With thanks to Ukrainian beer writer Lana Svitankova for sharing the translated text, this recipe is based on one found in Zenovia Klinovetska’s 1913 book Food and Drinks in Ukraine, which features 1,000 folk recipes. Here are the original instructions for “Zaporozhky kvas,” translated from Ukrainian:
Pour 4 buckets of boiling water over 16 pounds of dried rye bread and let sit for 8 hours. Transfer to another tub, add 1.5 glasses of good yeast, 4 pounds of sugar, 1 sliced and deseeded lemon, and let sit for another 8 hours. Afterward, strain through a fine cloth and bottle. Add a raisin to each bottle, cork tight, and keep at room temperature for 8–10 hours, until kvass ferments.
Aiming to turn this into a batch fit for a five-gallon (19-liter) corny keg, we used the following conversion rates for the antiquated measurements: 1 bucket = 3.2 gallons (12.1 liters); 1 “pound” = 0.88 U.S. pounds (400 g); and 1 glass = 0.8 cups (200 ml).
For much more about this traditional farmhouse drink, see Kvass: The True Liquid Bread.
KVASS
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
OG: 1.017 (4.3°P)
FG: 1.000 (0°P)
ABV: 2.2%