in the clans she knew a few of those.
" ok then. you have a few recommendations? Lyth has been on about Banana deliquesces. and to be honest this isn't my ideas. " she admitted looking at the woman. it was weird her unease in talking to people was gone.
that was a part of the meal aspect food tended to calm nerves in conversations.
in fact her mind drifted. Lyth was a force sensitive even if she was deafened and muted to it she still had that option open to her.
still would she learn this skill if it was presented? no more than likely not. still she had made that armor. an it needed to be upgreaded.
" i relay need you to do that alchemy to Lyth's armor."

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"That being said, filtering the impurities in the alcohol has to be done prior to adding any flavor or water. While, of course, you are welcome to use banana deliquesces, you want to successfully sell 80,000 liters of tihaar a day for each well you drill, you will need to be able to sell several flavors, unless you want to be selling engine degreasers or rubbing alcohol"

And that's assuming Griet is correct in the first place as far as the wells' yields are concerned. For some reason, the Force seems to amplify the toxic effects the more alcohol there is. If pilsner could make people allergic to alcohol, and mead could induce delirium tremens, tihaar is clearly off-limits for alchemy, she thought, while also realizing that production lines of engine degreasers and rubbing alcohol are not nearly as profitable as tihaar is, yet one commonly hears Mandos talking about using expired tihaar for degreasing engines or rubbing alcohol; Griet awakened upon hearing that bit in the Force; she was glad that her mental functions were only shorted out for a short period, and the blonde was grateful for her mental conditioning, her brain, despite being nearly completely drained Force-wise. Upon hearing [member="Kami Meran"] talk about Lyth and how she wanted to get an alchemized suit of armor done, Janick began to think about the implications of alchemizing additional stuff and the cooldown period required to process that new order.

"I alchemized the drill bits, I might get around to alchemizing Lyth's armor in a few hours or so"

 

[Kami Meran]

" nah the armor was just a thought. Lyth has a distrust for all things force. " Kami admitted.
it was true Lyth had become pretty distrustful of the force.
" Been thinking of flavors. i think we can offer customizes flavours. i've been talking to a few distriburers a loy of different races have differing tastes. Ithotians have this taste fot a candy flavour Zebrakd likr these brown berryies. i think er can taylor to the customer."

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Perhaps you have some tihaar for me to sample, made from this planet's alcohol; just one typical serving would be well-appreciated"

And even without the Force, Janick would have to be mindful of just how much to drink before she can leave the planet, and the same would hold for one Griet, still a little shaken. She is a little curious about what does the alcohol of that place taste like, which was understandable since all that Griet knew about that was relevant to the project pertained to the mining part. But would [member="Kami Meran"] actually have samples of alcohol to serve? Liquids mining is one thing, but would the condensed or surface alcohol be the same as the mined one? All right, Griet, to the extent your mind is an open book when it comes to liquids mining, mine is an open book for alcohol production and its economics thereof, she thought, hoping that her wingwoman would get the Force-message, knowing that it's a trick they used to keep each other's minds awake. It was a little weird for them that alcohol production would be so tightly linked to... liquids mining. Tihaar would likely be 80-90% abv, depending on the flavor, since Kami gave her reassurances that it can be customized. Yet the customization would have to be done after filtration.

 

[Kami Meran]

Kami offered a small half measure of a clear odorless liquid. ihe thing had been filtered to death but should be as strong as a bantha in heat with a kick as strong as a turbo laser.
" typicaly this is a child sized drink on a lifed day. but this alcoholl has been brewing for eons so... " kami shrugged offering the glass to [member="Janick Beauchamp"].
" oh please don't sue me."