Kvass Thread

anyone ever make beet kvass? I found a recipe that is literally just beets, salt, and water that says you don't need whey or anything.

Would replacing the raisins with honey ruin the kvass?
I don't really like raisins...

Not at all, you can use basically whatever fruit you want or even oats and grains. The point is, as the post said, to give the yeast something to "latch onto".

Oh neat, might add an apple then.
Gonna get the ingredients friday, will report back then

I am going to do this later this year. I grow a good sized garden and beets are one of my favorites. I saw this for the first time on Munchies. The lady on there I think still put bread in there.

bump for thread survival until then.

Wish kvass was more readily available here in the states. Thankfully we have a Russian deli here in town and holy shit they carry over a dozen different brands.

how powerful is kvass? can you control the alcohol content

The longer you let it ferment the stronger it gets.
Usually kvass has under 2% ABV

Does wild fermentation work well, or is adding yeast a must?

Sure you can use wild yeasts, that's how kvass was originally made after all, it'll just take longer.

>burn rye bread
does this mean put in toaster until it's basically charcoal? or just really hard and dry and slightly burnt?

I wonder if the weird moist rye bread (pic) in the netherlands can even be toasted btw, maybe I should just use normal dark whole grain bread.

or maybe I'll just use some wasa knackebrod which is already burnt as fuck and basically 100% rye.

Wild yeasts can be variable as fuck and you never know if candida will contaminate the whole batch.

The point is to dry it out as much as possible, but also darken the coloring of the drink. So yeah, turn that shit up to Nagasaki.

Remember to open it once a day to let gasses escape.

Two dozen brands? Holy shit, and here I was happy I had like four or five to select from. Do they have Krushka i Bochka?

it will work but might go bad or have weird flavors. I've done it and it tastes great and dry but a little strange. I'm working on a wild culture to pitch to mitigate the strange flavors and I'll keep you guys updated.

Is it normal for kvas to come out tasting like apples? I love it, but every time I make it it tastes faintly of soft cider.

My first attempt at kvass ever.
Can't wait to try it in a few days

Hi friends I'm gonna try it too. In my case I don't have raisins nor fresh fruit nor rye bread. My recipe will be:

>toast flatbread made with simple flour and water
>infuse in boiling water with homemade banana jam (the closest thing I have to fruit)
>after 4 hours add 30% w/w of organic cane sugar and a little banana jam
>yeast is lalvin 1116 for white wine (only one I have)
>wait two days

Just two technical questions:
>should I open the hermetic jar everyday to let CO2 escape?
I plan to fill the jar as full as possible to avoid interior atmosphere but I don't want it to explode

>whats the point of adding additional raisins in the fermentation step?
If I remember correctly the yeast needs carbon and nitrogen to multiply. Main source of carbon would be the sugar and I suspect that you add fruits as a source of nitrogen. In college I remember being taught that the ideal conditions for growth aren't necessarily the ideals conditions for alcohol production. To me you want to give the ideal condition for alcohol production while avoiding multiplication of yeast (to avoid yeasty tasting) then adding raisins makes no sense. Might ask /diy/ about this one.

There aren't many Russians in Melbourne but when I get a hankerin' I head down the the Gastronom in the southeast of town and pick up some kvass Ochakovskiy and a tub of olivier or seledka pod shuboi

i second some of this guys questions about the fermentatiom

and the 1.5tsp is dried yeast I assume?

Amerifag, never even heard of this stuff. How's it taste?

Like a fizzy malt beverage. I guess the closest thing to an American would be light beer or hard cider, or this stuff if you've ever had it.

I hope beer-like desu, making it myself rn

Imagine drinking a carbonated glass of rye with some sugar. I wouldn't say it's an acquired taste because it's pretty benign.

From my previously works with baking yeast, 1.5 g for 1L of must is too fucking much. I use like less than 50 grams of liophylized yeast and end up with yeasty taste.

1.5 of yeast is for 2L

Please more details on this. I always wanted to catch wild yeast to produce light cider but never got it right. The initial culture just get mold in the surface before I move to the closed fermentator. Also so busy with work that my last attempt at this was in january.

Well wine yeast comes in 5 g packages for 20 L of must then 1.5 g should be used for 6 L. Even tough you say baking yeast isn't that strong for alcohol production you still using triple the recommended amount.

This is a summertime treat for slavs? Truly the most depressing of all cultures.

keeping these niggas covered while they ferment for the first night. it smells a bit bready and like the raisins. color is way better than I expected, will post update tomorrow.

It..it's the HERO OF KVASS! It is truly an honor!

It's basically non-alcoholic light beer that anyone can make. Tasty and low-effort = /comfy/

they are now definitely under some pressure and there's some foam. Should I open them once or twice a day to let tje pressure out or is it fine?q

Help me too experts.

I started my batch yesterday and now I have foam. I'm using one of these mason jars with metal support and I don't want it to explode but neither I want vinegary taste.

Just open it and close. Infection is quite rare with that short exposure time.

Is it possible to let this ferment for long enough to get it fairly alcoholic (more than 3 or 4 %?)

As long as the yeast has stuff to turn into alcohol it will keep fermenting until the yeast dies which happens around 13-17% ABV.
At least that's the way it works with beer.

and wine obviously

can confirm this principle also applies to kvass.

