What is kvass - a large medical encyclopedia.

They owned manufacturing recipes long before the formation of Kievan Rus. The first mention of kvass in Russian written sources dates back to 989: after baptism, Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich ordered that "food, honey and kvass" be distributed to the people. They also knew how to cook kvass in Poland and Lithuania.

In Rus', kvass was a ubiquitous and everyday drink: it was prepared by peasants, landowners, military men, and monks, and its presence in the house was considered a sign of well-being [ source not specified 190 days] . Russian peasants, going to work in the field or other hard work, took kvass with them, as they believed that it restores strength and relieves fatigue [ source not specified 190 days] . The effect was confirmed by modern studies [ source not specified 190 days] . Kvass was even considered a miraculous drink that helps with all diseases. During Lent, especially in the summer, the main food of the common people was kvass with green onions and black bread [ source not specified 190 days] .

Kvass in the Russian Empire

The widespread prevalence of kvass among all classes remained unchanged. Here is what Casanova writes about Russian kvass: “They [the Russians] have a delicious drink, the name of which I forgot. But it is far superior to Constantinople sherbet. Servants, despite all their large numbers, are by no means allowed to drink water, but this light, pleasant-tasting and nutritious drink, which is also very cheap, since for one ruble they give it a large barrel..

Drink properties

These varieties of kvass are characterized by a high specific gravity and a high content of extracts, which depends mainly on the significant amounts of added sugar. Their alcohol content is negligible. When preparing fruit kvass, to give them a more beautiful bright color, tinting with aniline dyes is often practiced, which can adversely affect the health of consumers. Of the abnormal impurities in kvass, mineral acids and salts of heavy metals can occur, which get into fruit kvass along with syrups. Lead can also be found in kvass if lead shot is used to wash bottles. Regarding the content of lower organisms in kvass, Dr. Uspensky worked and came to the following conclusions:

Despite the fact that the commonly practiced methods of preparing and storing kvass present a wide possibility of contamination in all respects, including bacteriological, nevertheless, kvass contains, along with a huge amount of yeast fungi, only a very small amount of bacteria.
The number of bacterial species found in kvass is extremely limited and, in any case, should be considered units. These bacteria are saprophytes - ordinary inhabitants of air and water.
The insignificance of the bacteriological flora of kvass depends entirely on its acidity.
Kvass not only does not provide any favorable environment for the growth of typhoid, Asian and European cholera bacteria, as well as Ribbert's bacillus, but even kills them rather quickly. Anthrax bacteria remain viable in kvass, so there is no reason to fear that kvass, like milk and water, can serve as a spreader of infection with infectious diseases. [So in the edition of Mr.]

Cooking

Making kvass at home

Kvass is easy to prepare both industrially and at home. For the preparation of yeast kvass at home, yeast, crackers (and preferably kvass wort) and sugar are usually used. Berries, mint, hops, apples, pears, raisins and other products are also often added to kvass to give the drink special flavors. A separate group of non-cereal kvass (the raw materials for which are beets, sea buckthorn, etc.) are used mainly in cooking and traditional medicine. The medicinal and dietary properties of such kvass were studied and described by B. V. Bolotov.

For the preparation of non-alcoholic kvass, almost any vegetable product is used, poured with water and left for a day (for example, for rare kvass - grated radish).

Kvass is prepared from various types of flour and bread, water and malt and is a product of lactic acid and partly alcoholic fermentation of sugary substances formed from starch contained in the raw materials. Flour is used rye, barley, wheat, buckwheat and oat; they take both rye and wheat bread; malt is mostly rye and barley. Sometimes kvass is made without the addition of malt. The most common is bread kvass.

The essence of the traditional methods of preparing kvass is as follows: a mixture of malt, rye, wheat or any other flour, taken in certain proportions, varied for different varieties of kvass, is poured into a wooden tub and brewed with boiling water; when brewing, they usually take about 1/10 of the total amount of water that has to be used for kvass. The resulting thick pasty mass (mash) is mixed with an oar until a sweet taste appears in it; after that, the mash is transferred to cast iron and the latter are placed in a Russian, pre-heated oven for a day. After this time, the cast iron is removed from the furnace and the mash is transferred to large vats, then diluted with water, left to stand for 2-3 hours and the settled liquid, after adding yeast to it (no more than 1% of all starting materials), is poured into prepared barrels. Fermented rye bread is sometimes used instead of yeast. Barrels of kvass are placed on a glacier or in a basement, generally in a room with a low temperature.

There are a huge number of recipes for making kvass. The difference between them lies both in the quantities and varieties of starting materials, and in the details of the cooking technique itself; for example, both cold and hot water is taken to dilute the mash; the residence time of the mash in the oven and the wort in the vats is different in different ways. Some varieties of bread kvass are flavored with sugar, hops, mint, raisins, molasses, honey, vorain (remains of honey obtained as a by-product in the manufacture of candle wax from honeycombs) and so on before pouring into barrels.

The following varieties of bread kvass are most common on sale: Russian kvass, made from rye flour and the same malt, Bavarian kvass - from red barley malt, wheat flour and molasses, sour cabbage soup- from rye and barley malt and wheat flour, white sugar kvass - made from rye crackers, wheat malt and sugar. For example, let's describe the method of making bread kvass, practiced in the clinical military hospital in St. Petersburg: 4 poods 10 pounds of rye malt, 1 1/2 poods of rye flour and 4 poods of barley malt are poured into a vat, poured with boiled water and, after mixing thoroughly, pour dough into cast irons, which are then placed in the oven for 9 hours. Then the contents of the cast irons are poured into a special vat, topped up with boiling water up to 80 buckets and left to stand for 8 hours, after which the wort is poured into another vat, completely clean, and poured into barrels from it. Then 5 pounds of mint are brewed for 7 hours in cast iron, poured into another larger one, where 3/4 pound of yeast and 2 pounds of wheat flour are previously diluted, all this is mixed and poured equally into each barrel. After 2-3 days kvass is ready for consumption. Selling bottled kvass is prepared in Moscow as follows: rye, barley and wheat malt and the same flour are taken in equal parts; all this is stirred in pots, brewed with boiling water until a dough is obtained and put in the oven for a day. Then, after a day, the dough is placed in roots, water is poured, stirred and allowed to stand for 4 hours, after which the settled liquid is poured into a tub, yeast is added and left to ferment until foam appears. When the latter has happened, sugar, mint are added and bottled.

Recently, making kvass at home has become much easier, thanks to kvass concentrates that have appeared on sale. A large number of [ source not specified 415 days] synthetic surrogates of kvass. As a rule, they are sold in plastic bottles and consist of soda (solution of carbon dioxide), sweeteners and kvass taste simulator (flavors). According to GOST, kvass is a drink made by natural fermentation. Bottled kvass, made by fermentation, is also often carbonated.

About internal processes in cooking

With a variety of methods for preparing bread kvass, the essence of the chemical changes occurring in this case in general is as follows. As already mentioned, a mixture of flour and malt with water, the so-called mash, is kept for a long time at a moderately high temperature in the oven, as a result of which the starch contained in flour or bread, under the influence of the unorganized diastase enzyme, which is found in malt, is converted at this time into sugar and dextrin. When the dough is subsequently diluted with water in vats and after the addition of yeast, the resulting sugar and other soluble parts of flour and malt are fermented under the influence of mainly two types of organized enzymes: an alcohol fermentation fungus and a lactic acid fermentation bacillus, resulting in the formation of alcohol and lactic acid. Since the mash is not boiled, the wort is kept at a low temperature for a long time and the cooling is slow, this provides all the conditions for souring the wort, that is, for the development of lactic acid fermentation; despite the addition of yeast, alcoholic fermentation in the wort occurs only to a weak degree, since the alcoholic fermentation fungus does not withstand the above conditions for the preparation of the wort, under which lactic acid fermentation is predominant and proceeds so vigorously that it prevents the strong development of alcoholic fermentation. According to a recognized expert in the field of beer and non-alcoholic beverages based on bread, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ya. Sviridyuk, this is precisely what distinguishes kvass from beer; the starting materials for both are the same, but the method of preparation is different: in the preparation of beer, everything is aimed at preventing the occurrence of acid fermentation, for which the mash is heated to a higher temperature and cooled as quickly as possible, so that the alcoholic fermentation in beer is predominant; while preparing kvass, as we have seen, the opposite happens.

