Kvass anyone?
Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 10:23 am
What is Kvass? It's an Eastern European low alcohol (0.5-1%) drink, traditionally made by "mashing" toasted dark rye bread, adding sugar and yeast, letting it ferment a bit (literally 24 hrs), then chilled and served uncarbonated (or with whatever residual CO2 from fermentation was left in in). What does it taste like? Bready, sweet, a bit spicy from the rye, a bit sour and very refreshing - some call it "pumpernickel in a glass". There are many bottled versions available at most LEEFSs (Local Eastern European Food Stores) - I like Ukranian Kvass Taras as far as commercial ones are concerned.
And this is how it's sold on the streets of Russia - out of a large wheeled tanker trailer:
Anyway... I was shopping at my LEEFS the other day, and saw something that caught my eye - Kvass LME. Back when I was a kid, my family used to make Kvass from stuff like this all the time, and damn it was good. So I figured, $2.99 is not a lot of money to risk. I was also looking for something to fill an empty keg quickly, and Kvass is super quick to make.
Here it is:
and in English:
I came home and whipped up a quick batch - traditionally, one would use bread yeast, but since I had some spare S-04, I used that:
It's even easier than Mr. Beer - no boiling required. Got some water into the pot, along with 6 2/3 cups of sugar (instructions called for 1 2/3 cup per 5 liters), warmed up a bit to get it to dissolve, then mixed the Kvass LME in:
Added to a 6 gallon better bottle, topped off to about 5 gallons, sprinkled the yeast on top, put the airlock on, and left it on the kitchen counter. With Kvass, high temperatures are not detrimental to fermentation; you actually want it around 80F.
I waited until krausen fell (about 3 days) before tasting and racking to a keg. There's still plenty of residual unfermented sugar, so if you're not kegging it, I would use PET bottles and refrigerate them as soon as they get hard.
And here it is freshly poured from the tap a few days later:
What a great way to fill an empty keg!
And this is how it's sold on the streets of Russia - out of a large wheeled tanker trailer:
Anyway... I was shopping at my LEEFS the other day, and saw something that caught my eye - Kvass LME. Back when I was a kid, my family used to make Kvass from stuff like this all the time, and damn it was good. So I figured, $2.99 is not a lot of money to risk. I was also looking for something to fill an empty keg quickly, and Kvass is super quick to make.
Here it is:
and in English:
I came home and whipped up a quick batch - traditionally, one would use bread yeast, but since I had some spare S-04, I used that:
It's even easier than Mr. Beer - no boiling required. Got some water into the pot, along with 6 2/3 cups of sugar (instructions called for 1 2/3 cup per 5 liters), warmed up a bit to get it to dissolve, then mixed the Kvass LME in:
Added to a 6 gallon better bottle, topped off to about 5 gallons, sprinkled the yeast on top, put the airlock on, and left it on the kitchen counter. With Kvass, high temperatures are not detrimental to fermentation; you actually want it around 80F.
I waited until krausen fell (about 3 days) before tasting and racking to a keg. There's still plenty of residual unfermented sugar, so if you're not kegging it, I would use PET bottles and refrigerate them as soon as they get hard.
And here it is freshly poured from the tap a few days later:
What a great way to fill an empty keg!
