No love for malt

The Kvass made from yeast fermented bread is still a fermented beverage with detectable amounts of alcohol.

 

Traditional kvass is craft beer equivalent. Made with dark rye bread. Homemade and made in Russia and Ukraine on-draft is actually really good. Anything you find in cans and in plastic bottles is mass produced bs. It's like comparing mass produced AALs to traditional Lagers (German and Czech).

 

Do you happen to own the book The Oxford Companion to Beer? In that book Dick Cantwell writes: "Kvass is a mildly alcoholic, lightly sour beer of Slavic origin..."

I hope that you don't take this too personally but I will choose to listen to Dick Cantwell here.

Cheers!

 

Alcohol is never more than 1%, but it's usually under 1%. And it's considered to be a non-alcoholic beverage (kind of like Kombucha). And it's never called or considered a "beer". Stale rye bread, water, sugar and a little bit of raisins are used.

 

That's fine! But Dick Cantwell is not a Ukranian or Russian. Nor did he grew up there. "Sour beer" Kombucha is sour too. I guess it's a beer style of Asian origin then. Also, the same book you're referring to says that Allagash Brewing is from Portland, Oregon.

 

My badly made point is that kvass is fermented bread (and sugar/raisins), not grains that are mashed, separated from the liquid, boiled with hops, then fermented with cultured yeast like with a traditional beer.

 

The alcohol can be higher than 1% and it is still considered to be Kvass. The fact that it is considered to be a low alcohol beverage does not change the fact that it is not a soft drink. (I wasn't addressing whether it can be or is called a beer or not.)

 

Of course, alcohol can be higher. Then it'll be Hard (Alcoholic) Kvass. Just like Cider vs. Hard Cider, Ginger Beer vs Alcoholic Ginger Beer, Soda vs Hard Soda. It very much is a soft drink and it's not beer. Just Google it.

 

I have Googled it. Provide your source.

In this one it says "typically" 1% or less. Typically does not mean "always." Some has more than 1%.

 

If I was in the Ukraine I would definitely drink the Kvass.

 

Below is some information from the top rated Kvass beer list on BA:

6 Monastyrskiy Black Currant Kvas

Monastyrskiy Kvas

Kvass / 1.50% ABV

3.47 10

8 Kvas Taras

Slavutych Brewery

Kvass / 1.20% ABV

3.37 20

11 Nicola Traditional

Deka Brewery

Kvass / 1.20% ABV

3.18 21

12 Moskvas Klassicheskiy

Moskovskaya Pivovarennaya Kompaniya

Kvass / 1.20% ABV

3.02 16

14 Gubernija Duonos Gira Kvass

Gubernija Brewery

Kvass / 0.50% ABV

2.9 14

15 Monastyrskiy Kvas

Monastyrskiy Kvas

Kvass / 1.50% ABV

3.01 27

16 Khlebny Kray

Baltika Breweries

Kvass / 1.20% ABV

2.94 26

17 Ochakovskiy Kvass

Ochakovo

Kvass / 2.00% ABV



From the above list only Gubernija Duonos Gira Kvass is less than 1% ABV.

Cheers!

 

It's like saying "Kombucha beer list" or "Cider beer list". Just plain wrong.

 

Neither Kombucha or Cider are within the BA beer style list. Kvass is.

 

Malt is a beautiful thing in a big stout...not so much in a fresh IPA.

 

Helps to include the link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvass

 

I'm sorry, but that means absolutely nothing. Just look at how many actual beer styles that are not listed here. Another popular beer website has ciders and meads in their database. The problem these days with people is, just because something is somewhere on the Net, doesn't make it right/correct/accurate.

 

You only like IPAs without malt?

 

Pretty good rating for 120.

 

Yeah that's what I was getting. Most of the English hop strains that are used in traditionally styled English IPA's (Fuggles and Kent Golding come to mind immediately) are more "mild" compared to their American brethren. Some English IPA hop notes that I can recall are grassy, floral, herbal, and citrus (more of a citrus rind than juice).

I don't claim to be an expert on this kind of stuff, but it seems to me that the hops in an English IPA play more of a complimentary role to the malt rather than taking centre stage and as you said, relegating the malt to the background.

 

Last year I set out to try all beer styles, and I'm now stalled at 101 of 104. One of the ones I had was Slavutych Kvas Taras (aka Kbac Tapac), a Kvass style "beer". I found this at a local Russian grocery, and the owner said Russians don't consider it a beer as it is 1.2% ABV and kids drink it. It came in a 2 liter pop jug, was pretty much uncarbonated and didn't taste at all like a beer - more like an extremely sweet tea. I drank enough to review it, then dumped it. I don't drink tea, surely not 2 liters. I wouldn't call it a beer, and if it isn't let's get it off the list of styles. Or at least differentiate the examples that are and aren't a beer.