Kvass Quest! Help Me Add This

They operate in California so doesn't that state require an abv if there is one?

They being European Importing Company.

 

Kombucha as well.

 

I'm late to the party & regardless of thoughts (sorry), this was hashed out long ago based on a question by my notable colleague @UCLABrewN84 who likewise felt that kvass may not be "beer". This question/battle has been fought & won by the Kvass Supporters. Kvasses should ABSOLUTELY be added & a request for assistance should not be met with debate.

For OP: If your request has been met, then I call upon @Todd to lock the thread, lest it devolve into an already-settled debate.

 

Don't buy kvas in a Russian store. I have not seen a good one yet. It tastes more like soda than kvas. You might need to go to Russia to get a real taste of kvas (I was there in August and kvas was excellent).

 

I wasn't about to spend thousands to go to Russia to check off a style.

I did drive six hours for one style (Gruit), but made a beer shopping trip of it too. So I was only willing to spend hundreds!

 

In Finland they make Sima for Vappu or last of april. This drink is typically made of a mixture of white and brown sugar brought to a boil with sliced lemons, the liquid is left to cool and then some bread yeast is added and left for 24 hours, then the liquid is strained into plastic bottles and some raisins are added, it is left in a cool cellar and once the raisins float to the top after a couple of days it is ready to drink, having attained some light carbonation. I found a reference to citronenkwas (lemon kvass) from 1888 in a German textbook, which also discusses regular kwass, which describes a very similar beverage:

"A second, not less beloved kind is the lemon kwas. Lemon slices (out of which the kernels are removed), raisins and syrup are brewed with water, after cooling down a mixture of yeast and wheat flour is added, and diluted with cold water. As soon as the lemons and raisins rise to the top and a cover is formed at the top, all is removed with a straining spoon and the kwas is drawn off into bottles, in which 1 to 2 raisins have been placed beforehand. The bottles are corked and brought onto ice and after 5 to 6 days the kwas is ready to drink".

Apart from adding the raisins to the boil, and adding wheat flour to the cooled liquid, it is pretty much identical to how Sima is made today in Finland. It seems likely that there has been some Russian influences to this drink, and it shows how kwas/kvass as a term could encompass a broad spectrum of beverages. I'm reminded here of the Swedish term dricka, which historically has been a term used for both low gravity malt beverages, simple sugar based fermented beverages (sockerdricka=sugar drink), juniper based fermented beverages (enbärsdricka=juniper drink) and even flour and yeast based beverages (mjöldricka=flour drink).

 

Did you ever manage to make a discovery about the appropriate listing for the "Standart" bottle? I unknowingly purchased a bottle of this and ran into the same dead-end you did trying to figure out a producer (brewer?) so I could add it...

 

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