Kumiss

Classification: kumiss

Source: Tom Brady (BRADY@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU), Mead Digest #111, 4/8/93

The following information is taken from The Compleat Anachronist #5: The CA Guide to Brewing. This is a publication of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an international organization dedicated to the recreation of the arts and sciences of the middle ages.

First, a definition : Kumiss is a Russian and Mongolian fermented milk beverage (originally mare's milk). (sounds appetizing, no?)

Ingredients:

12 oz. fresh milk
4 oz. water
150 grains brown sugar
24 grains yeast (about 1.5 grams) [no specific yeast type mentioned - T.]
15 grams lactose (milk sugar)

Procedure:

Dissolve the lactose in the water, add it to the milk, mix the yeast and brown sugar thoroughly, adding a little of the milk mixture to make it a thin paste, then add that to the rest of the milk solution and stir well. Bottle this in very strong bottles (champagne bottles are recommended) and hold at 50 - 60 degrees F. Each day wrap each bottle individually in several layers of cloth before shaking the bottle gently for about ten minutes to prevent the casein from coagulating. The cloth is necessary as a safety precaution, as there is a great deal of CO2 buildup inside the bottle and it might explode. The kumiss should be ready in three to five days.

Hints: use sweet, cream-free milk. Agitate the bottles at least three times a day, uncork each bottle once a day to release gasses and then recork it and at least twice a day set the bottle upright to allow the gasses to gather at the top. When opening the bottle, take extreme care lest the bottle explode or the cap take to the skies violently - or into someone's face - Kumiss is a very touchy beverage!