古法酒香

文、圖／陳文進(jìn)

石相勝（右）從四川請(qǐng)來(lái)的汪師傅跟古法釀酒打了一輩子交道，掌握了釀酒的獨(dú)門(mén)絕技。Mr. Wang from Sichuan employed by Shi Xiangsheng (right) has been engaged in traditional liquor production for a lifetime, and mastered the tricks of liquor production.

驅(qū)車(chē)來(lái)到距濟(jì)南市區(qū)20公里外的黨家莊鎮(zhèn)小白村村東頭，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)便可看到十幾個(gè)大酒缸擺在路邊，再往里走就能聞到一股濃濃的酒糟味，石相勝、商錫俊夫妻倆經(jīng)營(yíng)的裕龍生態(tài)酒廠就坐落在這個(gè)周?chē)菢?shù)木和野草的坡地上。

20多年來(lái)，夫妻倆從最初給別人送酒瓶，發(fā)展到自己開(kāi)酒廠，起起伏伏、歷經(jīng)風(fēng)雨，依舊初心不改，始終堅(jiān)持用傳統(tǒng)工藝釀酒，求質(zhì)不求量。

石相勝和妻子起初以經(jīng)營(yíng)小商店為營(yíng)生，后來(lái)設(shè)立回收點(diǎn)，專(zhuān)門(mén)以給外地酒廠送酒瓶為業(yè)。上世紀(jì)90年代，一家酒廠委托夫妻倆幫助廠里灌裝地瓜干白酒，此后，喜歡喝酒的石相勝逐漸萌生了自己開(kāi)酒廠釀好酒的想法。

說(shuō)干就干，1998年，石相勝帶著妻子和他們辛苦掙來(lái)的第一桶金，回到黨家莊鎮(zhèn)自家的村子里，開(kāi)辦了市中區(qū)第一家酒廠。釀酒絕非易事，將近一年的時(shí)間，他們從省內(nèi)酒廠請(qǐng)來(lái)的幾個(gè)釀酒師都沒(méi)能釀出讓老石滿意的酒。石相勝?zèng)Q定外出求賢，來(lái)到釀酒之鄉(xiāng)四川邛崍，輾轉(zhuǎn)找到了深諳傳統(tǒng)釀酒工藝的汪師傅。兩人都是爽快人，一拍即合。

汪師傅來(lái)到酒廠后，釀酒的工藝完全按照邛崍當(dāng)?shù)亍疤戾伨啤钡墓欧?，一改山東的單糧、三糧釀造，采用五糧蒸釀。汪師傅依據(jù)這邊的氣候特點(diǎn)、土壤結(jié)構(gòu)和泉水水質(zhì)，對(duì)釀酒節(jié)點(diǎn)和發(fā)酵時(shí)間做了相應(yīng)的調(diào)整。經(jīng)過(guò)幾個(gè)寒暑，終于釀出了口感醇厚的五糧酒。

石相勝說(shuō)，當(dāng)時(shí)他們的酒賣(mài)得很好，濟(jì)南小吃城幾乎所有的餐館都進(jìn)他的酒，天津和遼寧的客戶也來(lái)訂酒。小富即安，夫妻倆的酒廠沒(méi)有再繼續(xù)擴(kuò)張。老石夫婦心存善心，不忘資助他人。汶川地震時(shí)，老石毫不猶豫地給災(zāi)民捐了10萬(wàn)元，他們還資助了一名貧困的山村小學(xué)生。

蒸出的糧食，經(jīng)過(guò)攤晾、攪拌等多道工序后方可入窖池。Steamed grains cannot be put into a liquor pit until undergoing such procedures as spreading out for cooling and stirring.

今年的第一鍋酒即將在香氣蒸騰中出鍋。This year’s first pot of liquor is about to be completed amid a steaming aroma.

有好的酒曲，才能釀出好酒。Only with quality distiller’s yeast can quality liquor be produced.

酒廠新址周?chē)牧己蒙鷳B(tài)，也是釀出好酒的條件之一。The new site of the distillery has an ecologically sound environment, which is one of the conditions of producing quality liquor.

天有不測(cè)風(fēng)云，2012年以后，全國(guó)白酒市場(chǎng)普遍不景氣，夫妻倆40多個(gè)窖池生產(chǎn)出的白酒庫(kù)存太多，賣(mài)不出去。此外，老石的酒廠以煤炭做燃料，不利于環(huán)保，只好暫停蒸酒，汪師傅也返回四川老家。屋漏偏逢連陰雨，老實(shí)憨厚的石相勝還被一名不良商人騙去了價(jià)值上百萬(wàn)元的酒，夫妻倆的釀酒事業(yè)陷入低谷。

經(jīng)過(guò)幾年的調(diào)整，夫妻倆忐忑不安的生活漸漸恢復(fù)正常，加上經(jīng)常有老客戶找老石買(mǎi)酒，55歲的石相勝?zèng)Q心再次創(chuàng)業(yè)。他關(guān)停了村子里的酒廠，重新請(qǐng)回了汪師傅，在村東頭生態(tài)環(huán)境更好的坡地上新建了28個(gè)窖池，蒸酒的燃料采用了環(huán)保的液化氣。

看著新出鍋的五糧熱氣蒸騰，老石的心反而平靜了，這第一鍋蒸好的糧食入池發(fā)酵兩個(gè)月后才能蒸酒。蒸出的酒又須在陶缸里儲(chǔ)存三到五年后才夠味。老石直言，年過(guò)五旬，名利對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)似乎不那么重要了，他更在乎的是做一個(gè)好人，釀一缸好酒。

20年來(lái)，老石夫妻倆將生產(chǎn)的每一種酒的酒盒都保留著，作為對(duì)創(chuàng)業(yè)的記憶。Over the past 20 years, Shi and his wife have retained all sorts of liquor boxes in memory of their startup.

Driving to the east of Xiaobai Village, Dangjiazhuang Town, 20 kilometers away from downtown Jinan, our reporter saw from a distance dozens of big liquor jars placed by the roadside, and caught a whiff of distillers’ grain after moving inside. The distillery run by the couple Shi Xiangsheng and Shang Xijun is located on the slope surrounded by trees and weeds.

In the 1990s, a distillery entrusted the couple to assist in filling sweet potato liquor. Afterwards, Shi Xiangsheng, with a fondness for drinking, gradually came up with the idea of running a distillery and producing quality liquor. In 1998, Shi Xiangsheng took his wife and their hard-earned first pot of gold to their village in Dangjiazhuang Town, established the first distillery in Shizhong District, and changed Shandong’s single-grain and threegrain liquor production mode into five-grain liquor production by steaming. Several years later, they finally produced full-bodied fivegrain liquor. Shi Xiangsheng said that their liquor sold well in that period; almost all restaurants of the Jinan Snack City purchased their liquor; even customers from Tianjin and Liaoning ordered liquor from him.

After 2012, China’s liquor market was in a slump, and so was the couple’s liquor production business. After several years of adjustment, the couple’s uneasy life was gradu-ally back to normal; besides, Shi’s regular customers often bought liquor from them. Thus, 55-year-old Shi Xiangsheng was determined to restart a business, and newly built 28 liquor pits on a more ecologically friendly slope in the east of the village.

Staring at the steaming five grains, Shi felt calm. Liquor can be steamed only after two months of fermentation of the first pot of steamed grains in a pit. To obtain mellow liquor, the steamed liquor has to be stored in an earthen jar for three to five years. Shi said bluntly that fame and fortune seemed less important in his fifties, and he focused more on being a good person, and producing quality liquor.