Recipe for cellars

Podpiwek is an ideal summer drink, not too sweet, slightly sour, slightly bitter, naturally "carbonated", and you can also prepare it yourself at home. Podpiwek is sometimes confused with bread acid. These products differ primarily in the raw material that was used to manufacture them. Rye bread baked on sourdough should be used for bread acid. The bread is cut into pieces, roasted and then fermented.

What do you need to make a beer?

In the past, housewives used to make baskets from roasted barley grains or malt flour. At present, we can use ready mixes such as Delecta's "Podpiwek" or cereal coffee, which contains rye and barley and is not an "instant" product. For example, Delecta's "Kujawianka" cereal coffee is suitable.

You will also need hop cones, which give the drink its characteristic bitterness. In order for the beverage to ferment to the whole it will be necessary to add yeast and sugar.

Although we should avoid white sugar, because of its obvious negative impact on our health, when sugar is involved in the fermentation process, it is the nutrient for yeast. As a result of fermentation, it will be 'converted' into other compounds. There is therefore no concern that it will harm us. If someone is more convinced of the brown sugar, they can use it. However, xylitol is not suitable for the production of beer.

In addition to bitterness, the beer should also contain a little bit of acidity in taste. To get it you can use vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) or lemon juice.

Podpiwek, or beer?

The taste of beer resembles beer. It is accompanied by the same bitterness and thirst quenches equally well. Podpiwek, just like beer, is richly sprinkled with foam and is slightly gassed.

The difference is certainly in the alcohol content. In a beer, its amount is similar to that in kefir. The amount of alcohol is initially lower, increases with each day, its maximum content is 0.5%. Alcoholic intoxication certainly does not threaten us, but it can be useful information for drivers.

This drink can be consumed by both adults and children. It does not have to be feared by pregnant or breastfeeding women. Apart from the advantage of quenching your thirst quickly, baseboards can be proud of their high content of vitamins, including B vitamins, responsible for hair and nail health. There are also antioxidants, phytic, pantothenic and folic acids (indicated for young girls and women of child-bearing age), as well as minerals such as chromium, zinc and selenium. Podpiwek is a good prebiotic and probiotic.

How to prepare a beer cellar?

Ingredients:

• cereal coffee "Kujawianka" - 8 pointed tablespoons
• hop cones - the same number of spoons as cereal coffee, i.e. 8
• 200 g sugar (white or brown)
• yeast - 2 grams, i.e. pieces the size of a pea or small beans
• acidity regulator: 1/8 teaspoon of L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) or juice from half a small lemon (alternatively 1/8 teaspoon of citric acid)

Pour 5 litres of water (filtered, cold boiled water) into a very large pot (at least 5 litres), bring to a boil.

Pour 10 tablespoons (80 grams) of "Kujawianka" and 10 tablespoons (10 grams) of hops into the boiling water. Cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. At the end of cooking, most of the foam will disappear.

Cool down to approx. 36.5 C.

Cast a glass and add 2 g of yeast. Dissolve and pour the contents back into the cooker. It is worth measuring the amount of yeast quite accurately, because its excess can change the taste of the beverage.

Sweet the water with 26 dkg of sugar and season with L-ascorbic acid or half a lemon juice. Mix everything thoroughly.

Strain the beverage through a thick sieve into another pot. Pour the whole thing into bottles. The use of plastic bottles is recommended (glass bottles can blast the fermented liquid).

Pour the liquid up to a height of about ¾, squeeze the bottles (later they will be straightened under the influence of the carbon dioxide released). For 24 hours we leave the bottles in the kitchen tightly closed, taking care not to get into the sunlight.

When we wait twenty-four hours, we release air from the bottles and squeeze them again. We leave for 3-4 days. This time we can move them to a cooler place (e.g. to the basement). When the temperature is quite low, the basements can be kept in the basement for about a week.

Before you start enjoying the benefits of your own tip, you have to cool it down for a few hours in the fridge. This will stop the fermentation.

Be careful when opening bottles. We open them slowly, gradually releasing carbon dioxide, so as to prevent a sudden leakage of the entire liquid.

We store the drink in the fridge, unfortunately it is not a product with a long shelf life. You should drink it in the next few days.