Traditional bread kvass is a naturally fermented drink popular in Eastern European Slavic cultures.
It's usually served chilled, refreshing and carbonated. Similar to a rich dark beer, but with no to little alcohol.
The most popular version is made with Borodinsky bread, fermented with a mix of water and molasses. Other versions are made with berries, fruit or vegetables like beetroot.
It can be brewed with either fresh or dry yeast, but historically rye sourdough starter was used.
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Ingredients
Let's have a look at the ingredients and how you could substitute something if you don't have it.
- Borodinsky bread - Classic Russian bread containing essential spices like coriander and caraway. You can buy it or make my borodinsky bread recipe instead.
- Yeast - Fresh or dried, is fine. Classically, a sourdough starter is used. I provide measurements for all of these in the recipe.
- Molasses - I get plenty of question about molasses. Blackstrap which is the thicker, slightly more bitter version is what I use. You could also use malt syrup, although the resulting kvass would have a lighter colour and malty flavour.
- Honey - Honey is not an essential ingredient for making bread kvass. The amount used is very little, but the glucose in the honey does kickstart the fermentation really nicely.
- Sugar - You could use white or brown sugar as long as it's real sugar. Sweeteners won't work, as the yeast needs an energy source to ferment the kvass.
Instructions
- Sterilise all tools, equipment and hands with food safe disinfectant or at least soap and hot water.
- Slice and toast the bread in a dry pan or toaster until nice and dark. Don't just dry it in the oven. It's pointless.
- Dissolve the sugar and honey in a small portion(1 L) of hot water before adding the rest of the water along with the molasses.
- Place into a large bucket and add the yeast and toasted bread.
- Let the kvass ferment at room temperature, away from direct sunlight. The fermentation process will be visible after 24 hours.
- Let the kvass ferment for up to 4 days, or even longer if you like a dryer drink. You judge the readiness by tasting it daily. It's that simple.
- Once you are happy with the flavour, you can optionally and recommended strain out the bread. Bottle it to carbonate the kvass. Preferably plastic bottles. This is more of a safety reason, and it's impossible to judge carbonation level in glass. You can also pop a few raisins and a strip or two of fresh ginger into the bottles before closing.
- Let it ferment for another day or two at room temperature before chilling down in the fridge. Only consume when fully chilled.
Video
Tips for success
- Use sterilised equipment and work clean to avoid contamination and the kvass spoiling.
- It's best to weigh out the ingredients for an accurate result.
- Taste it daily to judge when it's done, and you like the flavour.
- If you are not an experienced fermenter, it's best to carbonate and store the kvass in plastic bottles.
Storage instructions
Keep in the fridge for up to 8 weeks.
Do not store at room temperature or freeze it.
Safety
The golden rule in making any no-salt, no-acid ferment, is to always use sterilised equipment, utensils and hands.
This will ensure minimum risk of spoilage bacteria spoiling your brew or causing illness.
Always consider the vessel you will keep your kvass in carefully.
Using glass bottles are much riskier than using plastic.
By using plastic, you can easily judge the level of pressure built up in the bottle, and should it explode, it will not cause much harm. Just sticky floors and walls at most.
Glass, however, can be dangerous when over pressured, and it is impossible to tell when that is by looking at the bottle.
Use with caution and even if you are an experienced fermentation enthusiast.
Frequently asked questions
In short, Yes. Kvass is sold in stores as a non alcoholic beverage. However, for drinks to be classed as non-alcoholic, in many countries it needs to contain less than 0.5% alcohol. Kvass can contain higher levels, up to 3% if you let it ferment dry(meaning the yeast consumes all the fermentable sugars).
This depends on what you consider healthy.
If making something yourself from scratch using real ingredients, especially if using a sourdough starter and baking the borodisnky bread yourself, then I suppose it's not too bad. You get some knowledge, exercise and pro-biotics.
Otherwise, it's still a sugary, low alcoholic drink.
If you want a healthy drink. Drink water.
Taste it daily.
That's the only way to judge a semi wild fermentation like this. Use your common sense when deciding when to bottle and carbonate it.
You need a bit of residual sugar for the yeast to consume. If you ferment it dry in the bucket ferment(1st ferment), you won't have any sugar for the yeast.
Yes. Carbon dioxide or CO2 stays exactly that, no matter if a by product of yeast fermenting sugar or from a metal canister.
If you just want shelf stable product, you pasteurise the kvass at 75 °C for 10 minutes. Cool it down and carbonate with a canister.
It takes away the artisanal authentic part of it as well as the couple of probiotics, but you don't have to worry about storing it in the fridge.
Equipment needed
Brewing drinks at home is a very simple process, and most of the time you do not need any fancy or special tools.
However, having some basic brewing equipment does make it easier for first time brewers.
Here are the items I find useful.
Related recipes
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Recipe
Traditional Bread Kvass
Ingredients
- 7 litres Water
- 200 grams Borodinsky bread - note 1
- 460 grams Molasses - note 2
- 30 grams Honey - note 3
- 10 grams Yeast - note 4
- 600 grams Sugar - note 5
Instructions
- Sterilise all tools, equipment and hands with food safe disinfectant or at least soap and hot water.
- Slice and toast the bread in a dry pan or toaster until nice and dark. Don't just dry it in the oven. It's pointless.
- Dissolve the sugar and honey in a small portion(1 L) of hot water before adding the rest of the water along with the molasses.
- Place into a large bucket and add the yeast and toasted bread.
- Let the kvass ferment at room temperature, away from direct sunlight. The fermentation process will be visible after 24 hours.
- Let the kvass ferment for up to 4 days, or even longer if you like a dryer drink. You judge the readiness by tasting it daily. It's that simple.
- Once you are happy with the flavour, you can optionally and recommended strain out the bread. Bottle it to carbonate the kvass. Preferably plastic bottles. This is more of a safety reason, and it's impossible to judge carbonation level in glass. You can also pop a few raisins and a strip or two of fresh ginger into the bottles before closing.
- Let it ferment for another day or two at room temperature before chilling down in the fridge. Only consume when fully chilled.
Video
Notes
- The spices in Borodinsky bread are a very important component to the overall flavour. If you can not find it or don't want to make it, then simply add a bit of toasted coriander seeds and caraway seeds to the kvass when you would have added the bread.
- Molasses come in two different varieties normally. Blackstrap and regular. Blackstrap molasses is the one you want, although you could also use regular or even malt syrup to good effect.
- Honey is used only to kickstart the fermentation process. If you are allergic or don't have it, then just skip it.
- You can use fresh, dried or sourdough starter. If you want t0 use fresh, use 20 grams instead of 10 grams dried. If you want to use sourdough starter, then use 100 grams of starter. Although sourdough starter is the traditional way of making it, it also gives a slightly sour taste to the final product. Keep that in mind when choosing.
- Only use natural sugar. It does not matter much which type, but "fake" sugars will not ferment, and it will also taste bad.
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