In addition to the substances mentioned, lactic acid and alcohol, other by-products appear during fermentation, such as carbon dioxide, acetic acid, formic acid, etc., then mannitol, dextrin, acid esters with alcohol, etc. substances that give kvass its peculiar taste. After pouring kvass into barrels and bottles, fermentation in it does not stop. The formation of lactic acid occurs most vigorously during the first 4-5 days, and then acetic acid fermentation occurs; subsequently, the more the percentage of lactic acid in kvass increases, the slower lactic fermentation occurs and acetic acid fermentation comes to the fore. The higher the room temperature of kvass barrels, the faster the development of acetic acid.

When preparing kvass, hygiene standards must be observed: barrels and vats must be thoroughly steamed, boiled water should be taken to dilute the wort - otherwise, along with the formation of lactic acid, butyric fermentation occurs, and such kvass, when consumed, produces and enhances the development of butyric acid in the intestines and can serve cause severe digestive disorders. Storage of kvass should be furnished with the best possible conditions - a clean, well-ventilated room, clean barrels. Rationally prepared and carefully preserved kvass can remain unchanged for 2-3 months. With careless storage in kvass, decomposition processes soon begin; acetic acid fermentation comes to the fore, and kvass acquires an unpleasant sour taste. Sometimes kvass acquires the properties to stretch into threads, which depends on the formation of a special gum substance; often kvass is covered with mold fungi. In such kvass, Dr. Georgievsky found a fatty acid of the highest order, reminiscent of caproic acid in smell.

Production

Recipes

Table kvass(quick cooking)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of sugar
- 13 glasses of water (35° C)
- 1 teaspoon of citric acid (without a slide)
- 1 teaspoon of dry French yeast (preferably "Saf-moment", without a slide)
- 2 tbsp. tea leaves spoons

Cooking

Sugar, citric acid and yeast (previously mixed in a small container of warm water) pour water. Add strained tea leaves, used as a natural dye. To stir thoroughly. Insist in a warm room for 8 hours. Refrigerate and serve.

Fruit and berry kvass

In addition to bread kvass, a variety of fruity And berry kvass: pear, cranberry, cherry, lemon and others. Kvass of this kind are either ordinary bread kvass, flavored with juice or jam from the mentioned berries and fruits, or they are prepared directly from the juice of berries, without adding bread or flour. For example, let's give a method for preparing the most common of the berry kvass - cranberry.

Cranberries are kneaded with wooden rollers and brewed with boiling water, counting on each pood of cranberries to have a tub of boiling water; all this is left to stand until another day; then strain through a sieve, put in yeast (1/4 pound for every 5 pounds of cranberries), stir and leave to stand until foam appears, after which it is filtered again, mint, sugar, vanilla are added and bottled.

Tourists should know that Finnish (koti) kalja (fin. (koti) kalja) is practically no different from bread kvass. However, keep in mind that in Finnish there is no difference between kvass and beer, so colloquially kalja can mean kvass, homemade beer, or just beer.

Properties of the drink and its effect on the human body

Chemical composition

The chemical study of kvass, in addition to testing it for taste, color, smell, consists in determining: specific gravity, free carbon dioxide, total acids and volatile acids, alcohol, extract, ash, protein bodies and sugar. Specific gravity determined with a pycnometer at 15.5 °C. Free carbonic acid is determined according to the Schwackhefer method, modified by Lauger and Schulze, consisting in the fact that a certain amount of kvass is heated in a flask equipped with an outlet tube, and the released carbon dioxide is collected with caustic alkali in a potassium apparatus. For determining general acidity- 10 cu. see K. is diluted with water until a barely noticeable color is obtained and titrated with decinormal sodium hydroxide solution. The total acidity is calculated by lactic acid, for which the resulting number of cubic centimeters of caustic soda is multiplied by 0.009. Quantity volatile acids determined by the Landmann method, distillation of 100 cm³ K. in a stream of water vapor and titration of the resulting distillate with decinormal sodium hydroxide. Volatile acids are counted as acetic acid, for which the resulting number of cubic centimeters of caustic soda is multiplied by 0.006. Alcohol determined by Uchner's specific gravity method. Extract determined by evaporating 100 cm³ K. in a flat platinum dish to the state of syrup and then drying at 100 ° to constant weight. Ash determined by careful burning of the extract. The ash is tested for the presence of heavy metals. Squirrels determined by oxidation according to the Kievodal method. Sugar(glucose) is determined by titration (according to Feding-Soxhlet) K., previously decolorized with animal charcoal or lead sugar and freed from alcohol. We give a table of the chemical composition of different varieties of bread kvass, according to the studies of Georgievsky, Kotsyn and prof. Sokolova.

Name of kvass		Density, kg /	free carbon dioxide, /100 ml	Lactic acid , /100 ml	Acetic acid , /100 ml	Alcohol , about. %	extract, /100 ml	Squirrels, /100 ml	Ash, /100 ml	Sugar , /100 ml
Georgievsky Density at 17.5 °C	Soldier's kvass on the 2nd day of preparation	1,007	0,50	0,20	0,08	0,70		in avg. from 4 samples 0.035	0,04-0,38%	-
	The same, on the 7th day after preparation (average 7 samples)	1,008	0,058	0,37	0,04	1,4	3,0	in avg. from 4 samples 0.035		-
	Bavarian kvass after 10 days of preparation	1,010	0,92	0,26	0,025	1,5	3,7	-		-
	Common kvass after 7 days of preparation	1,002	0,035	0,20	0,007	1	1,0	-		-
	Kvass from Volodina, after 7 days of preparation	1,016	0,150	0,18	0,007	2,6	5,0	0,693		-
	Kvass from gastronomic shop	1,014	0,145	0,48	0,038	2,2	5,2	0,600		-
	Homemade kvass 2 days	1,006	0,135	0,18	0,008	footprints	2,0	0,378		-
	Same 30 day	1,008	0,060	0,28	0,011	1,0	2,65	0,378		-
	Same 60 day	1,007	-	0,28	0,016	1,5	2,5	0,378		-
Kotsyn Density at 15.5 °C	Bread kvass from the Govorovsky plant (6 samples)	1,0135	0,334	0,277	0,027	0,807	3,773	0,213	0,108	1,824
	Bread kvass from petty shops (4 samples)	1,008	0,186	0,304	0,040	0,65	2,329	0,159	0,100	0,488
	Common people (3 samples)	1,002	0,018	0,441	0,032	0,23	0,508	0,076	0,044	footprints
Sokolov Density at 20 °C	Boyarsky kvass (2 samples)	1,005	0,357	0,287	0,077	0,83	6,330	-	0,063	6,12

Despite the fact that the commonly practiced methods of preparing and storing kvass present a wide possibility of contamination in all respects, including bacteriological, nevertheless, kvass contains, along with a huge amount of yeast fungi, only a very small amount of bacteria.
The number of bacterial species found in kvass is extremely limited and, in any case, should be considered units. These bacteria are saprophytes - ordinary inhabitants of air and water.
The insignificance of the bacteriological flora of kvass depends entirely on its acidity.
Kvass not only does not provide any favorable environment for the growth of typhoid, Asian and European cholera bacteria, as well as Ribbert's bacillus, but even kills them rather quickly. Anthrax bacteria remain viable in kvass, so there is no reason to fear that kvass, like milk and water, can serve as a spreader of infection with infectious diseases. [So in the edition of Mr.]

