bob3000

Recipes 

I've recently stumbeled apon a few recipes for kvass after buying radical brews by Randy mosher and as I'm feeling poor this month I thought i might give it a try as a cheaper alternitive.

I've also been getting interested in the idea of doing a sour mash and i wondered if the two might combine well.

My plan is to make something with the spirit of kvass, a cheap rustic homebrew that is made from stuff i have lying around the house. I have heard some people put lemons in and that using bread yeast can create lactic acid. The one part i'm not so keen is the idea of drinking it during is first fermentation a few days old. But having not tried it yet, who knows?

Anyway, Here's what I'm thinking:

Add boiling water to 100% rye bread crumbs in mash tun. When temp cools to 150f chuck in some pilsner malt and flaked rye. leave over night for a sour mash. Then add some sugar and DME. Maybe do a short boil with a 1/4 oz of hops, Maybe not.

Any thoughts?

Vance71975

Recipes 

Honestly one of the best "brews" i have ever made was a "prison style hooch" basically i took a bunch of different fruit mashed it up with some 100% fruit juice and sugar, added a package of bread yeast, and let it ferment out, strained it and drank it, i was 17 that was 18 years ago and i have been hooked on fermentation ever since, so i say go for it!

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The mind is like a beer, it does the most good when it is opened.

shanecb

Recipes 

Sounds like a tasty experiment. East End Brewing here in Pittsburgh does a commercial kvass, and it's very good. You can actually find their recipe, and it has soured on him before so it very well might be a good approach. I know Oldsock has done the recipe, and it might be on his blog if I recall (The Mad Fermentationist). Good luck!

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BEER BEER

Oldsock

Recipes 

Yep, here is that recipe. With so little hopping the lactobacillus in the bread yeast soured the "beer" within a few weeks. You can certainly screw around with the ingredients, add spices etc... we did a great smoked version with elderberries and spruce.

Good luck!

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Check out The Mad Fermentationist for my adventures in fermentation (cheese, bread, ginger beer plant, and of course plenty of funky beer).

bob3000

Recipes 

Ok. Here's what i did. i probably went over the top a bit but I can't help it.

I made a porridge of Rye flour, polenta, oats and rye flakes added water and cooked for about 10 - 15 mins I also added 1/2 oz of saaz to the pot along with some raisins.

I cut my bread up( a large 100% rye loaf) into chunks and started to dry them in the oven. Got bored of that and went ahead with out it drying, can't see how it would make a difference.

Poured 10 litres of boiling water over the bread in my mash tun and added porridge. All the ingredients in a fine mesh bag for easy straining later.

It is now sitting in the mash ton slowly cooling. once it reaches 150f i will chuck in some pilsner and maybe some munich, about a pound. And let it sit over night. I will then check gravity. If it is really low I will add some sugar. I will then ferment with bread yeast. Although i am quite tempted to use some belgian wit yeast.

bob3000

Recipes 

Some recipes call for cream of tarter. Any idea what that does?

Oldsock

Recipes 

Cream of tartar is also added to ginger beer, the only explanation I ever got was that it helped head retention.

__________________
Check out The Mad Fermentationist for my adventures in fermentation (cheese, bread, ginger beer plant, and of course plenty of funky beer).

bob3000

Recipes 

here's a quick update of what has happened so far:

I got very strange fermentation characteristic. I tried to follow oldsocks advice on pitching rates and used about 1/8 of a teaspoon of bakers yeast but nothing really happened for a few days so i got impatient and added some ale yeast. nothing much happened for another day but now it seems to have fermented out. I had nothing that resembled a krausen.
It has a thick mouth feel and extream sourness with hints of vomit i think doing both a sourmash and a no boil was a mistake. Too much souring.
I think i will bottle it up and maybe use it to add some sourness to a rustic farmhouse ale, maybe even using it in the mash to adjust ph. This would have the added bonus of boiling it before drinking. I am a bit scared of this brew and even after just a small taste i could feel my guts drop and a trip to the toilet was never too far away.