Nanobrewing
Nov. 14th, 2008 02:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcepsaIt's certainly too small to be called microbrewing: I'm doing one-off batches of milk kefir and milk-kefir-adapted-to-eat-sugar-in-water. So far it's been going pretty well, especially since ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gipsieee and I are reasonably certain that the months-old jar in her fridge (milk kefir) is, surprisingly enough, still food (at least, neither of us suffered any noticeable ill effects from a few mouthfuls of it).
Kefir is created, near as I can tell, by the addition of kefir grains to something containing sugars and other nutrients that those kefir grains like and then letting it sit for a couple of days, agitating it periodically. Kefir grains are gnarly little clumps of yeast and bacteria that range in size from 'pinhead' to 'raisin'. The yeast and lactobacteria go to town on the sugars and produce alcohol, carbon dioxide, and probably carbonic acid (from the yeasts) and acid (from the bacteria). This gives it a fizzy, tangy flavor and between the alcohol and the pH pretty much nothing else really wants to grow in it. The main reason I don't do more milk currently is due to the fact that in milk it gets a bit thick and curdly and it is really tough to separate the two out since most strainers are useless in comparison to its composition. I've had some success with a single layer of cheesecloth, but even that is a hassle. The water based batches have been much easier, as they do not thicken up the same way as a result of the fermentation and so strainers work just fine ^_^
There are both milk- and water-adapted varieties. I have the milk variety, but have seen reports that it is possible to get it to work in water-based mixtures as well. So I've started playing with that. The first batch I did, I made by adding a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar and a bit of minced ginger to a small jar, filling it with water, adding the kefir (after rinsing them), and screwing on the lid. It came out pretty tasty. The second batch I did was basically the same thing, only in a larger jar and I chopped up some fresh ginger root and used white sugar and molasses since brown sugar was not available. I think I overdid it on the molasses, but I've finished off that batch as well (strained out the kefir grains on Sunday, drank the last of it last night). They've tasted vaguely reminiscent of kvac (kvas), though I've only had that during a one-week period several months ago in Russia, so my memory may be playing tricks on me ^_^
Somewhere in there I discovered/remembered that ginger has antibacterial properties, and that it might not be a good plan to mix it right in with the kefir grains. (They didn't seem to mind terribly much, but I'm still trying to establish bounds for telling the difference between happy kefir grains and sad ones.)
The batch after that... I am less hopeful for. I started it in a smaller container and didn't cut back far enough on the molasses, though I did leave out the ginger. It's done brewing, and I'm not sure I like it well enough to actually drink it, though I might be able to dilute it and add other flavors (the ginger was good... I'm tempted to experiment with more pie spices)
I started another batch last night, this time with a bit of white sugar and a secret ingredient to replace the molasses. I'll try to post again once it's done to say how it turns out ^_^
gipsieee and I are reasonably certain that the months-old jar in her fridge (milk kefir) is, surprisingly enough, still food (at least, neither of us suffered any noticeable ill effects from a few mouthfuls of it).Kefir is created, near as I can tell, by the addition of kefir grains to something containing sugars and other nutrients that those kefir grains like and then letting it sit for a couple of days, agitating it periodically. Kefir grains are gnarly little clumps of yeast and bacteria that range in size from 'pinhead' to 'raisin'. The yeast and lactobacteria go to town on the sugars and produce alcohol, carbon dioxide, and probably carbonic acid (from the yeasts) and acid (from the bacteria). This gives it a fizzy, tangy flavor and between the alcohol and the pH pretty much nothing else really wants to grow in it. The main reason I don't do more milk currently is due to the fact that in milk it gets a bit thick and curdly and it is really tough to separate the two out since most strainers are useless in comparison to its composition. I've had some success with a single layer of cheesecloth, but even that is a hassle. The water based batches have been much easier, as they do not thicken up the same way as a result of the fermentation and so strainers work just fine ^_^
There are both milk- and water-adapted varieties. I have the milk variety, but have seen reports that it is possible to get it to work in water-based mixtures as well. So I've started playing with that. The first batch I did, I made by adding a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar and a bit of minced ginger to a small jar, filling it with water, adding the kefir (after rinsing them), and screwing on the lid. It came out pretty tasty. The second batch I did was basically the same thing, only in a larger jar and I chopped up some fresh ginger root and used white sugar and molasses since brown sugar was not available. I think I overdid it on the molasses, but I've finished off that batch as well (strained out the kefir grains on Sunday, drank the last of it last night). They've tasted vaguely reminiscent of kvac (kvas), though I've only had that during a one-week period several months ago in Russia, so my memory may be playing tricks on me ^_^
Somewhere in there I discovered/remembered that ginger has antibacterial properties, and that it might not be a good plan to mix it right in with the kefir grains. (They didn't seem to mind terribly much, but I'm still trying to establish bounds for telling the difference between happy kefir grains and sad ones.)
The batch after that... I am less hopeful for. I started it in a smaller container and didn't cut back far enough on the molasses, though I did leave out the ginger. It's done brewing, and I'm not sure I like it well enough to actually drink it, though I might be able to dilute it and add other flavors (the ginger was good... I'm tempted to experiment with more pie spices)
I started another batch last night, this time with a bit of white sugar and a secret ingredient to replace the molasses. I'll try to post again once it's done to say how it turns out ^_^