Cooking

Making kvass at home

For the preparation of non-alcoholic kvass, almost any vegetable product is used, poured with water and left for a day (for example, for rare kvass - grated radish).

For example, let's describe the method of making bread kvass, practiced in a clinical military hospital in St. Petersburg:

4 poods of 10 pounds of rye malt, 1 1/2 poods of rye flour and 4 poods of barley malt are poured into a vat, poured with boiled water and, after mixing thoroughly, the dough is poured into cast iron, which is then put into the oven for 9 hours. Then the contents of the cast irons are poured into a special vat, topped up with boiling water up to 80 buckets and left to stand for 8 hours, after which the wort is poured into another vat, completely clean, and poured into barrels from it. Then 5 pounds of mint are brewed for 7 hours in cast iron, poured into another larger one, where 3/4 pounds of yeast and 2 pounds of wheat flour are previously diluted, all this is mixed and poured equally into each barrel. After 2-3 days kvass is ready for consumption.

Selling bottled kvass is prepared in Moscow as follows: rye, barley and wheat malt and the same flour are taken in equal parts, all this is stirred in korchagi, brewed with boiling water until dough is obtained and put in the oven for a day. Then, after a day, the dough is placed in roots, water is poured, stirred and allowed to stand for 4 hours, after which the settled liquid is poured into a tub, yeast is added and left to ferment until foam appears. When the latter has happened, sugar, mint are added and bottled.

Recently, making kvass at home has become much easier, thanks to the commercially available kvass concentrates.

About internal processes in cooking

Homemade kvass

With a variety of methods for preparing bread kvass, the essence of the chemical changes occurring in this case in general is as follows. As already mentioned, a mixture of flour and malt with water, the so-called mash, is kept for a long time at a moderately high temperature in the oven, as a result of which the starch contained in flour or bread, under the influence of the unorganized diastase enzyme, which is found in malt, is converted at this time into sugar and dextrin. When the dough is subsequently diluted with water in vats and after the addition of yeast, the resulting sugar and other soluble parts of flour and malt are fermented under the influence of mainly two types of organized enzymes: an alcohol fermentation fungus and a lactic acid fermentation bacillus, resulting in the formation of alcohol and lactic acid. Since the mash is not boiled, the wort is kept at a low temperature for a long time and the cooling is slow, this provides all the conditions for souring the wort, that is, for the development of lactic acid fermentation; despite the addition of yeast, alcoholic fermentation in the wort occurs only to a weak degree, since the alcoholic fermentation fungus does not withstand the above conditions for the preparation of the wort, under which lactic acid fermentation is predominant and proceeds so vigorously that it prevents the strong development of alcoholic fermentation.
According to a recognized expert in the field of beer and soft drinks based on bread, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ya. Sviridyuk, this is exactly what distinguishes kvass from beer - the starting materials for both drinks are the same, but the method of preparation is different: when making beer, everything is directed in order to prevent the occurrence of sour fermentation, for which the mash is heated to a higher temperature and cooled as quickly as possible, so that alcoholic fermentation in beer is predominant, while in the preparation of kvass, the opposite occurs.

Production and market of kvass

By the end of 2010, it is expected that sales of bottled fermented kvass will grow by 49% to 63 mln decaliters (despite the fact that in 2009 they increased by only 5% to 42.3 mln decaliters). A hot summer, a recovery in consumer demand, and a lack of saturation in regional kvass markets were the main factors behind the rapid growth in consumption in 2010. The weather, of course, played a major role in this, as manufacturers and experts did not expect such a surge in sales, predicting consumption growth of up to 10% in early 2010.

The market share of this type of soft drinks in Russia has increased from 4% to 14% in five years, the producers reported. Over the past 10 years, the kvass market has grown 10 times. The largest producers of bottled kvass, as of 2011, are the Ochakovo and Deka companies, which occupy 35 and 32% of the market, respectively.

Story

Antiquity

Kvass in Rus'

Kvass was revered as an almost sacred drink and was always present in numerous rituals. For example, before the wedding, in the ritual of washing the bride in the bath, the girls poured kvass with hops on the heater, the remains of which were then drunk. After the wedding, the groom's parents greeted the young with bread and kvass (salt appeared much later).

In Russia

Street trade in kvass

Kvass was held in high esteem by royalty. For example, Prince Golitsyn, demoted to jester, among other duties, had to serve kvass to Empress Anna. Hence his nickname - Kvasnik.

Kvass in Kazakhstan

Kvass in Kazakhstan is especially well made in the southern regions: gg. Shymkent, Taraz, Kyzylorda. In Shymkent, it is made mainly by the Kazakh part of the population. It is divided into 3 types: 1) sweet; 2) medium; 3) sour (tart). Grapes are added to the composition. Selling by bottling.

Kvass in Latvia

In Latvia, as well as in Russia, kvass is considered a traditional drink. Such varieties of kvass as "Senchu", "Ulmanlaika" are popular in Latvia. There are even kvass recipes in Latvia, such as “Latvian style kvass”, “Rizhsky kvass”.

Dishes based on kvass

Okroshka is a cold soup based on kvass.
Botvinya is a kvass-based cold soup made from fish and boiled and grated sorrel, spinach, green onions, nettles, quinoa and other edible herbs.
Tyurya is an old Russian dish of bread and onions crumbled into kvass.
Putrya - porridge made from barley, spring wheat, buckwheat or millet, seasoned with kvass and malt.
Chorba is a dish of Moldavian cuisine, a sour soup with meat or poultry, which includes bran kvass, carrots, onions, parsley, celery, tomatoes and spicy greens.
Zama is a kvass-based soup that differs from chorba primarily in that it contains a raw egg beaten with sour cream.

The catchphrase “a mixture of French and Nizhny Novgorod”, which is widely used (and introduced into circulation by A. Griboyedov back in the 19th century), is directly related to kvass.

In the work of A. S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin" about the Lensky family: "They kvass how the air was needed.

Notes

Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology. GOST R 52409-2005 (full text)
2008 BJCP Style Guidelines
Burov M. Healing properties of kvass. ISBN 5-222-07416-1
MK No. 24527 dated July 27, 2007 Professor Mikhail Eliseev
R. V. Kononova. KVASS - ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINK Odessa National Academy of Food Technologies
// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Bread kvass
ISBN 978-5-373-01229-4 page 7
Pomozova VA Production of kvass and soft drinks. 2006
according to Dahl, one of the meanings of the word paddle- a stirrer, a narrow spatula for mixing solutions
Kovalev V., Mogilny N. "500 recipes of the Slavic meal"
"Nikola" stands up for kvass, fas.gov.ru, July 19, 2007
Kvass will quench your thirst. VOLGOGRAD.RU (16.05.2008). Archived from the original on August 23, 2011.
Production and market of kvass in Russia, Pivnoye delo magazine, December 26, 2010
Coca-Cola turned out to be the best kvass producer in the country. March 2011
Oleg Trutnev. Deka is getting used to oilfield services // Kommersant. - May 25, 2011. - No. 92 (4633).
V. N. Balyazin. Unofficial history of Russia. 2007. ISBN 978-5-373-01229-4
About the benefits of kvass

And old Slovak kvas, “feast, treat, festivities”, indicate that earlier kvass was the main intoxicating drink at holidays and weddings.

