No. 3675 — Homemade Thick Yeast
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 3675 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Take ½ garnetz (6 glasses) lightly sifted wheat bran. Put 4 glasses in a stone bowl and pour in enough boiling water to barely cover, making a thick porridge.
Beat with a spoon for two minutes, sprinkle a large handful of bran over the surface, cover with a napkin folded double and leave only five minutes.
Add further boiling water to incorporate the surface bran, beat thoroughly, sprinkle with the remaining bran and cover another five minutes to let it malt.
Add boiling water a third time, cautiously, until the mixture is as thick as bread dough. Stir with a spoon or spatula until cooled, without covering.
Squeeze the bran through a napkin and collect the liquid.
Add ¾ glass hop infusion, prepared separately by covering 2 lots hops with 1 glass boiling water, steeping under a lid and straining.
When cool, add 3–4 tablespoons previously made yeast. Divide between two bottles filled no more than two-thirds, cover with paper and leave somewhere warm for five or six hours.
When the yeast rises, cork and move it to a cold place. The author says it quickly sours and needs to be remade frequently, adding 3–4 tablespoons of the old yeast to each new batch.
Use roughly twice the quantity of this yeast as of brewer's yeast when making dough.