It's easy!

I certainly consider myself a beginning home-brewer, and have only been at the hobby since last January. Like many others, I was unintentionally introduced to the hobby I vowed never to become involved with by none other than a Mr. Beer kit. After my first batch of something that resembled Natural Light in taste, I started reading about brewing all-grain in Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing and began listening to Basic Brewing Radio podcasts by James Spencer. What I had learned in the following months was that brewing beer was conceptually simple, and that even all-grain brewing is within the reach of anyone with a will and a kitchen.

From what I gather, there are no hard and fast rules to making kvass. I see a lot of "recipes" from fellow home brewers, but I consider most of these unnecessarily complex and they require a bunch of equipment. If Russian serfs could make this drink in smoky huts during medieval times, you can too. Any decently stocked kitchen can pump out kvass; the following equipment is needed:

• Large stock pot (12 quarts is a good size)
• Campden tablets
• Kitchen scale (not necessary but nice)
• A stove or source of heat
• Strainer or muslin bag
• 2 Gallon jugs (just drink the cheap stuff and save the jug)
• Airlock + stopper (not necessary; plastic wrap and a rubber band can be used instead)
• Funnel
• Racking cane + hose (optional)

The following ingredients are needed, but not necessary. You can make this stuff out of anything you want to:

• 2 gallons of water
• 2 lbs of crusty sourdough bread (any bread will do, I have even made it out of burnt pumpkin bread and it was delicious). I use my leftover bread ends that are too hard to eat.
• Sugar (any kind will do)
• Raisins or craisins
• Lemon juice
• Sourdough culture (just mix flour and water, cover with a wet towel, and let it sit for a few days)
• Dried or fresh mint (any kind will do, even tea bags)

Here are my methods...they are not set in stone, and were developed through trial-and-error and theory. I am always open to suggestions and comments, but this process works for me.

1. Fill stock pot; crush and add campden tablet. I use this to eliminate free chlorine and chloramine and precipitate it out of solution.
2. Bring water to approximately 150 degrees F, add bread chunks, remove from heat; cover.
3. Once pot has reached 80-90 degrees F (5-ish hours), strain (bread could be placed in muslin bag prior to throwing in hot water as well) into gallon jugs, making sure there is some "headspace" for the yeast to do its thing.
4. Add the following to each fermenter:

• a tablespoon chunk of sourdough starter
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 4 oz sugar
• 1 oz of raisins or craisins (a handful)
• a few grams of mint, to taste

     5. Shake the jugs to oxygenate the unfermented liquid. Place airlock or plastic wrap and place fermenter in a warm place, between 60-68 degrees F.
     6. After a few days, fermentation will become obvious by activity in the airlock or taut plastic wrap.
     7. Once fermentation stops and the yeast drops out, rack or decant liquid into a clean container. Cap, refrigerate, and enjoy!

I cannot stress the importance of cleanliness of all your implements. A weak bleach solution works just fine to sanitize your equipment, but make sure you rinse with plenty of water before use. I typically use an acid-based sanitizer for all my brewing which costs next to nothing, especially considering that I re-use it for several brew sessions.

Well, that's all for this week. I have been making kvass bi-weekly, so perhaps I will add photos soon.