Fermented soft drinks

fermented soft drinks

The predecessors of modern carbonated drinks were often made at home or on a small scale. Commercial
production was encouraged by the popularity of the temperance movement from the 1870s through
to the early part of the 20th century. Although some of these drinks are still sold, many are no longer
available. The following recipes are for 1 litre volumes, but they can all be scaled-up.
MINT KVASS

Kvass is a traditional Russian drink, made from stale dark

rye bread. It is slightly fizzy. Served chilled, it remains
popular today in Russian fast-food outlets. The mint can be
omitted or replaced with honey or lemon peel if desired.

resources
Homemade root
beer, soda, and
pop by Stephen E.
Cresswell (1998)
Storey Books,
Vermont.
ISBN: 1 58017 052 8.
This is an excellent
book with more
than 60 recipes
for non-alcoholic
fermented drinks,
with hints about
bottling, cleanliness,
the production of
concentrates from
raw ingredients, etc.
Beer. Tap into the
art and science
of brewing by
Charles Bamforth
(1998). Plenum
Press, New York.
ISBN: 0 306 457 0.
Detailed information
about the science
behind conventional
beer brewing.
The science of
brewing (1998)
PC CD ROM
B3 Media, PO Box
1017, Kingshurst,
Birmingham
B37 6NZ.
Produced for
schools by
Kingshurst City
Technology College.

Water, 1 litre
Black or rye bread, 100 g
Sugar, 40 g
Dried yeast, 14 teaspoonful
Fresh mint leaves, washed ~ 4 g
Raisins or sultanas, 10 g
Extra mint leaves for bottling

Porcelain kvass jug

Ingredients

SIMA

This sweet, murky brew is served to children in

Finland during May Day elebrations. The raisins,
like those in kvass, act as a primitive hygrometer,
showing when the fermentation is complete.

Ingredients

Water, 1 litre
Large lemon
Brown sugar, 100 g
White sugar, 100 g
Dried ale or bread yeast, 14 teaspoonful
Raisins and sugar for bottling

Method

Method

1.

1.

Dry the slices of rye bread slowly in an oven at ~100 C

for about 45 minutes. Dont burn them!
2. Boil the water. Put the dry, roughly chopped rye bread
into a large jug, and pour the water over it.
3. Cover the liquid and let it cool for at least 4 hours.
4. 15 minutes before the time is up, stir the dried yeast into
a little warm, sugary water in a cup.
5. Use a plastic sieve to strain the liquid from the bread.
Press any excess liquid from the bread with a ladle.
6. Crush the mint. Stir the sugar into the water from the
bread. Add the yeast solution and the crushed mint.
7. Cover and leave for at least 8 hours.
8. Place a clean tea towel in a funnel and filter the liquid
through it into sterilised plastic bottles.
9. Add some raisins and a fresh mint leaf to every bottle.
Cap the bottles loosely and keep them in a cool room.
10. After 35 days filter the kvass into clean bottles. Cap
the bottles tightly and store them in a refrigerator for
at least 4 hours before drinking.

ROOT BEER

Root beers originated with the colonial settlers in

North America. Lacking barley for brewing beer, they
tried to ferment local herbs, barks, roots and berries.
They found that with sufficient sugar (e.g., molasses)
almost anything to be persuaded to ferment! The main
flavouring of these early products was sassafras bark,
from a tree which grows in the southern United States.
In 1876 Charles Hires, a Philadelphia pharmacist,
began selling packets containing his own blend of
dried ingredients for people to use at home. They still
had to boil up the flavourings, strain the mixture, add
the correct amount of water, sugar and yeast, ferment
the liquid and bottle it. Eventually Hires replaced the
dried preparation with a liquid extract that was more
convenient. The growth of the temperance movement
contributed to the products success and even today
there are several hundred different makes of root beer
on sale in the USA. One thing has changed however;
the sassafras root has been replaced by artificial
flavouring, as the consumption of large quantities of
it is now thought to be harmful.

24 | FERMENTED FOODS OF THE WORLD | Version 1.0 | September 2002

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Wash the lemons thoroughly and remove the

yellow zest with a knife.
Pour the boiling water onto the lemon zest and
sugars in a large bowl. Stir to dissolve.
Remove the white skin (albedo) from the lemons
and slice them thinly.
Add the slices to the now slightly cooled liquid.
Allow the liquid to cool to 2530 C.
Add the yeast, cover the bowl and let the mixture
ferment for a day to a day and a half.
Strain out the lemon slices and peel, and bottle
in plastic (PET) bottles. Add a spoonful of sugar
and some raisins to every bottle. Close the bottles
loosely so that the gas can escape.
8. After a day, tighten the caps and
move the bottles to a refrigerator.
The drink is ready when the raisins
have risen to the surface.

Ingredients

Water, 1 litre
Granulated sugar, 170 g
Dried plant materials e.g., 2.5 g each of sassafras
root bark, liquorice root, burdock root.
Dried ale or bread yeast, 14 teaspoonful

Method
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

7.

Cover the dried plant materials with the water, and

simmer gently for 20 minutes over a low heat.
Strain into a large bowl. Add the sugar, stir, cover
and allow to cool 2530 C.
Add the dried yeast and stir to disperse it.
Cover and leave for 2 hours.
Pour into clean plastic bottles, leaving an air gap
at the top. Seal tightly with screw caps.
Leave the bottles at room temperature for 2 days,
check the carbonation (if its not fizzy enough,
leave it for a little longer) then move the bottles
to a refrigerator.
The beer will be ready to drink in 710 days.