When i made this it came out sickeningly sweet, undrinkably sweet. What did i do wrong

You probably added too much sugar, not enough yeast or stored it in a place that was too cold. Yeast works slower in lower temperatures, which means it needs more time to turn the sugar into alcohol.

Is kvass a meme drink now? I'm currently making it and sure as hell didn't know it was this popular here.

Kvass & Hard Bass

Holy shit maybe I fucked up my recipe. Put the ferment to run on friday then woke up today and saw a thick layer of bubbles in the top of the liquid. Though it was already over then moved in to the refrigerator.

After 3 hours I came back to taste and it end up surprisingly good but too sweet. Definitively the yeast didn't had time to work on the sugar what is strange because bread yeast on the other had would eat everything in the first day.

I removed the jar from the fridge and will wait more two days, hope the refrigeration didn't kill the yeast.

glass jar of kvass and hard bass adidass

When bass rhymes with glass it's a kind of fish.
Bass music rhymes with face.

Use slav pronunciation senpai

No.

>senpai
i meant blyat :^)

my kvass should be done tomorrow.
I wonder how much of the sugar is gone.

Do Americans really drink this?

I do but I was introduced to it in Russia.

That said, everyone but one person I've introduced it to hated it with a passion. Refused to try it again.

Sure do, but only because of my mom's family

Same, but most everyone I had try it were babbys who didn't like the taste of beer either, so take that with a grain.

i'd been making it for years but i think some estonian called boris made a video and now everyone and their mama is talking about/ making it

it's one of those things that's getitng popular with young soccer moms and hipsters

A couple of days and a run through an old kitchen towel later...

somewhere between malty beer and cola

Looks good, how's it taste?

same for me, I threw my first try away desu because it's too sweet. will wait for the remaining jars to ferment some more over the next few days. it's promising but I fear that it will get me sick. Is there any serious amount of methanol in this or is it not much of a problem because of the low amount of raisins?

Cherries and plums. Or cherries, raspberries and blackberries. And always, ALWAYS have a lemon to squeeze in there.

Hello, guys.
Yesterdays Kvass-fag asking about botulinum here.

Am rusfag, rate my pissjars.
Each one is 1L, and I've got 15.

>8737382
Looks good, my friend, but try using rye next time, this gives the authentic flavor it's so famous for.

It's kinda like Cider when apples are used.
But looks great nevertheless!

The best one was during the soviet 70s, back when they would carry carts of the stuff, all home-brewed.

Now most of the companies are just fake flavored stuff.
Pic related.

Very nice, very nice indeed.
Cherry kompot is true kompot.

>most depressing of all cultures.

At least it's not diabeetus cola, the summertime amerifat treat.
It's meant to be /healthy/, not just some 1000 grams of sugar for each 1001 ml of beverage.
>probiotic features from live yeast consumption.
>acidic qualities, helps prevent gastritis,
>Low alcohol content, so no fat forming.

what the fuck are you idiots up to now

We're making Kvass, glorious Russian drink.

Fermented rye-low-alcohol beverage.

It's still common in Russia. At least a few years ago it was and sure it's today too.

I think Iļģuciema makes legit kvass

The bread I used has rye in it, or at least it says so. Nowadays that probably means it contains a chemical extract of rye or something like that. Gonna use a different kind of bread for the next batch to get that rye flavour.

A mix of apple and bread, pretty sour. Not exactly bad but definately not good either. Made a couple of mistakes during the process though so was kinda expected.
Hope to do better with my second attempt which I will start this evening.

it is still popular in summer

t. sufferer on the russia

My second attempt has started, used real rye bread this time.
Gave it a good burning in the toaster first and added raisins this time instead of apple.
Gonna let this sit overnight.

>unironically liking kvass

Attempt #2 is a go. Operation: Kiss My Kvass is live, I repeat, we are live.

How do you guys filter your kvass? My first batch was a pain in the ass to filter.

I use coffee filters. I make kvass in small quantities therefore they do the job.

Filtered the stuff next morning, added yeast, sugar, honey and new raisins.
Fermenting in the cellar now

how much should the bread be burned?
just a little scorched or more?

Just make sure it's evenly crisp inside too not only outside

ah thanks

My coffee filter ripped open so I had to refilter it

just a normal sieve and not using the bottom stuff for me. seems to be good enough, i can't feel anything in my mouth while drinking it.

my second jar out of 3 is pretty good after 5 days, coke lvl sweetness I'd say. I guess the fermentation will be a bit faster during the summer though.

here's the finished product I guess. foam seems pretty fine. tastes pretty good but a lot like some weird thing between beer and cola. I'm pretty happy, but also looking forward to the third jar, will probably open it saturday night or something. (started last friday night)

I put mine in a pot of hot water to speed up the process and shit fuking asploded

Made some with cranberries and half-rye bread.
Maybe I let it ferment for too long or something, because it was a kicker I'll tell you what.
Flavor was great though.
Came out a sort of peachy color.

Cyka blyat

Piss/10

I'd like to give it a try. What's a good time honored recipe? Like what someones grandma would make. Also what's the best kind of yeast for this?

>time-honored recipe
seethis is seriously how my grandmama would make it, but some of the guys are right it's sweet as hell so just dial down the sugar amount if you want it less sweet,

>yeast

To harness the true and original flavor you'd need to rely on wild yeasts, but given the hit-or-miss nature of those, you're best bet would be to use a baker's yeast (in keeping with the low-budget spirit of the thing while also being effective).

Thanks, user. I'll give it a try.