Ingredients
Base
- 500 gdark rye bread
- 4 litreswater
- 200 gsugar
Ferment
- 10 gfresh yeast, or 5 g dried
- 100 graisins
Optional flavourings
- 1 tbspcaraway seed
- a few sprigs of mint
- 1strip of lemon peel
Directions
- Slice the rye bread and dry it in the oven at 150°C (300°F) for 25 to 30 minutes, until hard and well darkened at the edges.
- Toast it thoroughly but stop short of burnt. The colour and almost all the flavour of gira come from this step, and bitterness from carbonised crusts carries straight through to the glass.
- Bring the water to the boil, pour it over the toasted bread in a large non-reactive pot or bucket, and leave it covered for 8 hours or overnight.
- Strain it through a cloth, letting it drip rather than pressing.
- Squeezing the bread makes the drink cloudy and muddy-tasting, so give it time instead.
- Stir the sugar into the still-warm liquid until it dissolves, then let it cool to about 30°C (85°F).
- Cooler than blood heat before the yeast goes in. Yeast pitched into hot liquid dies, and the drink then simply sits and sours instead of fizzing.
- Whisk in the yeast, along with the caraway, mint or lemon peel if you are using them, cover with a cloth, and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.
- It is ready when it tastes lightly sour and prickly on the tongue and there is foam across the surface.
- Bottle it into plastic bottles, dropping a few raisins into each and leaving a good gap at the top.
- Use plastic bottles and squeeze them to judge the pressure. Gira goes on fermenting after bottling, and glass left in a warm room can build enough pressure to burst.
- Leave the bottles at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours until they feel firm, then move them to the fridge.
- Chilling all but stops the fermentation, and from that point it should be drunk within a week.
- It sits well under one per cent alcohol, which is why it is sold as a soft drink, and it was poured from street barrels through Lithuanian summers long before the breweries bottled it.
Technique
- Lithuanian gira is often given caraway or mint, which sets it slightly apart from Russian and Ukrainian kvass.
- The raisins in the bottle feed a last burst of carbonation and are the traditional way of getting fizz without pressure equipment.
- It should finish refreshing and a little sour rather than sweet. Cut the sugar if it tastes like a cordial.
Substitutions
- Any dark sourdough rye, or a mix of rye and pumpernickel.
- Honey in place of part of the sugar, which gives a rounder flavour.
Variations
- With mint and lemon, which is the common summer version.
- A caraway gira, closer to the old farmhouse style.
- Berry gira, coloured and flavoured with blackcurrant.
History
Rye bread kvass sold from street barrels in summer and now bottled by Lithuanian breweries as a national soft drink.
Frequently asked questions
What is Gira?
Gira is a drink from Lithuania: lithuanian kvass brewed from rye bread or caraway. Rye bread kvass sold from street barrels in summer and now bottled by Lithuanian breweries as a national soft drink.
How long does Gira take to make?
Gira takes 20 min plus 8 hr steeping and 24 hr fermenting of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 4 litres. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Gira?
Yes, within limits. Any dark sourdough rye, or a mix of rye and pumpernickel. Honey in place of part of the sugar, which gives a rounder flavour.
What is the most important thing to get right in Gira?
Strain it through a cloth, letting it drip rather than pressing.
