I’m back in classes but wanted to share something about my kvass making experience.

The drink itself came out phenomenal. The taste was crisp and smooth, albeit too yeast-y. I was able to bottle it with some extra sugar in order to carbonate it using instructions for a 5 gallon batch in How to Brew by John Palmer. It was scaled back for my little 1 gallon operation, using roughly twenty grams of sugar.

Three bottles of hazy light brown kvass
Kvass bottled and ready for carbonation

If there’s anything I learned from this, it’s two things:

  1. Always make measurements.
  2. Always do some quick calculations.

I started the kvass with my brother so we could do something together over the break, so it was done somewhat haphazardly. While we measured ingredients with a scale, I didn’t think to measure the specific gravity of the drink before fermentation. I also didn’t measure it after we finished and bottled it, so I didn’t know how much sugar was left either. Finally, I probably should’ve done some calculations to see how much pressure would form in the bottles if the sugar I added was fully consumed.

Three bottles of kvass on the floor, where one is broken
There’s a lesson to be learned here and a lot of cleaning to do

Half the house smelled like kvass, which may sound pleasant initially, becomes tiring very quickly. Maybe the squared sides of this bottle made it a sub-optimal choice for carbonation. Or maybe I should be more mindful of my choices here.

Oh well, I’ve learned my lesson.