Classification [ | ]

Varieties [ | ]

The chemical study of kvass, in addition to testing it for taste, color, smell, consists in determining: specific gravity, free carbon dioxide, total acids and volatile acids, alcohol, extract, ash, protein bodies and sugar. Specific gravity determined with a pycnometer at +15.5 °C. Free carbonic acid is determined according to the Schwackhefer method, modified by Lauger and Schulze, consisting in the fact that a certain amount of kvass is heated in a flask equipped with an outlet tube, and the released carbon dioxide is collected with caustic alkali in a potassium apparatus. For determining general acidity- 10 cm³ of kvass is diluted with water until a barely noticeable color is obtained and titrated with decinormal sodium hydroxide solution. The total acidity is calculated by lactic acid, for which the resulting number of cubic centimeters of caustic soda is multiplied by 0.009. Quantity volatile acids determined by the Landmann method, distillation of 100 cm³ of kvass in a jet of water vapor and titration of the resulting distillate with decinormal sodium hydroxide. Volatile acids are counted as acetic acid, for which the resulting number of cubic centimeters of caustic soda is multiplied by 0.006. Alcohol determined by Uchner's specific gravity method. Extract is determined by evaporating 100 cm³ of kvass in a flat platinum cup to a syrup state and then drying at +100 °C to constant weight. Ash determined by careful burning of the extract. The ash is tested for the presence of heavy metals. Squirrels determined by oxidation according to the Kievodal method. Sugar(glucose) is determined by titration (according to Feding - Soxhlet) of kvass, previously discolored with animal charcoal or lead sugar and freed from alcohol. We give a table of the chemical composition of different varieties of bread kvass, according to the research of Georgievskiy, Kotsyn and Professor Sokolov.

Name of kvass		Density, kg /	free carbon dioxide, /100 ml	Lactic acid , /100 ml	Acetic acid , /100 ml	Alcohol , about. %	extract, /100 ml	Squirrels, /100 ml	Ash, /100 ml	Sugar , /100 ml
Georgievsky Density at +17.5 °C	Soldier's kvass on the 2nd day of preparation	1,007	0,50	0,20	0,08	0,70		average of 4 samples 0.035	0,04-0,38%	-
	The same, on the 7th day after preparation (average 7 samples)	1,008	0,058	0,37	0,04	1,4	3,0	average of 4 samples 0.035		-
	Bavarian kvass after 10 days of preparation	1,010	0,92	0,26	0,025	1,5	3,7	-		-
	Common kvass after 7 days of preparation	1,002	0,035	0,20	0,007	1	1,0	-		-
	Kvass of Mr. Volodin, after 7 days of preparation	1,016	0,150	0,18	0,007	2,6	5,0	0,693		-
	Kvass from a grocery store	1,014	0,145	0,48	0,038	2,2	5,2	0,600		-
	Homemade kvass, 2 days	1,006	0,135	0,18	0,008	footprints	2,0	0,378		-
	Same, 30 days	1,008	0,060	0,28	0,011	1,0	2,65	0,378		-
	Same, 60 days	1,007	-	0,28	0,016	1,5	2,5	0,378		-
Kotsyn Density at +15.5 °C	Bread kvass from the Govorovsky plant (6 samples)	1,0135	0,334	0,277	0,027	0,807	3,773	0,213	0,108	1,824
	Bread kvass from petty shops (4 samples)	1,008	0,186	0,304	0,040	0,65	2,329	0,159	0,100	0,488
	Common people (3 samples)	1,002	0,018	0,441	0,032	0,23	0,508	0,076	0,044	footprints
Sokolov Density at +20 °C	Boyarsky kvass (2 samples)	1,005	0,357	0,287	0,077	0,83	6,330	-	0,063	6,12

There were a huge number of recipes for making kvass. The difference between them consisted both in the quantities and varieties of starting materials, and in the details of the cooking technique itself; for example, both cold and hot water was taken to dilute the mash; the residence time of the mash in the oven and the wort in the vats was different in different ways. Some varieties of bread kvass were flavored with sugar, hops, mint, raisins, molasses, honey (remains of honey obtained as a by-product when making candle wax from beescombs) and so on before pouring into barrels.

An example is the method of making bread kvass, practiced in a clinical military hospital in St. Petersburg:

4 poods of 10 pounds of rye malt, 1 1/2 poods of rye flour and 4 poods of barley malt are poured into a vat, poured with boiled water and, after mixing thoroughly, the dough is poured into cast iron, which is then put into the oven for nine hours. Then the contents of the cast irons are poured into a special vat, topped up with boiling water up to 80 buckets and left to stand for 8 hours, after which the wort is poured into another vat, completely clean, and poured into barrels from it. Then 5 pounds of mint are brewed for seven hours in cast iron, poured into another larger one, where 3/4 pounds of yeast and 2 pounds of wheat flour are previously diluted, all this is mixed and poured equally into each barrel. After 2-3 days kvass is ready for consumption.

Selling bottled kvass was prepared in Moscow as follows: rye, barley and wheat malt and the same flour were taken in equal parts, all this was stirred in korchags, brewed with boiling water until dough was obtained and put in the oven for a day. Then, after a day, the dough was placed in roots, water was poured, stirred and allowed to stand for 4 hours, after which the settled liquid was poured into a tub, yeast was added and left to ferment until foam appeared, after which sugar, mint were added and bottled.

In the future, making kvass at home became much easier thanks to the commercially available kvass concentrates. [When?]

Internal processes in cooking[ | ]

According to a recognized expert in the field of beer and soft drinks based on bread, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ya. Sviridyuk, this is precisely what distinguishes kvass from beer - the starting materials for both are the same, but the method of preparation is different: when making beer, everything It is aimed at preventing the occurrence of acid fermentation, for which the mash is heated to a higher temperature and cooled as quickly as possible, so that alcoholic fermentation in beer is predominant, while in the preparation of kvass, the opposite occurs. [ ]

In addition to the substances mentioned, lactic acid and alcohol, other by-products appear during fermentation, such as: carbonic acid, acetic acid, formic acid and others, then mannitol, dextrin, acid esters with alcohol and other substances that give kvass its peculiar taste. After pouring kvass into barrels and bottles, fermentation in it does not stop. The formation of lactic acid occurs most vigorously during the first 4-5 days, and then acetic acid fermentation occurs; subsequently, the more the percentage of lactic acid in kvass increases, the slower lactic fermentation occurs and acetic acid fermentation comes to the fore. The higher the room temperature of kvass barrels, the faster the development of acetic acid.

Production and market of kvass[ | ]

By the end of 2010, it is expected that sales of bottled fermented kvass will grow by 49% to 63 million decaliters (despite the fact that in 2009 they increased by only 5% to 42.3 million decaliters). A hot summer, a recovery in consumer demand, and a lack of saturation in regional kvass markets were the main factors behind the rapid growth in consumption in 2010. The weather, of course, played a major role in this, as manufacturers and experts did not expect such a surge in sales, predicting consumption growth of up to 10% in early 2010.

Story [ | ]

Antiquity [ | ]

Kvass is a very ancient drink. The first prototypes, representing a cross between kvass and beer, appeared in Egypt in the 3rd millennium BC, descriptions of drinks very similar to kvass were also made by Hippocrates, Herodotus and Pliny the Elder. Fruit kvass are also known in Babylon, although they were not widespread in Ancient Mesopotamia.

In Rus' [ | ]

Kvass has been known to the Slavs for over a thousand years. It is known that the Eastern Slavs owned the recipes for making long before the formation of Kievan Rus. The first mention of kvass in Russian written sources dates back to the year 996: after baptism, Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich ordered that “food, honey and kvass” be distributed to the people. They also knew how to cook kvass in Poland and Lithuania. Nestor reports that the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called saw the Slavs dousing themselves with kvass in their baths.

In 1913, V.S. Sotnikov proved that typhoid and paratyphoid microorganisms die in kvass. Kvass was even considered a miraculous drink that helps with all diseases. During Lent, especially in the summer, the main food of the common people was kvass with green onions and black bread.

In Russia [ | ]

Street trade in kvass

The widespread prevalence of kvass among all classes remained unchanged. Here is what Giacomo Casanova writes about Russian kvass: “They [Russians] have a delicious drink, the name of which I forgot. But it is far superior to Constantinople sherbet. Servants, despite all their large numbers, are by no means allowed to drink water, but this light, pleasant-tasting and nutritious drink, which is also very cheap, since for one ruble they give it a large barrel. .

