Kvas

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heywolfie1015

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Has anyone ever had this? It's a Russian drink; basically a very small beer traditionally made out of ingredients from the home. SWMBO was born in the Soviet Union and moved to the States when she was ten. She always talks about kvas and standing in lines to get it at these carts they wheeled around which were basically giant kegs.

We have a kid on the way and I'm thinking of making the recipe Mosher included in Radical Brewing a few weeks before the due date. Since her family will be in town, I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate. Only problem is that I want it to be a surprise and have basically no experience with this drink. If you have any experience with it (tasting/brewing/whatever), I'd love to hear what you think about it in general, and any suggestions.
 
I made some a long time ago as a quick drink to enjoy while I was waiting for my first homebrew to be ready. As I recall the recipe included toasted rye bread, mint, sugar, cream of tartar, lemon and bread yeast.

It tasted fine, if a little strange (also the bottles had over an inch of yeast on the bottom!). The worst part squeezing the liquid out of the wet rye bread through a peice of cheesecloth. It took forever and the whole wad looked like a dirty diaper.

But I'll bet Mosher's recipe is a lot easier, I can't remember offhand.
 
I should be clear that I'm only talking about the lacto-fermented kvass that we made which may or may not be the "real" way to make it.
Other recipes might be delicious. I like beets but this tasted nothing like beets.
 
I visited Russia a few years ago. I remember the kvass there being quite good, but I had some from a Russian market here over the summer and really didn't like it.

I remember them saying that it was fermented rye bread (or Russian black bread), possibly with raisins... not sure about the raisins.
 
An amusing description and recipe from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.

COMMON TABLE KVASS

3 funts of rye malt and 1 funt of barley malt cooked in a
sufficient quantity of boiling water to produce a thick, but
pourable, gruel; mix to smoothness,put in a cast iron vessel
and place in oven for several hours for full infusion. Remove
and pour into a large pot, dilute with boiling water to the
desired consistency, allow to settle, and then decant. From
the decanted liquid, take 2-3 stakans, and dissolve therein 30
grams of yeast and 2 tbsp. of wheat flour, allowing the mass
to rise in a warm place, after which, pour back into the pot.
Add sugar to taste, 0.25 funt of raisins, 3-4 pieces of hops;
mix well and place in a warm room until the yeast and raisins
come to the top and form a hemispherical foam "cap". Remove
this with a perforated ladle, pour the kvass into bottles,
seal them and put in a cold place. The kvass may be drunk the
next day.
Click to expand...
 
Well I know what I'm brewing over the weekend... I've got a 1 gallon jug with Kvass written all over it... If its good I'll do enough for a 5L mini keg and throw it on the beer engine.

Here is what I'm going to use for a 3 gallon batch:

2.7lbs rye malt
.9lbs 2 row
1oz Hallertau Hops
4oz raisins (in primary)

With a Bavarian Wheat (Wyeast 3638)

I figure about 2.7% ABV and 11-12 IBUs. This was done on Hopville though, so who knows what it'll actually be. I hate formulating these at work :)
 
Hegh said:
"funt"? "stakan"? I've never heard these terms before...
Click to expand...
You need to learn some Russian if you want to make kvas from authentic recipes :) Funt [foont] is a pound, stakan [stah-kahn] is a glass (250 ml).
 
I'm surrounded by russians right now and it would probably be easy for me to get an authentic recipe. Problem is, most russians here are nasty mother effers that dont talk to people who aren't russian, so its a lost cause.

I came across a recipe that uses kvas extract that a russian woman makes thats closer than anything that could be bought in America. Google "authentic kvas recipe" and go to the one from irinaskitchen.com, about 4th result. Hope that helps
 
Check out the BYO article about this. Very good read, easy to understand, and there are at least two recipies in the article. Sorry can't remember the month or issue, but if you searched it on their website I'm sure it will come up.
 
We are all aware that the OP was looking for the recipe 3 years-ish ago???

This thread has been brought to you by the necromancers guild...
 
I had homemade kvas over Thanksgiving with a Ukrainian family. It was more of a sweet, naturally sparkling, fruit juice combo, with a hint of vinegar and alcohol. More like what I would think of a really young kambucha, but they called it Kvas.
There are probably many different cultural styles and variations.
It was good.
 

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