Kvass Quest! Help Me Add This

Help Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by elNopalero, Dec 2, 2019.

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  1. elNopalero

    elNopalero Grand Pooh-Bah (4,568) Oct 14, 2009 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Hi folks,

    I’m looking for some help here in adding a kvass brewer.

    You can see the front and back of the bottle, assuming the image works:

    https://imgur.com/gallery/9I1PDdt

    The most I could find is that it’s from Lithuania, and imported by European Importing Company where it’s listed as Russkoe Zoloto. (https://eic.itemcatalog.biz/catalog/#/?eyJ2IjoiQ0FURUciLCJ4IjoiS1ZBUyIsImciOiI4MDZiMzIzNSJ9) That’s the extent of what I’ve been able to find, as a search of the company’s website is a similar dead end.

    I have two more bottles of kvass, different names but via the same importer, and in the name of being a completist I’d like to add them to the database. Suggestions?
     
  2. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,291) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    You're in luck! We actually have a member who can read Russian (I assume that's what that alphabet is) and may be able to help. Calling @sweetsimon.
     
  3. cryptichead

    cryptichead Grand Pooh-Bah (3,813) Jul 3, 2014 Illinois
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    If it was me I would create a new place for "Russkoye Zoloto (Russian Gold)" in Lithuania. I searched but couldn't find a homepage or address so it would just be a broad listing.

    Then you can add the kvas as "Russkoye Zoloto (Russian Gold) Kvass"
     
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  4. officerbill

    officerbill Pooh-Bah (2,228) Feb 9, 2019 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    “rye bread crumbs”? Is that an odd translation or is this brewed using crumbs from actual loaves of rye bread?
     
  5. Snowcrash000

    Snowcrash000 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,017) Oct 4, 2017 Germany
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    That's what Kvass is, authentic Kvass is literally fermented from rye bread.
     
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  6. officerbill

    officerbill Pooh-Bah (2,228) Feb 9, 2019 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thanks, I knew rye was used, but didn't realize it was actual rye bread.
     
  7. Crusader

    Crusader Pooh-Bah (1,651) Feb 4, 2011 Sweden
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Based on my readings on the topic I would say that homemade kvass today is normally a mixture of bread, sugar and yeast, potentially flavored with peppermint (the use of which appears alot in historical accounts of kvass as well). If one looks at 19th century material however there seems to have been a greater degree of overlap between kvass and beer, where they could mix malt and unmalted cereals and or bread, and or sugar, and ferment the resulting brew with yeast. With the inclusion of at least some malt and yeast being the common features. But at the same time these forms of kvass appear to have existed alongside simpler mixtures of bread and sugar in this same time period. With sugar long being limited in supply and expensive for the average peasant family it seems reasonable to me to think that the bread and sugar kvass was developed from the malt and flour/bread mixtures, rather than the other way around. Malting and brewing is after all an ancient way of turning grain into sugar, available to most any person who grew grain. And the use of unmalted grains alongside malt is of course no modern invention, it did not start with adjunct lager beers, as is evident by its use in Belgian brewing historically.

    I've seen it noted in historical accounts of certain areas in Sweden that some among the poor would make a simple beverage consisting of flour and water mixed with yeast, while those more well off would make beer using malt. An even simpler brew than kvass in other words, but existing within a culture of beer making, and with obvious influences from it. So the poor in Russia may similarly have had to settle for making their kvass out of bread and yeast only, resulting in the kind of beverage which it is commonly thought of as today.
     
    #7 Crusader, Dec 2, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2019
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  8. DISKORD

    DISKORD Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2017 South Carolina

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  9. cryptichead

    cryptichead Grand Pooh-Bah (3,813) Jul 3, 2014 Illinois
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

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  10. paulish

    paulish Grand Pooh-Bah (3,090) Feb 2, 2014 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Just only one brewery in Lithuania produces a kvass in 0,5L bottle both kind of kvass - Regular and White Kvass (Белый квас).
    May be I am wrong.
     
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  11. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,862) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I always thought kvass was a lacto fermented beet based drink?
     
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  12. DISKORD

    DISKORD Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2017 South Carolina

    That's a different type/variety of kvass.
     
  13. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,326) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    When working on my all-style goal, I needed a Kvass so went to a local Russian grocery. I spotted one, and when buying it got talking to the owner, explaining why I was buying it. He said that Russians don't consider Kvass a beer because it has such little alcohol that it's not considered an alcoholic beverage here or in Russia, and Russian kids drink it.
     
  14. cryptichead

    cryptichead Grand Pooh-Bah (3,813) Jul 3, 2014 Illinois
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Ah. Gotcha. But there is no mention of Russian Gold on their site.... I couldn't find any mention of this brand outside of the US distributor site. This has been a challenging one...
     
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  15. cryptichead

    cryptichead Grand Pooh-Bah (3,813) Jul 3, 2014 Illinois
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Yes it's not considered to have alcohol and kids drink it from any age. It's basically considered to be a soda (and it's almost one the way it's made nowadays)
     
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  16. DISKORD

    DISKORD Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2017 South Carolina

    Exactly! Alcohol-free or maybe 0.5%, which is like a non-alcoholic beer. When trying to hunt some down, avoid plastic bottles and cans. Look for dark, glass bottles. You can also buy kvass extract, but I'm not sure how good it is. Sold at Russian/Slavic (Euro food) stores. Comes in a glass jar and it's as thick or thicker than molasses. If you go for something made by an American brewery (ex. Fonta Flora or Jester King) it's not kvass.
     
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  17. elNopalero

    elNopalero Grand Pooh-Bah (4,568) Oct 14, 2009 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I have no idea what White Kvass is like. If I ever come across I will pick some up to find out.

    I did get up two more bottles of kvass from the same market--from Latvia. They're the regular and unfiltered bottles from "Russian Standart" (via the distro link, https://eic.itemcatalog.biz/catalog/#/?eyJ2IjoiQ0FURUciLCJ4IjoiS1ZBUyIsImciOiI4MDZiMzIzNSJ9). They also have a white kvass that's filtered and one that's unfiltered. Same as my original post, I have no other details about the producer beyond the importer.
     
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  18. elNopalero

    elNopalero Grand Pooh-Bah (4,568) Oct 14, 2009 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I think kvass is considered a beer for our purposes (even if it is not a 'beer' in the 'commonsensical' use of the word) here because it is a fermented grain-based beverage, regardless of the presence of alcohol? I am not sure entirely, however, as flavored soda-type kvass varieties also fall under this larger umbrella.
     
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  19. Bitterbill

    Bitterbill Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,772) Sep 14, 2002 Wyoming
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I checked with some friends and their conclusion was that since there's no abv on the bottle, it is likely that it is a grocery store "soda" offering.
     
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