Kvass was held in high esteem by royalty. For example, Prince M. A. Golitsyn, demoted to jesters, among other duties, had to serve kvass to Empress Anna Ioannovna. Hence his nickname - Kvasnik.

The art of making kvass began to be lost in the middle of the 19th century, when the industrialization of Russia began. There was a need to preserve the heritage - they even took up patronage in the manufacture of a drink, and at hospitals, the production of an obligatory dietary product, hospital kvass, was opened. D. I. Mendeleev campaigned for the revival of the folk experience of making kvass: “... Russian kvass with its acidity and its healthy, satisfying taste is needed now that the art of home-made kvass has begun to disappear.”

Until the middle of the 20th century, there were many varieties of yeast-free kvass (and, accordingly, absolutely non-alcoholic), safe for consumption by both adults and children.

In the first half of the 1990s, kvass gave way to foreign carbonated drinks in Russia. In addition, the way it was sold through barrels, sometimes bottled in unsanitary conditions, led to a negative perception. The first post-Soviet bottled Pobeditel kvass was bottled on Victory Day in 1995 at the Lakinsky plant (Vladimir region), and was distributed to veterans on Poklonnaya Gora. Kvass was revived for money. Kvass "Pobeditel" was the first fermented kvass in the world that could be stored for more than 30 days. The task of reviving kvass was mentioned in the order of the Moscow government of the prime minister dated 03/04/1996 199-rp "on coordinating the activities of industrial-financial structures and trade enterprises in order to supply Moscow with kvass."

In the Baltics [ | ]

In Lithuania and Latvia, as well as in Russia, kvass is considered a traditional drink. In Latvia, such varieties of kvass as Ilguciema (Latvian Iļģuciema kvass) and Ulmanlaika (Latvian Ulmaņlaiku kvass) are popular.

Dishes based on kvass[ | ]

Similar drinks [ | ]

Other beverages traditionally fermented with low levels of alcohol include:

Finnish coticalla(fin. kotikalja) practically does not differ from bread kvass. However, it should be borne in mind that in Finnish there is no difference between kvass and beer, therefore, in colloquial speech kalja can mean kvass, homemade beer, or just beer.

in the Balkans, a similar drink is Buza (boza).

Other traditional drinks from around the world, low alcohol and based on lactic acid fermentation:

Other information [ | ]

Classification of kvass

According to Russian GOST for industrial production, it is a drink with a volume fraction of ethyl alcohol of not more than 1.2%, made as a result of incomplete alcoholic and lactic acid fermentation of the wort.

According to the classification of the Beer Judge Certification Program, which trains and certifies judges for beer tasting competitions, kvass is a beer and belongs to the category "Historical, traditional or indigenous beers". In Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, kvass is considered an independent (and national) drink.

Bottled kvass made by fermentation is often carbonated.

Varieties of kvass

bread
tiny;
fruit;
berry;
lactic;
honey.

There are various fruit and berry varieties of kvass: pear, cranberry, cherry, lemon and others. of this kind are either ordinary bread kvass flavored with juice or jam from the mentioned berries and fruits, or they are prepared directly from the juice of the berries, without the addition of bread or flour.

Many synthetic surrogates of kvass (the so-called "kvass drinks") are also commercially produced. As a rule, they consist of soda (solution of carbon dioxide), sweeteners, flavoring - imitating the taste of kvass, and are sold in plastic bottles.

Properties of the drink and its effect on the human body

It has a pleasant refreshing taste, improves metabolism, and has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. Kvass has excellent taste qualities; it quenches thirst thanks to the acids it contains - lactic and partly acetic; has a high energy value, promotes digestion due to the carbon dioxide contained in it, which facilitates the digestion of food, its absorption and increases appetite. It also contains vitamins, free amino acids, sugars and trace elements. Kvass contains many vitamins B1 and E, which explains its beneficial properties. kvass also contains valuable enzymes (from Latin fermentum - “sourdough”).

Kvass, as a product of lactic acid fermentation, in terms of its effect on the body is in many ways similar to such products as kefir, curdled milk, acidophilus, koumiss. It regulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract and the cardiovascular system, improves metabolism, prevents the development of pathogens, and improves tone. Kvass can even be used as a staple food: in famine years, it saved people from exhaustion.

Chemical composition

The chemical study of kvass, in addition to testing it for taste, color, smell, consists in determining: specific gravity, free carbon dioxide, total acids and volatile acids, alcohol, extract, ash, protein bodies and sugar. The specific gravity is determined with a pycnometer at +15.5 °C. Free carbon dioxide is determined according to the Schwackhefer method, modified by Lauger and Schulze, consisting in the fact that a certain amount of kvass is heated in a flask equipped with an outlet tube, and the released carbon dioxide is collected with caustic alkali in a potassium apparatus. To determine the total acidity - 10 cm³ of kvass is diluted with water until a barely noticeable color is obtained and titrated with a decinormal sodium hydroxide solution. The total acidity is calculated by lactic acid, for which the resulting number of cubic centimeters of caustic soda is multiplied by 0.009. The amount of volatile acids is determined by the Landmann method, by distilling 100 cm³ of kvass in a jet of water vapor and titrating the resulting distillate with decinormal sodium hydroxide. Volatile acids are counted as acetic acid, for which the resulting number of cubic centimeters of caustic soda is multiplied by 0.006. Alcohol is determined by Uchner's specific gravity method. The extract is determined by evaporating 100 cm³ of kvass in a flat platinum cup to a syrup state and then drying at +100 °C to constant weight. The ash is determined by careful burning of the extract. The ash is tested for the presence of heavy metals. Proteins are determined by oxidation according to the Kievodal method. Sugar (glucose) is determined by titration (according to Feding - Soxhlet) of kvass, previously discolored with animal charcoal or lead sugar and freed from alcohol. We give a table of the chemical composition of different varieties of bread kvass, according to the research of Georgievskiy, Kotsyn and Professor Sokolov.

Name of kvass		Density, kg/l	free carbon dioxide, g/100 ml	Lactic acid, g/100 ml	Acetic acid, g/100 ml	Alcohol, about. %	Extract, g/100 ml	Squirrels, g/100 ml	Ash, g/100 ml	Sugar, g/100 ml
Georgievsky Density at +17.5 °C	Soldier's kvass on the 2nd day of preparation	1,007	0,50	0,20	0,08	0,70		average of 4 samples 0.035	0,04-0,38%	-
	The same, on the 7th day after preparation (average 7 samples)	1,008	0,058	0,37	0,04	1,4	3,0	average of 4 samples 0.035		-
	Bavarian kvass after 10 days of preparation	1,010	0,92	0,26	0,025	1,5	3,7	-		-
	Common kvass after 7 days of preparation	1,002	0,035	0,20	0,007	1	1,0	-		-
	Kvass of Mr. Volodin, after 7 days of preparation	1,016	0,150	0,18	0,007	2,6	5,0	0,693		-
	Kvass from a grocery store	1,014	0,145	0,48	0,038	2,2	5,2	0,600		-
	Homemade kvass, 2 days	1,006	0,135	0,18	0,008	footprints	2,0	0,378		-
	Same, 30 days	1,008	0,060	0,28	0,011	1,0	2,65	0,378		-
	Same, 60 days	1,007	-	0,28	0,016	1,5	2,5	0,378		-
Kotsyn Density at +15.5 °C	Bread kvass from the Govorovsky plant (6 samples)	1,0135	0,334	0,277	0,027	0,807	3,773	0,213	0,108	1,824
	Bread kvass from petty shops (4 samples)	1,008	0,186	0,304	0,040	0,65	2,329	0,159	0,100	0,488
	Common people (3 samples)	1,002	0,018	0,441	0,032	0,23	0,508	0,076	0,044	footprints
Sokolov Density at +20 °C	Boyarsky kvass (2 samples)	1,005	0,357	0,287	0,077	0,83	6,330	-	0,063	6,12

