Homebrew Kvass

Obligatory super-unhelpful reply: no, I haven't, but I want to as well! Whenever I finally get around to it, I want to bake my own dark rye bread, let it stale, and then mash it with a pound or two of regular 2-row pale malt. I know this is not 100% authentic, but it should at least make a kvass-like substance. My plan is to use Wyeast 1056 or something similarly neutral (though I guess bread yeast would probably be most authentic).

 

Yeah, I thought I needed to try borscht, too, but I was mistaken

 

Kvass is actually going to be one of my next batches. Might not get to it until about June though, as it's busy around here right now and I do have a couple other batches lined up first. A couple of years ago I did like 20 hours of research into a solid recipe, and have had it on the back burner for that long but am committed to brewing it soon.

I'll buy the rye bread instead of making my own -- I tried baking my own a couple years ago and it was a disaster IMHO. Traditional rye bread (without caraway seeds!) is available at any of those specialty food stores in the ethnic / European section. The bread is like bricks that apparently keep in the package for a couple of YEARS like hardtack. I've eaten some in the past so I know what to expect. It's pretty mild and earthy in flavor without any of the pumpernickel spices. So anyway, I'll use that, plus I'm going to add dried currant leaves that I've collected for a couple of seasons now. They say traditionally currant leaves were a secret ingredient, which I believe will balance the extreme sweetness of the kvass. I just chewed on a leaf right now, and it reminds me a lot of black tea, or maybe somewhere between black and green tea. I wouldn't call it astringent, but pleasant with a slight raisiny character and low bitterness. I could use a lot I think, similar to hops (half an ounce in a gallon or whatever). I thought about adding lemon and still not sure if I will. Again I think the lemon is to balance the sweetness. But I'll probably try it with just the currant leaves and no lemon, making it a little more like a gruit, with a traditional bittering herb other than hops.

The recipe I have settled upon is primarily based on the following, with several of my own adjustments based on the research I did. I'm hoping it will taste fantastic, but at the very least I expect it to be a fascinating experiment.

http://www.gourmantineblog.com/do-you-know-what-kvass-is/

To those who raise eyebrows: It's a beer! It contains water, grain, herbs, yeast, and alcohol. If you want to get all Rhineheitsgebot on our butts, well golly gee willikers. Print this post while you still can or send me a private message.

P.S. For yeast, I'm going to basically make a paste out of rye flour and water and let that sit in a Ziplock for 5-7 days. Traditional wild fermentation, baby!

 

Zymurgy had an article a year or so ago.

 

Hey Everyone,

I wasn't 100% sure where to post this but it made sense posting a question about homebrewing here.

I am in the process of making kvas and after a lot of research I have come to a dead end, I was wondering if anyone could shed light or point me in the right direction.

In Russian recipes you need to use fermented red rye malt, you can do this by germinating your own rye grain and drying and then putting them through a mill. I do not have a mill at my disposal and sprouting the grains seems scary.

Do you guys think that I can find a substitute online or at a local homebrewing store, for the fermented red rye malt, would using rye malt (ground) they sell at homebrewing stores be the same thing? The rye malt at homebrewing stores undergoes germination/drying and eventual milling process if requested right?

Thank you so much for your help, I am brand new homebrewing so excuse my naivety, please just spell it out for me.

 

You can buy whole grain rye in two versions. Unmalted and malted. Unmalted can be purchased at a grocery store. Malted can be purchased at the homebrew store. The homebrew store can grind it for you.

The ground malted rye is ready to use. No further germination or drying is needed. That would be the easiest way to go and yes it would be a fine substitute for unmalted rye.

However, I was under the impression Kvass was made by fermenting rye bread.

 

If you want to go the route of a sweet commercial kvas, then yes, rye malt from a regular homebrewing shop should work for you. Be aware, however, that the rye malt is extremely sticky, and some addition of rice hulls will help in the brewing process to allow rinsing of the mash. Like Betty says, no sprouting needs to be done with malted rye, all that work is already done for you.

Personally, I'm going to try the old-school route of soaking unmalted rye bread in boiling water, no malt at all.

Different ways to reach different ends of the spectrum of "KBAC".

Cheers.

 

My understanding of the origins of kvass is that it started as a combination of malt and flour fermented (to some degree) by yeast, later on the malt and yeast would be replaced by sugar and bread yeast and bread would be added as an ingredient and flavoring. So that nowadays the dark rye bread, sometimes toasted, adds the flavor, and the sugar and the yeast adds the fermented aspects of this drink. Here is a late 1800s description of its production (it should be noted that they basically describe the baking of bread as the basis of this kind of beverage). In Finland they used to prepare a simple drink made from flour, water and yeast. Today it is common to produce Sima using white and brown sugar, lemon and raisins and bread yeast (which is called "lemon kvass" by the same 1800s source, yet today it is considered a traditional Finnish beverage). The average farmer wouldn't have had access to sugar back in the day (and honey was associated with the rich), but they would have had access to flour and grains which could be malted. So kvass in my opinion started as a mixture of malted grains and unmalted grains fermented with yeast, which later turned into a drink composed of simple sugars which were fermented with bread yest, with bread as its main flavoring.

 

I suppose it comes down to if you want to make a 1000AD Kvass or a 1900AD Kvass. If you make the 1000AD version, I think you have to drink it from a goat's bladder to be authentic.

 

My Finnish grandfather went to work for a crofter back in the 1950s and the crofter used to place pieces of bread in a jar with water and place frog legs (!) inside before it was ready to drink. But based on what I have read you could go for either an earlier combined malt and flour type kvass, or a later sugar and bread type kvass.

 

So I am looking for fermented red rye malt (which I wasn't clear if it's the same thing as the red rye malt at homebrewing supply stores). As you ground the sprouted grains with the little shoots (not sure what the technical term is) while in a lot of homebrewing videos I watched that part is removed by sifting after the drying takes place.

The rye malt is mixed with boiling water and sugar than transferred to a vessel of some sort, to that I add sourdough starter.

My main concern is with the "fermented" red rye malt!

 

Most of the recipes for kvas online use the rye bread method. I am looking for the rye malt and sourdough process.

 

Could you clarify what you mean by this sentence? "That would be the easiest way to go and yes it would be a fine substitute for unmalted rye." I need fermented red rye malt.

 

Rinsing the mash, is that necessary? Can't you transfer the rye malt (boiling water+sugar) mixture all directly into a bucket? and then add all the other ingredients?

 

@Olga2622

You can't buy fermented red rye malt. You have to buy rye malt (it won't be called red) and ferment it with yeast. The end result is beer or Kvass or something else.

 

@Olga2622

It might be productive to post whatever Russian information you are referring to for your Kvass. You can post it in Russian, if you don't have an easy way to translate it. I can translate it.

 

I have finally solved it this was just an issues with semantics. Wow that took way too long. So apparently this is what is meant when Russians say (fermented red rye malt) ""Red" refers to fermented, or toasted rye malt, which loses its diastatic properties due to the heat treatment." I am have no idea why they use the word fermented for this process.

 

No, not a goat's bladder; a skull. Hence the term: "skål".