Beo village wine, Tien Ngoai commune (Duy Tien town) has long been famous everywhere, loved and trusted by many people. The wine is brewed from sticky rice and Chinese medicinal yeast, has a delicious and very unique flavor. To create conditions to maintain and develop the traditional craft village, on November 26, 2008, the People's Committee of Ha Nam province issued Decision No. 1467/QD-UBND recognizing the traditional craft village of Beo wine.
According to the people of Thuong village, no one knows when the Beo wine making profession began. They only heard the elders say that, around the 19th century, a Chinese man who worked as a doctor passed through the village and unfortunately fell ill and was wholeheartedly cured by the villagers. In return for that kindness, the doctor passed on the secret of making wine to the villagers. Since then, generations of people in Thuong village have always considered it a treasure, a unique feature of the village, together preserving the profession passed down by their ancestors to make a living. Mr. Nguyen Cao Bang , 70 years old, who has many years of experience in following his father's career to maintain the wine making profession, shared: According to the elders, the people of Beo village have known how to make wine for nearly two hundred years. When peace was restored, the wine making profession here developed. However, through many ups and downs, it was not until around 1980, especially after the renovation period, that the wine making profession was expanded to the whole village and maintained to this day. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, my family used 20 tons of rice a year to make wine (16 tons of rice, equivalent to 16-20 thousand liters of wine), now it has decreased to over 50%.
According to the people of Thuong village, to have a unique wine product that cannot be found anywhere else, the yeast of Beo wine must be made from ground rice, then mixed with traditional Chinese medicine according to a secret recipe "passed down from father to son". Before making wine, in addition to the yeast, the rice selection step is equally important. The rice used to make wine must be standard sticky rice, full of grains, and dried in the sun. After the husk is ground, rinsed and drained before cooking into rice and must ensure that the rice is cooked, sticky, and delicious to easily catch the yeast and "get wine". When the rice is cooked, spread it out on a tray to cool completely, then sprinkle the crushed yeast evenly and let it ferment for 1-2 days (if the weather is cold, ferment longer) until there is a fragrant juice, then put it in a crock, add enough clean water and ferment for another 4-5 days, if the weather is cold, it may have to ferment for 7-8 days, wait until it has a spicy smell, the rice grains are soft but not crushed, then take it out to cook and distill into wine.
Nowadays, there are many modern technologies for making wine, but the people of Thuong village still commonly make wine with copper pots and bamboo tubes, the wine is more delicious. When boiling, it must be kept on low heat, about 5-6 hours to get a batch. Wine water 1, has an alcohol concentration of about 50 - 60 degrees. Depending on the customer's request, the bartender mixes the wine water (1, 2, 3) to produce the appropriate alcohol concentration. Regardless of the concentration, good wine must be clear, when shaken lightly, it will be sparkling, just a small sip is enough to feel the spicy taste of the wine yeast mixed with the aroma of sticky rice, sweet in the blood, the longer the wine is kept, the stronger, more fragrant, and sweeter the taste.
Good Beo wine is made from yeast, rice, water, brewing techniques, distillation, and preservation according to family secrets. Therefore, Beo wine is only delicious when brewed in Thuong village. According to the explanation of the elders in the village, good Beo wine, in addition to the secret of creating yeast, rice quality, and brewing process, there is a very important factor, which is the water source. Previously, Beo wine was brewed with water taken from the village's earthen well, which was clear all year round and had a characteristic sweet and cool taste. However, now due to polluted water sources, people have to use other clean water sources to brew wine and still retain the characteristic flavor. In addition, to preserve wine, people in Thuong village often use earthenware jars. Before being put into the jar, the wine must be filtered through a layer of activated carbon to ensure that the wine is clear and has no residue when it reaches the user.
Comrade Nguyen Van Hang, Party Cell Secretary and Head of Thuong Village, said: Beo Village currently has more than 200 households, of which more than 150 households regularly brew wine. On average, each household produces about 10,500 liters of wine/year. After deducting expenses, the income is about 200 million VND/household/year, contributing to improving and enhancing the lives of local people.
Currently, wine products on the market are very diverse, creating great competition; the people of Thuong village always remind each other to preserve, conserve, improve the quality and reputation of their hometown specialties. Therefore, Beo wine still retains its own characteristics that no other wine has and is increasingly attractive to customers in many provinces and cities, such as: Nam Dinh, Hanoi , Thai Binh, Lang Son, even in Ho Chi Minh City...
However, the people of Thuong village are still concerned about one thing, that is, Beo wine has not yet had its own brand, customers know about the wine mainly through friends and relatives, so the market is still at a low level. Comrade Nguyen Duc Giang, Deputy Secretary of the Tien Ngoai Commune Party Committee, said: In reality, Beo wine has been maintained and developed, contributing to increasing income, improving people's lives and making a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the locality. Therefore, to maintain and develop the craft village to its full potential; affirm the reputation and quality, as well as promote and widely introduce Beo wine products; At the same time, to avoid counterfeit and poor quality goods that affect the development of traditional craft villages and people's income, in 2021, the Party Committee and People's Committee of the commune directed the Commune Farmers' Association to establish and launch the "Beo Wine Brewing" Craft Association to maintain the traditional craft, promote the process of building and forming a chain connecting from production to consumption and protecting the collective brand "Beo Wine".
Tran Quyet
Source: https://baohanam.com.vn/kinh-te/thuong-mai-dich-vu/nang-tam-thuong-hieu-san-pham-ruou-beo-139954.html
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