In kvass sold in Odessa, according to the research of prof. Verigo contains 0.4-1% (by volume) of alcohol, 0.25-0.45% of the total amount of acids (of which about half are volatile acids) and 0.5-2% of the extract. Doctors Ilyinsky and Stefanovich made several analyzes of hospital kvass, prepared according to the rules precisely established in the military department. The results of the study of Dr. Ilyinsky:

Hospital kvass	Density at +17.5 °C.	lactic acid	Acetic acid	Alcohol, about. %	Extract	Ash	Sugar	Fats
2-day (average of 2 samples)	1,0205	0,305	0,045	1,00	5,95	0,385	1,70	0,08
3-day (average of 3 samples)	1,0193	0,380	0,057	1,03	5,50	0,333	1,70	0,063
4 days (average 4 samples)	1,0182	0,477	0,072	1,25	5,35	0,323	1,52	0,065
5-day (average of 2 samples)	1,0175	0,515	0,095	1,00	5,05	0,305	1,25	0,080
6 days (average of 1 sample)	1,0170	0,530	0,110	1,50	5,10	0,300	1,10	0,050

Stefanovich found density in hospital kvass at +15 °C - 1.015; the acidity was 0.64, taking all acids as acetic acid. The above analytical data show that the chemical composition of bread kvass is subject to large fluctuations in different varieties. The density of kvass is between 1.002 and 1.0205; the amount of extract ranges from 0.5% to 6.330%. In this regard, some samples of cheap common kvass seem to be almost entirely composed of water (99.4-99.5%). The content of the total amount of acids varies from 0.18% to 0.53%; the amount of volatile acids, in terms of acetic acid, ranges from 0.007% to 0.110%. Alcohol is contained from negligible amounts in the form of traces up to 2.6%; carbonic acid from 0.01% to 0.9%. bottled kvass usually contains more carbon dioxide than barreled kvass, which follows from the very method of preparing bottled kvass, in which the main stage of fermentation takes place already after bottling the kvass into bottles. The sugar content is subject to large fluctuations, depending on how much of it was added during cooking. The amount of ash depends on the degree of kvass density or on the amount of raw materials, and ranges from 0.1 to 0.385%. As for the composition of kvass, depending on its extract, it can be seen from the above work of Dr. Ilyinsky that with an increase in the maturity of kvass, the amount of lactic and acetic acids increases and the formation of lactic acid proceeds more vigorously in the first days, and then acetic fermentation is predominant. The amount of alcohol also increases with the age of kvass due to a decrease in the sugar contained in it. As can be seen from the data on the chemical composition of kvass, the latter is a drink whose taste properties depend on the acids it contains (lactic, acetic, carbonic and others), partly on alcohol, as well as on burnt parts of bread, esters and other substances. The dietary value of kvass is determined mainly by the lactic acid contained in kvass; it has a calming effect on the nervous system. Together with alcohol and carbon dioxide, lactic acid acts in some way on the position of metabolism in tissues. According to the calculation of Dr. Ilyinsky, in a hospital daily portion of kvass, properly prepared, the patient receives 5.5 g of protein and 33 g of carbohydrates, quantities that play a significant role in the patient's nutrition. On the chemical composition of other varieties of kvass (sour cabbage soup, fruit kvass, etc.) ) is little known. We give here the composition of white sugar kvass and cranberry kvass, studied by Dr. Kotsyn (the numbers mean grams in 100 cm³ of kvass):

These varieties of kvass are characterized by a high specific gravity and a high content of extracts, which depends mainly on significant amounts of added sugar. Their alcohol content is negligible. Of the abnormal impurities in kvass, mineral acids and salts of heavy metals can occur, which get into fruit kvass along with syrups. Regarding the content of lower organisms in kvass, Dr. Uspensky worked and came to the following conclusions:

Despite the fact that the commonly practiced methods of preparing and storing kvass present a wide possibility of contamination in all respects, including bacteriological, nevertheless, kvass contains, along with a huge amount of yeast fungi, only a very small amount of bacteria.
The number of bacterial species found in kvass is extremely limited and, in any case, should be considered units. These bacteria are saprophytes - ordinary inhabitants of air and water.
The insignificance of the bacteriological flora of kvass depends entirely on its acidity.
Kvass not only does not provide any favorable environment for the growth of typhoid bacteria, Asian and European cholera, and Ribbert's bacillus, but even kills them rather quickly. Anthrax bacteria do not remain viable in kvass, so there is no reason to fear that kvass, like milk and water, can serve as a spreader of infection with infectious diseases.

Cooking

Bread kvass homemade

Kvass is easy to prepare both industrially and at home. For the preparation of yeast kvass at home, yeast, crackers (or rather, kvass wort) and sugar are usually used. Berries, mint, hops, apples, pears, raisins and other products are also often added to kvass to give the drink special flavors. A separate group of non-cereal kvass (the raw materials for which are beets, sea buckthorn and others) are used mainly in cooking and traditional medicine.

Kvass is prepared from various types of flour and bread, water and malt and is a product of lactic acid and partly alcoholic fermentation of sugary substances formed from starch contained in the raw materials. Flour is used rye, barley, wheat, buckwheat and oatmeal; they take both rye and wheat bread; malt is mostly rye and barley. Sometimes kvass is made without the addition of malt. The most common is bread kvass.

For the preparation of non-alcoholic kvass, almost any vegetable product is used, poured with water and left for a day (for example, for rare kvass - grated radish).

In pre-revolutionary Russia

In pre-revolutionary Russia, the traditional way of preparing kvass was as follows: a mixture of malt, rye, wheat or some other flour, taken in certain proportions, varied for different varieties of kvass, was poured into a wooden tub and brewed with boiling water; when brewing, they usually took about 1/10 of the total amount of water available to be used for kvass. The resulting thick paste-like mass (mash) was mixed with an oar until a sweet taste appeared in it; after that, the mash was transferred to cast iron and the latter were placed in a Russian, previously melted, oven for a day. After this time, the cast irons were removed from the furnace and the mash was transferred to large vats, then diluted with water, left to stand for 2-3 hours, and the settled liquid, after adding yeast to it (no more than 1% of all starting materials), was poured into prepared barrels. Fermented rye bread is sometimes used instead of yeast. Barrels with kvass were placed on a glacier or in a basement, in general, in a room with a low temperature.

There were a huge number of recipes for making kvass. The difference between them consisted both in the quantities and varieties of starting materials, and in the details of the cooking technique itself; for example, both cold and hot water was taken to dilute the mash; the residence time of the mash in the oven and the wort in the vats was different in different ways. Some varieties of bread kvass before pouring into barrels were flavored with sugar, hops, mint, raisins, molasses, honey, vorain (honey residues obtained as a by-product when making candle wax from bee honeycombs) and so on.

As an example, we can cite the method of making bread kvass, which was practiced in a clinical military hospital in St. Petersburg:

4 poods of 10 pounds of rye malt, 1 1/2 poods of rye flour and 4 poods of barley malt are poured into a vat, poured with boiled water and, after mixing thoroughly, the dough is poured into cast iron, which is then put into the oven for nine hours. Then the contents of the cast irons are poured into a special vat, topped up with boiling water up to 80 buckets and left to stand for 8 hours, after which the wort is poured into another vat, completely clean, and poured into barrels from it. Then 5 pounds of mint are brewed for seven hours in cast iron, poured into another larger one, where 3/4 pounds of yeast and 2 pounds of wheat flour are previously diluted, all this is mixed and poured equally into each barrel. After 2-3 days kvass is ready for consumption.

Selling bottled kvass was prepared in Moscow as follows: rye, barley and wheat malt and the same flour were taken in equal parts, all this was stirred in pots, brewed with boiling water until dough was obtained and put in the oven for a day. Then, after a day, the dough was placed in roots, water was poured, stirred and allowed to stand for 4 hours, after which the settled liquid was poured into a tub, yeast was added and left to ferment until foam appeared, after which sugar, mint were added and bottled.

