Apple-based kvass is a wonderful drink of natural fermentation. It is inferior in popularity to its breadfather ancestor, although in terms of taste it is quite capable of competing with it. The reason, most likely, is that bread-based kvass is produced on an industrial scale, and a slightly more painstaking apple drink is often made at home.
In addition, the reputation of an almost low-alcoholic drink was secured for apple kvass. By no means, the alcohol content in the finished product depends on the technology and can be significantly in any kind of kvass. At the same time, apple-based kvass is often found to be completely “dry”.
The use of apples with a strong own taste has a noticeable effect on the aroma of the drink. Another unusual, but wonderful detail - cubes of fruit ice are often dipped in a glass of apple kvass before serving. This is more suitable for a fruit drink than a bread drink.
Apple kvass - general principles of preparation
• There are a lot of options for cooking effervescent homemade kvass. It can be prepared both from fresh apples and from apple juice or dried fruit. Moreover, they use both whole fresh apples and their individual parts - pulp or peel.
• Fresh apples cut into slices, chopped with a meat grinder or tinder on a fine grater. After that, compote is cooked from them or poured with warm syrup. From dried fruit, only compote is cooked. Apple juice is not subjected to heat treatment, it is enough that it is not cold.
• Then the prepared raw materials are mixed with the remaining components in a certain sequence and act according to the described technology.
• Many formulations involve a more or less long fermentation. However, there are not just quick, but even instant ways to make a refreshing drink.
• Fermentation of apple raw materials for kvass is carried out mainly on yeast, alum malt or independently cooked bread sourdough. Often, accelerators (catalysts) are not added at all, preferring the natural fermentation of the product.
• To speed up the fermentation, sugar or honey must be added to the cooked apple raw materials. To give the "product" vigor to the finished product, as well as to enhance fermentation, raisins are added.
• For the preparation of kvass, only non-oxidizing dishes (enameled containers or glass containers) are used. The top must be covered with gauze so that no rubbish or midges get into it. If you cover with a lid, be sure to leave a small gap for the release of carbon dioxide.
• Fermentation of raw materials is carried out only in heat. Often, banks with it are placed on the windowsill, substituting for direct sunlight.
• Ready kvass must be filtered and poured into prepared containers, put into the refrigerator. The shelf life of home-made apple kvass depends on the method of its manufacture, but, as a rule, does not exceed ten days.
Yeast Kvass
Ingredients:
• a pound of ripe apples;
• 100 gr. granulated sugar;
• 10 gr. fresh spirit yeast.
Cooking method:
1. Cut clean, water-washed apples in half. From each half, remove the seed core and cut into medium-sized slices.
2. Dip the apple slices into boiling water (2 liters) and, after boiling again, boil for another six minutes.
3. Pour granulated sugar and continue cooking, stirring the fruit broth with a spoon.
4. As all the sugar grains dissolve, boil for another two minutes and remove from heat.
5. Cool the apple compote to about 30 degrees (not lower). Dilute the crushed pressed yeast in it and cover the container with gauze.
6. Place the pan with fermented kvass in the heat for twelve hours.
7. Then filter, folded in several layers, with gauze.
8. Pour into clean bottles and, corking tightly, put in the refrigerator.
9. After another eight hours, apple kvass will be ready.
Instant fermented apple kvass
Ingredients:
• three liters of ready-made bread kvass;
• sugar - 200 grams;
• a kilogram of ripe sweet apples.
Cooking method:
1. Take a large clean pan and grate ripe apples with peel on it on a medium grater.
2. Dilute the apple mass with natural fermentation kvass.
3. Sweeten and, having thoroughly mixed, strain on a very fine sieve, and best of all through cheesecloth.
4. Bottle and refrigerate.
5. Such kvass is stored for no more than a week.
Natural apple kvass with lemon
Ingredients:
• a pound of granulated sugar;
• one large lemon;
• five kg of fresh apples.
Cooking method:
1. Cut non-wormy and untouched apples lengthwise into four parts and transfer the slices into a deep enameled basin.
2. Dissolve sugar in two liters of water and pour apples over the prepared syrup. There should be enough liquid so that it only covers the fruit. Add more water if necessary.
3. With a thin layer of lemon, cut the peel and lower it to the apples. You can also squeeze a little juice from the pulp of a lemon.
4. After that, cover the container with gauze and place in a cool place for fermentation. The fermentation process lasts no more than three days.
5. After that, remove the apples and squeeze them well. Strain the kvass remaining in the pan, close it in bottles and put it in storage.
Dried apple yeast kvass
Ingredients:
• dried apples - 200 gr.;
• 50 gr. light raisins;
• three liters of filtered water;
• pressed baker's yeast - 5 gr.
Cooking method:
1. Rinse the apple "drying", fill it with water and boil for a quarter of an hour under slight heating. Then remove from the stove and cool. Compote should not be hot or cold, the optimal temperature of the drink is 30 degrees.
2. Dilute the yeast with a little warm, clean water. Add a spoonful of granulated sugar, mix and let the yeast mixture rise.
