According to the evidence of some ancient sources, kvass in Russia in the past, from time immemorial, was so strong that it "chopped" from its feet. Probably, from here came the expression that we use to this day - “leaven”! In general, as they say, “kvass hits in the sock”! And why do we need that foreign beer? After all, there is such a native and hoppy drink - alcoholic kvass!
As usual, a little history
The first references to alcoholic kvass, reminiscent of beer, were discovered as early as 3,000 years ago, in Egypt. Then this beautiful drink was described by Hippocrates, and Pliny, and Herodotus. The following references to drinking are found in the annals of Kievan Rus. So, after baptism, Prince Vladimir ordered honey and kvass to be distributed to newly-born Christians. And this does not seem surprising. Indeed, strong kvass was a ubiquitous, daily drink: and it was prepared by people of various segments of the population. And this product was recognized as a symbol of prosperity in the house, so it was present everywhere in Russia.
There is such a profession - fermenter!
Alcoholic kvass in those days was so popular that there was even a certain profession - “kvass”. Any representative of this stratum of workers was considered unique: almost everyone had their own authentic recipe. From here comes the richest abundance of varieties of the drink: there was alcoholic kvass and apple, pear, and rye, and other options. Despite the fact that every respectable housewife-wife also had her own, darling recipe for drinking, with which she treated her husband.
How many degrees in kvass?
This question cannot be clearly answered: there will always be a scale - from and to - depending on the recipes. It is known that during fermentation processes, for example, rye kvass at home, a special fungus forms in it, which then can turn into “degrees”. In general, any natural, properly cooked kvass can safely be considered alcoholic. True, you need to drink this drink quite a lot in order to at least feel the effect and get drunk - but maybe it’s for the better. Intoxication is very light and comes gradually, does not hit on the head, like vodka, or on the legs, like mash.
Traditionally, an alcohol content not exceeding 1.2% is considered acceptable. But in some varieties of the home, if you add extra sugar and let it wander for a longer time, 3-5% can occur. How many degrees in kvass: in ancient times, in Russia, thanks to the specifics of manufacture, until the twelfth century kvass was even stronger, thicker than the modern analog (even beer). Therefore, probably, the term “leaven” and survived to the present day.
Healing and benefits
It is proved that rye kvass, cooked at home, increases working capacity, relieves any fatigue, restores energy, activates digestion, can improve appetite and helps, due to its composition, digest fatty meat dishes. And he restores the ratio of fluids, vitamins and salts. Also homemade alcoholic kvass contains many trace elements, organoacids, destroys, removing from the intestines, all harmful flora. In ancient chronicles it is indicated: kvass is especially useful for the male in terms of potency. He strengthens it and promotes healthy offspring.
Simple cooking: ingredients!
For the preparation of rye kvass, we need crackers from a loaf of rye bread. To make the color of kvass darker, you need to bake the bread a little, but not very much, otherwise kvass will noticeably bitter. Crackers need to be cut into cubes, not too large, on the long side of about two centimeters. We also need a small pack of dry yeast (bread, 11 grams), about half a glass of granulated sugar and a handful of raisins. Dishes for making kvass should be glass or enameled (some prefer food-grade plastic - for example, you can take a 6-liter bottle from purified water), but not from metal - so that oxidation processes do not occur in it during the preparation of our kvass.
Making the drink step by step
- Pour crackers into a prepared clean pan. Fill them with 1.5 liters of hot water (temperature about 80 degrees Celsius). Such a liquid will well extract both taste and color from the crackers - and this is very important for our future kvask. Leave the mass to cool to a slightly warm state (27-32 degrees).
- In a glass of slightly warm water we put about half a glass of granulated sugar. Pour a packet of dry yeast there and mix thoroughly until completely dissolved. Pour the resulting liquid into a container with breadcrumbs. Stir a little.
- We put in a warm place, cover with gauze or a towel and leave to roam for 24 hours.
- After a day, we take out the swollen crackers from the water with a slotted spoon, and filter the remaining liquid through a double layer of gauze.
- If you plan to constantly make such rye alcoholic kvass, then select five to six tablespoons of yeast from crackers soaked (then we will add it instead of yeast). Sourdough can be stored in the refrigerator for some time.
- The filtered liquid is poured into a container and pour the rest of the granulated sugar there. We also add a handful of raisins and a liter of two warm (but not too hot) water. Mix lightly. Cover with a towel and leave to roam for another 12 hours (conveniently - at night, for example).
Final stage
Now kvass can be poured into plastic mineral bottles and corked. We leave a little empty space in them so as not to explode. If you want our kvass to turn out to be sharp and strong, you can add a tablespoon of sugar to each bottle. Closed containers must be removed in the refrigerator for another day to complete the fermentation process.
After the above time, a settled white precipitate appears in the bottles. And kvass acquires carbonated sharpness and a small alcohol degree (you can measure with an alcohol meter to make sure). The strength of a good kvass can reach 3, sometimes 5 percent - why don’t you have a beer? Now it can be drunk or used, for example, as a dressing for a tasty and fragrant (and most importantly - healthy) okroshyochka.
Kvass on yeast and sugar: not only from bread!
As mentioned above, this drink with the content (albeit minimal) of alcohol can be made at home not only from rye crackers. From ancient times, there were recipes for the preparation of this product from various ingredients.
- For example, birch kvass was considered a very useful and highly tonic drink. It has natural healing power and has a beneficial effect on the entire human body. It is prepared with sugar and raisins (you can add a little wine yeast to be sure, but they are already available on grapes). Fermentation (and gaining an easy degree) is carried out due to the decomposition of sugar into alcohols, carbon dioxide and water. Tip: take larger dishes (from the original liquid volume - 2 times) so that the kvass does not run away during the fermentation process.
- From apples (pears), you can also cook excellent alcoholic kvass at home. To do this, take apples and water, sugar and yeast (you can use freshly squeezed apple juice). The fermentation process proceeds in approximately the same way as with rye kvass (some even add crackers to this version of the formulation). And the drink turns out to be bright and carbonated, with a slight, subtle degree - it will remotely resemble cider.