In the future, making kvass at home became much easier, thanks to kvass concentrates that appeared on the market.

About internal processes in cooking

With a variety of methods for preparing bread kvass, the essence of the chemical changes occurring in this case in general is as follows. As already mentioned, a mixture of flour and malt with water, the so-called mash, is kept for a long time at a moderately high temperature in the oven, as a result of which the starch contained in flour or bread, under the influence of the unorganized enzyme diastase, which is found in malt, is converted at this time into sugar and dextrin. When the dough is subsequently diluted with water in vats and after the addition of yeast, the resulting sugar and other soluble parts of flour and malt are fermented under the influence of mainly two types of organized enzymes: the alcohol fermentation fungus and the lactic fermentation bacillus, resulting in the formation of alcohol and lactic acid. Since the mash is not boiled, the wort is kept at a low temperature for a long time and the cooling is slow, this provides all the conditions for the acidification of the wort, that is, for the development of lactic acid fermentation; despite the addition of yeast, alcoholic fermentation in the wort occurs only to a weak degree, since the alcoholic fermentation fungus does not withstand the above conditions for the preparation of the wort, under which lactic acid fermentation is predominant and proceeds so vigorously that it prevents the strong development of alcoholic fermentation.
According to a recognized expert in the field of beer and soft drinks based on bread, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ya. Sviridyuk, this is precisely what distinguishes kvass from beer - the starting materials for both are the same, but the method of preparation is different: when making beer, everything It is aimed at preventing the occurrence of acid fermentation, for which the mash is heated to a higher temperature and cooled as quickly as possible, so that alcoholic fermentation in beer is predominant, while in the preparation of kvass, the opposite occurs.

In addition to the above substances, lactic acid and alcohol, other by-products appear during fermentation, such as carbon dioxide, acetic, formic and others, then mannitol, dextrin, acid esters with alcohol and other substances that give kvass its peculiar taste. After pouring kvass into barrels and bottles, fermentation in it does not stop. The formation of lactic acid occurs most vigorously during the first 4-5 days, and then acetic acid fermentation occurs; subsequently, the more the percentage of lactic acid in kvass increases, the slower lactic fermentation occurs and acetic acid fermentation comes to the fore. The higher the room temperature of kvass barrels, the faster the development of acetic acid.

Production and market of kvass

In 2006, the kvass market grew five times faster than the carbonated drinks market. In the second half of the 2000s, kvass barrels remain popular. So, in hot weather in a city with a population of one million, about 50 tons of kvass per day are sold from mobile retail outlets.

By the end of 2010, it is expected that sales of bottled fermented kvass will grow by 49% to 63 million decaliters (despite the fact that in 2009 they increased by only 5% to 42.3 million decaliters).
A hot summer, a recovery in consumer demand, and a lack of saturation in regional kvass markets were the main factors behind the rapid growth in consumption in 2010. The weather, of course, played a major role in this, as manufacturers and experts did not expect such a surge in sales, predicting consumption growth of up to 10% in early 2010.

The market share of this type of soft drinks in Russia has increased from 4% to 14% in five years, the producers reported. Over the past 10 years, the kvass market has grown 10 times. The largest producers of bottled kvass, as of 2011, are the companies Ochakovo and Deka, which occupy 35 and 32% of the market, respectively.

Story

Antiquity

Kvass in Rus'

Kvass has been known to the Slavs for over a thousand years. It is known that the Eastern Slavs owned recipes long before the formation of Kievan Rus. The first mention of kvass in Russian written sources dates back to 996: after baptism, Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich ordered that “food, honey and kvass” be distributed to the people. They also knew how to cook kvass in Poland and Lithuania. Nestor reports that the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called saw the Slavs dousing themselves with kvass in their baths.

Kostomarov writes: "In addition to the simple, so-called wheat, prepared from barley or rye malt, there were copper and berry kvass."

Kvass, like bread, never gets bored
Russian kvass saved a lot of people
And thin kvass is better than good water
Shchi with meat, but no - so bread with kvass
If only bread and kvass, then everything is with us

By the XV century in Rus' there were more than 500 varieties of kvass.

In 1913, V.S. Sotnikov proved that typhoid and paratyphoid microorganisms die in kvass. Kvass was even considered a miraculous drink that helps with all diseases. fasts, especially in the summer, the main food of the common people was kvass with green onions and black bread.

Kvass was also like a talisman. In case of a fire caused by lightning, it was believed that it could only be extinguished with milk or kvass. And so that the fire of such a fire would not go further, a hoop from a kvass bowl was necessarily thrown into the flame.

The dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron cited the following types of kvass:

Russian kvass, made from rye flour and the same malt,
brovarsky kvass - from red barley malt, wheat flour and molasses,
sour cabbage soup - from rye and barley malt and wheat flour,
white sugar kvass - from rye crackers, wheat malt and sugar.

Fruit and berry kvass are either bread kvass flavored with fruit or berry juice, or are prepared directly from berry juice with the help of yeast.

In Russia

Street trade in kvass Kvass barrel

The widespread prevalence of kvass among all classes remained unchanged. Here is what J. Casanova writes about Russian kvass: “They have a delicious drink, the name of which I forgot. But it is far superior to Constantinople sherbet. The servants, despite their large numbers, are by no means allowed to drink water, but this light, pleasant-tasting and nutritious drink, which is also very cheap, since for one ruble they give it a large barrel.

Kvass was held in high esteem by royalty. For example, Prince M. A. Golitsyn, demoted to jester, among other duties, had to serve kvass to Empress Anna Ioannovna. Hence his nickname - Kvasnik.

Russian hospital hygiene, adapting to popular taste, made kvass an obligatory food product for patients in infirmaries and hospitals. Even then, its beneficial effect on the body was known - increased tone, improved digestion. Kvass was also included in the mandatory allowance of the army, navy and even prisoners.

The profession of “fermenter” was very common in Russia. Kvass makers usually specialized in certain varieties of kvass and were often called barley, pear, apple, etc. Kvass makers came up with a lot of varieties of kvass: sweet, sour, mint, with raisins, with horseradish, thick, kvass-shchi, daily, fragrant, white, fine, fragrant, with millet, with pepper (for example, at the end of the 19th century, Muscovites fell in love with kvass from boiled pears). The sale of "sourdough" was carried out by each in his own specific area, going beyond which was fraught with trouble. In Moscow, most kvass traders were in the summer in Okhotny Ryad.

The art of making kvass began to be lost in the middle of the 19th century, when the industrialization of Russia began. There was a need to preserve the heritage - the Russian Society for the Protection of Public Health even took up patronage in the manufacture of the drink, and hospitals opened the production of an obligatory dietary product - hospital kvass. D. I. Mendeleev campaigned for the revival of the folk experience of making kvass: “... Russian kvass with its acidity and its healthy, satisfying taste is needed now that the art of home-made kvass has begun to disappear.”

Until the middle of the 20th century, there were many varieties of yeast-free kvass (and, accordingly, absolutely non-alcoholic) that were safe for consumption by both adults and children.

In the USSR, kvass was poured into special, easily recognizable small yellow tanks (thermally insulated food tankers ATsPT-0.9) and sold for bottling on the streets. This method of selling kvass is also common in modern Russia, as well as in the CIS countries.

In the first half of the 1990s, kvass gave way to foreign carbonated drinks in Russia. In addition, the way it was sold through barrels, sometimes bottled in unsanitary conditions, led to a negative perception. The first post-Soviet bottled Pobeditel kvass was bottled on Victory Day in 1995 at the Lakinsky plant (Vladimir region), and was distributed to veterans on Poklonnaya Gora. Kvass was revived with the money of RAO MES. Kvass "Pobeditel" was the first fermented kvass in the world that could be stored for more than 30 days. The task of reviving kvass was mentioned in the order of the Moscow government of the prime minister dated 03/04/1996 199-rp "on coordinating the activities of industrial-financial structures and trade enterprises in order to supply Moscow with kvass."

