hist-brewing: Kumiss

[PBLoomis at aol.com]

    I thought this might be of interest.  Scotti

From:  Zemetrius at a...
Date:  Tue Mar 14, 2000  4:42 am
Subject:  Kumiss as I make it

I have altered the original recipe, and I think it came out better this way.
First you need 16 ounces of regular store bought milk (I do not have access 
to mare's milk so I had to improvise) next you will need 5.3 ounces of water 
and 2 ounces of skim milk. 
To simulate mare's milk you need to add lactose to the milk.  Any grocery 
store will carry lactose supplements, I get mine at a local GNC store it is 
sold under the label "milk Digestant".  You need to
crush the pills into powder, making sure the pills are completely broken up, 
next you need 15 grams or 231 grains of the lactose powder.  Add the measured 
lactose powder into a small mixing container; add the powder, then take the 
water, add it to the powder to make a paste, making sure it is welled mixed
together.  When completely mixed add the rest of the water to the paste.  You 
will need to boil the water with lactose, this is to further mix the lactose 
and water, take care not to let it boil over.  When it has boiled stir it 
well, making sure there is nothing on the bottom of the container.   
For convenience I used a plastic 1-liter widemouth soda bottle; this will 
make it easier when you have to mix the contents of the bottle during the 
fermenting stage.  Add the 16 ounces of milk to the bottle, then the 2 ounces 
of skim milk: this is the fermenting agent for the Kumiss (make sure the skim 
milk is not expired).  Next give the lactose/water one last stirring, then 
add it to the bottle, cap the bottle and shake it good.  
Then find a place in your home where it maintains room temperature; find a 
safe spot where the bottle will not be disturbed and put the bottle there, 
cover the bottle with a thick cloth (I used a heavy washcloth) folded into 
1/4's.  Place it over the opening of the bottle, this allows the contents to 
breathe (ferment, not spoil) while keeping out dust and such.  
Allow the bottle to sit for 24 hours undisturbed.  After 24 hours (day 1), 
cap the bottle and shake it for a few minutes, then uncap the bottle, recover 
it with the thick cloth and put back in its safe spot for another 24 hours.  
In 24 hours (day 2) cap bottle, shake well, uncap, recover with cloth, put 
back.
Sometime after the first day you will notice a change in the liquid: the 
heavier (thicker) elements in the liquid will rise to the top of the 
contents, after awhile it will start look like whipped cream sitting on top 
of the liquid.
On day 3 repeat steps used for day 2, (because the lactose was boiled it may 
take a day or 2 longer than 4 days, but the longer wait will be worth the end 
result).  On day 4 after you give the bottle a good shaking, you may notice 
that is smells like buttermilk, it will even taste remarkably like 
buttermilk, give it a few days and it will start to develop a slight alcohol 
taste.   It will range in the 3 to 5% range so its like a lite beer, or a 
weak domestic beer.  If you like buttermilk this will be a very tasty drink, 
I have my latest batch sitting on the desk next to the computer as I write 
this. It is almost a week old and still has a good taste to it. Each time 
before you drink it shake it a few times to mix the contents.  
One last thing, should you or anyone you know make a batch, tell them this 
recipe is to be brewed and stored at room temperature, if it is refrigerated 
at anytime after it is ready to drink it will ruin the batch.  It will be 
very unpleasant to taste, I found this out after I refrigerated a small 
bottle of Kumiss, and I will not do that again intentionally.

I will be happy to further discuss this should you have more questions on 
making it.
In service,
Jim aka zemetrius aka SuTai the Mongol