3. Without getting apples, mix compote with prepared yeast. Sweeten to your liking and leave to roam warm.
4. After a day, at least 12 hours, strain the kvass and distribute it into large glass bottles. Put a few raisins in each and place in the refrigerator.
Fast apple juice kvass from yeast
Ingredients:
• one liter of clarified apple juice;
• a teaspoon of dry fast-acting yeast;
• two teaspoons of instant coffee.
Cooking method:
1. Dilute apple juice with three liters of warm boiled water. Pour granulated sugar, coffee, yeast and mix well. Cover the pan with a lid, leaving a small gap, and leave it warm for 12 hours.
2. After this, strain the kvass through a gauze filter and set to cool in the refrigerator.
Homemade kvass apple kvass
Ingredients:
• two large apples;
• half a glass of sugar;
• 100 gr. light raisins;
• half a loaf of "Borodino" bread;
• 100 gr. honey (dark).
Cooking method:
1. First prepare the sourdough. To do this, dilute granulated sugar with a glass of boiled chilled water. Cut the peel from apples and fill it with sugar syrup. Add the sorted raisins and leave in a warm place. After 3-4 days, the yeast will be ready.
2. Cut the bread into centimeter slices and dry well in the oven. Cool crackers and twist in a meat grinder.
3. Strain the leaven ready. Mix the liquid with breadcrumbs and transfer the mixture into a three-liter glass bottle.
4. Add raisins with honey and fill the bowl, not adding two centimeters to the brim, with warm filtered water.
5. Tie the neck with layers of gauze and place on a windowsill well lit by the sun.
6. After five days, drain the ready-made kvass from the precipitate and set to cool.
7. Pour a new portion of crumbs into the leaven remaining at the bottom of the can and fill them with water. After secondary use, it is customary to discard the starter.
Refreshing Apple Kvass with Mint and Ginger
Ingredients:
• four large ripe apples;
• one liter of water;
• 50 gr. fresh ginger;
• juice 1/8 lemon;
• a teaspoon of buckwheat honey;
• a handful of light raisins;
• half a teaspoon of high-speed dry yeast;
• 100 gr. white sugar;
• a small bunch of fresh mint.
Cooking method:
1. Rinse mint with cold water, raisins - hot and dry well.
2. Finely grate the peeled ginger on a grater. Cut dried peppermint into small strips or small pieces.
3. Peeled apples without a core cut into small pieces and put in a large enameled pan.
4. Pour a liter of boiling water and boil over medium heat for six minutes from boiling. Then turn off the heat and cool the apple broth.
5. Pour half a glass of chilled broth into a small bowl or liter jar and dissolve the yeast in it. Add a teaspoon of sugar, mix and set aside closer to heat for a quarter of an hour. You can turn on the burner and put the yeast at a small distance from it.
6. Pour the yeast into the apple broth. Add in bulk sugar, pour in honey and lemon juice. Pour chopped mint with raisins, put grated ginger.
7. Mix well and cover, but loose. Be sure to leave a small gap between the lid and the edge of the container. Kvass will wander and the carbon dioxide emitted at the same time should come out of the pan.
8. After 12 hours of fermentation, kvass is almost ready. It remains to strain and put into storage in the cold.
"Monastic apple kvass" with malt on rye flour
Ingredients:
• one large sweet apple;
• a glass of ready-made kvass malt;
• medium-sized lemon;
• a large spoon of liquid honey;
• two large spoons of raisins;
• a full glass of sifted rye (you can buckwheat or oatmeal) flour;
• 3-4 pinches of chopped raspberry leaves;
• water - 2 liters.
Cooking method:
1. Pour rye flour into a small bowl and fill it with one and a half glasses of boiling water. Stir well and let cool.
2. Cut the washed apple and lemon into medium slices and twist in a meat grinder along with the washed raisins.
3. Add raspberry leaves and honey to the chopped ingredients.
4. Pour the malt and transfer the cooled rye mass from the bowl. Pour in the remaining water and mix well.
5. Cover the container with gauze and leave to ferment in the heat.
6. After four days, drain the finished drink from the precipitate, strain, and pour into prepared clean bottles. You can use the remaining yeast again.
Apple kvass - cooking tips and tricks
• To make homemade apple kvass tastier and turn out to be slightly carbonated - strengthen the fermentation process by adding more sugar and raisins.
• Do not breed malt and yeast in boiling water, otherwise they will die and the alum wort will not ferment. Therefore, a good drink will not work.
• The temperature of the fermentation also affects the carbonation of the drink. The higher the air temperature, the more fermentation proceeds and, consequently, the brewing carbonation increases.
• Darker color of apple kvass can be given with burnt sugar, it is added to a still hot apple broth.
• Be sure to cover the container with gauze during fermentation, otherwise midges will get into the drink.
• In order to saturate the taste of apple kvass, a little berry puree prepared by itself or other fruits is usually added to it during the preparation process. For example, quince or pears.
• The color of kvass is not always the same, and this depends not only on the fruits and other components added to it, but also on the variety of apples.
• It is not necessary to take sweet apples, you can take their acidic varieties, but the amount of sugar or honey should be increased.
