No. 3525 — Excellent Kvass, Long Method
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 3525 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Mix 50 glasses (almost 16 bottles, or 8 half-shtofs) cold water with 4 pounds malt flour. Add approximately 1 pud rye flour, enough to make a thick bread-like but slightly looser dough.
If mixed at nine in the evening, hold at room temperature until seven the next morning; less time may be needed in summer. Meanwhile prepare 4–5 vedros boiling water and heat a bread oven.
Dilute the dough with boiling water and distribute it in covered glazed pots or iron vessels; the author notes that cast iron makes the colour less clear. Leave in the hot oven for a full day, watching that the dough does not overflow.
After twelve hours, remove the pots carefully without shaking, fill with boiling water and return for the remaining twelve hours.
Prepare a trough with a small central drain hole. Above it place clean sticks, straw and a single layer of thick linen. Let the pots stand two hours after removal from the oven, then gently pour their liquid through the filter into a tub below. Add the thick contents as well so all wort can drain.
While the wort filters, prepare a bunch of rowanberries, a bunch of mint, and twice as many blackcurrant branches. Beat 1 tablespoon bread sourdough with rye flour and let rise for about two hours.
Put the herb and fruit bundles in a small saucepan and cover with strained wort; bring to the boil. Transfer wort to a three-vedro barrel, adding 1–3 tablespoons risen starter according to its sourness.
Keep the barrel in a kitchen for about seven hours in winter, or in a cellar for twelve hours in summer. Bottle, add one raisin to each bottle, cork and lay sideways in sand on ice.