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I am now on my 4th attempt. I used a a recipe before with organic beets, salt and distilled water and drained whey from live yogurt Someone said maybe too much salt, so have used less. This last time I did not use organic beets. Do you have any suggestions - would kefir (the liquid drink) work? I do not like cabbage so do not want to use that. :{

Gillian Goodgame
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    *I used a recipe*: Nobody can help you if you do not tell what the recipe is, what you did exactly, what the expected and actual result was. I.e. what is the issue you are having? Please [edit] your question. Note that you cannot ask for recipes here. –  Aug 24 '17 at 14:39
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    When I read "Kvass" in connection with "beets" and "yoghurt" I really began scratching my head. Are you sure you meant Kvass and not Borsch? (an analogy would be "I try to brew a beer. I used fresh marble steak and organic rye bread crumbs, someone said I used too much thyme..." – SF. Aug 25 '17 at 11:32

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Unless we are talking about different things, my understanding is that dark rye bread is an essential ingredient in kvass. In fact, I purchased a bottle at a specialty food market in Cincinnati once, and you could see some bread pieces floating in it.

Here is a recipe from "Homemade Root Beer Soda and Pop" 1 lb black bread, 2 sprigs peppermint, 5 quarts boiling water, 2.5 cups sugar, 1/8 tsp yeast, Small handful of sultanas

Toast bread and place in cheesecloth. Steep mint and bread in hot water for 6hr. Squeeze liquid out of the bread into the water, add sugar and heat to dissolve. Remove mint. Add yeast to lukewarm mixture and let it rest for 8hr. Transfer mixture to bottles and place 2-3 sultanas in each bottle. Refrigerate after carbonated.

Personally, I'm not a fan of yeast carbonated soda, but this one might be okay. Also, other recipes in this book have suggested sultanas, and I have not liked that flavor. I believe the kvass I purchased had molasses listed in the ingredients, and this might be a good replacement. Finally, using a soda siphon would be a good way to carbonate in lieu of yeast. If you choose to use yeast, carbonate in plastic bottles to easily judge the carbonation and prevent exploding glass.

Kevin Nowaczyk
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  • All the kvas I have had in Russia is black bread and sugar and water. It's malty and yeasty and carbonated. I expect like many Slavic recipes it probably varies a lot by region. – Sobachatina Aug 24 '17 at 14:42