Fermented soft drinks

Ginger beer was one of the first carbonated soft

drinks. By the end of the 19th century it was being
produced commercially in almost every town in the
United Kingdom. The beer was sold in earthenware
bottles, often by street hawkers, and was sometimes
dispensed from a beer engine an elaborate device
like an upright piano with beer pump handles that
was pulled through the streets by a pony. There a
many recipes for ginger beer. Real ginger beer is made
from fresh root ginger, often with other flavourings
such as juniper, yarrow (which was once used as a
preservative in beer instead of hops) or even nettles or
capsicum (to give the product extra bite!). Jamaican
ginger beer is sometimes made with lime instead of
lemon juice. The following recipe can be adapted
as required some suggest that the ginger should
be grated rather than sliced and crushed. Others
recommend boiling the mixture before adding the
yeast, to extract more flavour from the ingredients.

Ingredients

Water, 1 litre
Root ginger, 150 g (~130 g when peeled)
Medium-sized lemon
Sugar, 140 g (brown or white can be used)
Cream of tartar, 4 g
Dried ale or bread yeast, 14 teaspoonful

ELDERFLOWER CHAMPAGNE

Elderflower champagne is fermented by wild yeasts

that occur naturally on the flowers. Considerable
pressure is developed in the brief fermentation of this
drink. The foam produced when the bottle is opened
gives this champagne its name. The elderflowers
(complete with their yeasts) may be frozen so that the
drink can be made throughout the year. Elderflower
champagne will keep, refrigerated, for a month.

Ingredients

Water, 1 litre
Elderflower heads, 2 (hand sized, with a minimum
amount of stalk). Do not pick the heads from near
busy roads, as air pollution is likely to kill any
yeasts on the flowers.
Small lemon
White sugar, 200 g
White wine vinegar, 2 teaspoonsful

Method
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Boil the water and allow it to cool overnight in a

clean, covered bowl.
Pick the elderflowers on a bright, sunny, still morning
when the pollen and fragrance is maximum. Shake,
but do not wash, the flower heads. Wait 30 minutes
for any remaining insects to make their escape.
With a fork, comb off the flower heads, so as not
to get too many of the green stalks, then add the
florets to the cooled water.
Grate the yellow lemon zest finely, but not the white
pith (albedo). Squeeze the lemon. Add the juice and
zest to the elderflower mixture.
Leave to soak, covered, for 2448 hours.
Strain through a sieve, then add the sugar and
vinegar. Stir well.
Pour into a plastic bottle and cap it tightly.
When the bottle becomes rigid, refrigerate it.

Method
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

8.

Peel the ginger and cut it into

thin slices. Bruise well e.g., by
placing the slices in a strong,
clean plastic bag and crushing
them with a rolling pin.
Scrape the lemon zest into a
large bowl then add the juice
from the lemon.
Place the remaining ingredients
in the bowl then carefully pour
on boiling water. Stir.
Cover the bowl and leave the
liquid to cool to 2530 C (this
can take 6090 minutes).
Add the dried yeast and stir
until it has dispersed.
Cover the bowl with a clean
cloth and leave it in a warm
place for 24 hours.
Skim off the yeast, leaving the
sediment in the bowl. Strain
into clean plastic bottles,
leaving an air gap at the top.
IMPORTANT! Allow the beer
to ferment for no more than 48
hours, then place the bottles in
a fridge. Drink within 6 days.

Street ginger beer seller, London, 1877.

GINGER BEER

EXPLOSION HAZARD
Glass bottles must NEVER be used as
the vigorous fermentation will cause
them to explode. These drinks, in plastic
bottles, should always be refrigerated.
See safety note on back page.

taking it further
Most of these drinks are acidified to All of these drinks contain live yeast.
inhibit bacterial growth. Investigate the
Consequently they have a shor t
effect of pH on the rate of fermentation
shelf life and there is a danger that
(12 g of citric acid is roughly equivalent
the bottles might explode. Investigate
to adding the juice of one lemon).
ways of overcoming this problem.
Some spices e.g., cinnamon are thought
These might include one or more of
to inhibit the growth of microbes.
the following:
Devise an experiment to test this.
- selling the product as a fresh drink that
What are the implications of your
has to be stored under refrigeration;
findings for the recipes and methods
- filtering the yeast from the drink
of soft drink production?
before bottling it;
The first root beers were sold as
- precipitating the yeast with a fining
sachets of dried herbs and spices.
agent before bottling;
Could similar kits be devised for other
- pasteurising the drink before bottling,
drinks e.g., ginger beer?
to kill the yeast;
How could you measure and control
- adding a chemical preservative to the
the alcohol content of a product, to
drink to kill the yeast;
ensure that it was not excessive?
- using a type of yeast that precipitates
Some religious groups object to
(flocculates) naturally;
alcohol consumption or even the
- increasing the sugar content so that
consumption of products that contain
the yeast cannot grow (osmosis);
no alcohol but have been produced
- designing a special bottle that
by brewing. Find out about this and
allows excess gas to escape while
consider the implications for drinks like
maintaining the fizz and preventing
those described here.
contamination of the drink.
BUBBLE COUNTER
The NCBE has devised an electronic
bubble counter, that counts bubbles
passing through a standard glass
fermentation lock.This device can be
used by itself or linked to a datalogger
to provide an automatic measurement
of the rate of fermentation.
Details of the bubble counter (including a
circuit diagram) can be obtained from the
NCBE's Web site.

www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk | 25