At least over a thousand years ago, the Slavs knew how to cook kvass. For the first time it is mentioned in letters that date back to 989. Then the Poles and Lithuanians knew how to cook it. And kvass was not a drink that people of any one class consumed. It was drunk by landowners and peasants, monks and military. They drank kvass after hard work, as they believed that it helps relieve fatigue and restore strength. It was also believed that this miraculous drink helps with all diseases and some harmful microorganisms die in it.
And already in the 15th century in Russia there were at least 500 varieties of this drink. But even now, the preparation of kvass has also not lost its relevance. Today, people apply at least 150 recipes for berry, fruit, honey and bread kvass. They use rye bread crackers, berries and fruits, honey, juices, crops and rhubarb. And as additives to it are yeast, raisins, sugar or other products.
And now about how to cook kvass at home. To do this, you need to study a simple manufacturing process. It consists of two stages. At the first stage, the wort is harvested, and at the second - its fermentation. Leaven wort is inherently an aqueous extract of fruit, bread or other raw materials. And for its fermentation, baker's yeast is used.
And in order for the wort to begin to roam, it must be poured into the dishes (a large pot or something like that), cover it with a lid and put in a warm place. Once it is fermented, the kvass should be filtered and cooled, and then bottled. For these purposes, champagne bottles or plastic bottles that sell soft drinks are suitable. And so that further preparation of kvass would go without excesses (shots and container explosions), these bottles should be closed as tightly as possible with corks and bandaged with twine or wire. Then they need to be put in a cool place so that the kvass can finish to the end.
These are just general rules that must be followed to make kvass. The recipe for making wort can vary greatly. Take at least apple kvass, it is also called cider. It will require such components: 8-12 kg of apples, cinnamon - 3 tsp, 1 kg of sugar, 1 kg of honey and 6-8 liters of water.
Apples must be cut into pieces and put in a clean bag of linen. This bag needs to be tied and put in an enameled tank, and on top of the apples lies a wooden circle with a load. Then boiled water is poured into the tank, in which sugar and honey are dissolved. The tank is covered with a clean cloth and placed in a cool cellar for fermentation. This process lasts about 4-5 weeks. At the end of this period, when the cider is fermented, it must be transferred to clean dishes and left to be stored in the same cellar.
Then the preparation of kvass begins in a new way. The same pulp should again be filled with boiling water, in which honey and sugar also dissolve, and also leave it to ferment. And after the same period, we again get ready kvass. In the same way, this process is repeated for the third time. Then all three plums of kvass should be mixed and left in this cellar, where it will ferment completely. It will take from 6 to 9 months. After that, the cider can already be poured into bottles, corked and kept for about a month in the cellar. After all these procedures, you will get a good apple kvass.
As can be seen from the recipe described above, it takes a lot of time to prepare real apple kvass. But there are recipes when a good drink is obtained much faster. For example, cooking homemade kvass will take no more than four days. It will require such components: 500 g of rye crackers, 4 l of water, 200 g of sugar, 50 g of raisins, 4 currants and up to 10 shoots of mint.
To make crackers, you need to take rye bread and dry it in the oven. It should turn dark brown. Then these crackers are poured with boiling water and put in a warm place for 3-4 hours. Then this semi-finished wort is filtered through cheesecloth, which is folded into several layers. Yeast is bred in a glass of water and also added to this wort. Also, you need to throw currants, mint and sugar there. Then the dishes are covered with a cloth and put in heat for 10-12 hours. During this time, the wort has time to brew well. And when it is completely fermented, it should be filtered again and poured into bottles. In each of these bottles lies a few raisins, they are well corked and placed in a cool place. And after three days, you get ready-made homemade kvass.