Chicory kvass is an easy-to-prepare refreshing drink that can be made in a couple of hours at home. The taste is reminiscent of Soviet kvass, like from a barrel, but without bready notes and abundant persistent foam. Fortress – 0,5-1,5% vol.
Any instant chicory without aromatics or other additives will do. If chicory is replaced with a barley drink, then the taste will hardly change, only the color will turn out darker.
The amount of sugar can be changed at your discretion in the range from 350 to 600 grams, adjusting the sweetness, the recipe indicates the proportions for making kvass with a final sugar content of 8-9%. Citric acid is needed to stabilize the acidity of the wort, it not only improves the taste, but also promotes fermentation, so be sure to add it. Dry yeast can be replaced with pressed yeast (5 times more is required), but then the kvass may appear in the kvass with notes of taste.
Ingredients for 5 liters:
- water – 4,5 liters;
- sugar – 450 gram;
- citric acid – 1 teaspoon (with a slide);
- soluble chicory (powder) – 2 tablespoons (heaped);
- dry baker’s yeast – 1,5 teaspoons (without a slide).
Chicory kvass recipe
1. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan of at least 6 liters. Reduce heating power to medium. Add sugar and stir until completely dissolved.
2. Boil for 3-5 minutes, removing foam from the surface. After the foam no longer appears, turn off the fire. Boiling will kill all pathogens in the sugar.
3. Add chicory, mix. Cool the wort to a temperature below 35 ° C (possibly to room temperature). Add citric acid and yeast. Mix.
Attention! The temperature must necessarily be below 35 ° C, otherwise the yeast will simply “cook” and the kvass wort will not ferment.
4. Put the pan for 2 hours in a dark place at room temperature. Cover with gauze to keep out insects. Stir the wort every 30 minutes. At the end, signs of fermentation should be clearly visible: foam on the surface, hiss and a slight sour smell.
If left to ferment for 12-24 hours, you get alcoholic kvass from chicory with a strength of 2-5%.
5. Pour the fermenting kvass into clean plastic bottles (without sediment), leaving at least 5-6 cm of free space. Before twisting the bottle, squeeze lightly so that the liquid is near the very neck. This will prevent the access of oxygen.
Instead of plastic bottles, you can use jars with nylon lids or even fill the decanter, but then the kvass will not be so carbonated, and the shelf life will be reduced to a maximum of two days.
6. Leave the bottles for 3-6 hours in a dark place at room temperature. The stage is considered passed when the bottles have straightened and become hard.
7. Transfer homemade chicory kvass to the refrigerator or basement. Leave for 3-4 hours until the drink becomes cold, after which you can drink it.
Attention! To prevent an explosion, periodically check the pressure in the bottles, venting the gas if necessary if the bottles have swelled to an unnatural size or become very hard.
Shelf life – up to 5 days, but it is better to make a drink in small batches and drink in 1-2 days.