In the Baltics

In Lithuania and Latvia, as well as in Russia, kvass is considered a traditional drink. In Latvia, such varieties of kvass as Ilguciema (Iļģuciema kvass - lat.) and Ulmanlaika (Ulmaņlaiku kvass - lat.) are popular. As well as kvass drinks "Senchu", "Rigas". And there are even recipes for kvass, such as “Kvass in Latvian”, “Rizhsky kvass”.

Dishes based on kvass

Okroshka is a cold soup based on kvass.
Botvinya is a kvass-based cold soup made from fish and boiled and grated sorrel, spinach, green onions, nettles, quinoa and other edible herbs.
Tyurya is an old Russian dish of bread and onions crumbled into kvass.
Putrya - porridge made from barley, spring wheat, buckwheat or millet, seasoned with kvass and malt.
Chorba is a dish of Moldavian cuisine, a sour soup with meat or poultry, which includes bran kvass, carrots, onions, parsley, celery, tomatoes and spicy greens.
Zama is a kvass-based soup that differs from chorba primarily in that it contains a raw egg beaten with sour cream.

Other beverages traditionally fermented with low levels of alcohol include:

Sour cabbage soup (obsolete)
Tea mushroom
Toddy
root beer
Moldavian borsh
Finnish koti or kalja (fin. koti, kalja) practically does not differ from bread kvass. However, keep in mind that in Finnish there is no difference between kvass and beer, so colloquially kalja can mean kvass, homemade beer, or just beer.
in the Balkans, a similar drink is Buza (boza).

Other traditional drinks from around the world, low alcohol and based on lactic acid fermentation:

Ibwatu
Malta (ex. Malta Guinness) - non-alcoholic sweet beer sold in Africa
Toddy (palm wine)
Rivella from Switzerland
Romanian Braga - traditional soft drink

Other information

Until the 12th century, kvass in Rus' was stronger and thicker than modern beer. Kvass was considered an alcoholic drink, and the word "drunkard" in the language of that time was "sourdough" (the word "sour", corresponding to "to get drunk", has come down to our time). From the 12th century, kvass began to be distinguished as a sour low-alcohol drink, and kvass as a highly intoxicating drink. Intoxicating kvass began to be called “created”, that is, cooked, and not arbitrarily sour, like ordinary kvass.
It is believed that the appearance of vodka led to a change in the technology of making kvass. It was no longer necessary to chase the strength, so they began to pay more attention to taste and quality, and kvass began to be brewed much lighter, its strength fell from about 8 to 4% alcohol and lower (to the level of modern light beer).
In the work of A. S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin" it is said about the Larin family: "They needed kvass like air."

Notes

1 2 3 Valentsova, 1999, p. 488
1 2 Pokhlebkin, 1991, p. 36
Upper Lusatian-Russian Dictionary // arhivarij.narod.ru
Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology. GOST R 52409-2005 (full text)
2008 BJCP Style Guidelines
1 2 3 4 5 6 Burov M. Healing properties of kvass. ISBN 5-222-07416-1
MK No. 24527 dated July 27, 2007 Professor Mikhail Eliseev
R. V. Kononova. KVASS - ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINK Odessa National Academy of Food Technologies
1 2
Bread kvass
V. N. Balyazin. Unofficial history of Russia. 2007. ISBN 978-5-373-01229-4 p.7
1 2 Pomozova VA Production of kvass and soft drinks. 2006
according to Dahl, one of the meanings of the word paddle is a stirrer, a narrow spatula for mixing solutions
Kovalev V., Mogilny N. "500 recipes for a Slavic meal" - M .: MIK, 1992 - ISBN 5-87902-085-1
"Nikola" stands up for kvass, fas.gov.ru, July 19, 2007
Kvass will quench your thirst. VOLGOGRAD.RU (16.05.2008). Archived from the original on August 23, 2011.
Production and market of kvass in Russia, Pivnoye delo magazine, December 26, 2010
Coca-Cola turned out to be the best kvass producer in the country. March 2011
Oleg Trutnev. "Deka" gets used to oilfield services // Kommersant. - May 25, 2011. - No. 92 (4633).
RGES, 2002
Fadey Bulgarin "Russia in Historical, Statistical, Geographical and Literary Relations", Histories Part 1, printing house A. Plushar, St. Petersburg - 1837, p. 78
V. N. Balyazin. Unofficial history of Russia. 2007. ISBN 978-5-373-01229-4
About the benefits of kvass
KVASS PATRIOTISM
. www.nubo.ru
Brief automobile guide / Otv. for the issue of A. N. Ponizovkin; Min. transport of the RSFSR; State. scientific research in-t automob. transport. - 9th ed. - M.: Transport, 1982. - S. 294.
Independent Oil Review WELL - Companies - L-M
Utenkova E. Drain Hershey! New business of RAO MES // Kommersant: newspaper. - 5.5.1995. - No. 82.
Kvass. Cooking methods. - Phoenix. - ISBN 5-222-08996-7.
Kvass, mash, mead. - Labyrinth. - ISBN 5-7811-0174-8.
The second birth of Russian kvass

Literature

Kvass / Valentsova M. M. // Slavic Antiquities: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary: in 5 volumes / Ed. N. I. Tolstoy; Institute of Slavic Studies RAS. - M.: International relations, 1999. - T. 2: D (Giving) - K (Crumbs). - S. 488–489. - ISBN 5-7133-0982-7.
Georgievsky "On the relation of kvass to beer and the dietary value of free acids in these drinks" (diss. St. Petersburg, 1875)
Georgievsky "The chemical composition of kvass, its relation to beer, with comments on its dietary significance" ("Health", vol. I, 1874-1875, pp. 218 and 243)
Ilyinsky "Materials for the doctrine of hospital kvass" ("Doctor", 1885, pp. 85 and 104)
Kvas // Russian Humanitarian Encyclopedic Dictionary: 3 volumes / Ch. ed. P. A. Klubkov; Ruk. project S. I. Bogdanov. - M.; SPb.: Humanit. ed. Center VLADOS: Philol. fak. St. Petersburg. state un-ta, 2002. - Vol. 2: Z-P. - 720 s. - ISBN 5-691-00882-X.
Korolev Dmitry Amosovich "Russian kvass", publishing house "Food Industry", 1967
Medinsky V. About who and when composed myths about Russia. M.: Olma Media Group, 2010. - 240 p. - (Myths about Russia). - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-373-03724-2.
Pokhlebkin V. V. 2. The terms of alcoholic beverages that existed in Ancient Rus' from the 9th to the 14th centuries // History of vodka (IX-XX centuries). - M.: Inter-Verso, 1991. - 288 p. - ISBN 5-85217-012-7.
Simonov L. N. "Beer brewing (factory and home), kvass brewing and mead brewing." St. Petersburg, printing house E. Evdokimov, 1898
Stefanovich "On the question of hospital kvass" ("Medical additions to the Marine Collection", July 1882)

Links

Kvass // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
Krylov K. A. Kvass: trifles of Russian life
Korolev D. A. Russian kvass
The second birth of Russian kvass
Kvass USSR
GOST 31494-2012. Kvass. General specifications

When writing this article, material from the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron (1890-1907) was used.


Varieties	Borsh Sour cabbage soup Drinking Birch kvass Syukas
Production	Kisloshnik Kvasovlenie Sourdough
Spreading	Kvassnik (dishes) Kvassnik (profession) Kvass barrel
In dishes	Botvinya Zama Okroshka Tyurya Chorba Shurpa
see also	The god of wisdom Kvasir Sea kvass Malka Sikera Kvass patriotism A mixture of French and Nizhny Novgorod The boy selling kvass Urban legend
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kvass, kvass swamps, kvass at home, homemade kvass, kvass for a hlyab, kvass from birch sap, kvass recipe, kvass taras, sauerkraut, alum

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