Editing Kvass (section)

==History==
[[File:Шенберг Христиан Квасник По рисунку Христиана Гейслера 1791 - 1792 годы Эрмитаж.jpg|thumb|180px|A kvass vendor (kvasnik) in [[Russian Empire]] in the 18th century]]

The exact origins of kvass are unclear, and whether it was invented by [[Slavic people]] or any other Eastern European ethnicity is unknown,<ref name="Garshol">{{Cite book |last=Garshol |first=Lars Marius |date=2020 |title=Historical Brewing Techniques: The Lost Art of Farmhouse Brewing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_KDgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA254 |publisher=[[Brewers Publications]] |isbn=978-1-938-46955-8 |pages=254–257 |quote=Nobody knows who invented kvass, or when. The first written mention of it is in Nestor’s ''Primary Chronicle'', compiled in Kiev in the early twelfth century. At that time there was no Russia as we understand it today, and whether it was a Slavic people or some other eastern European ethnicity that invented kvass will probably never be known.}}</ref> although some Polish sources claim that kvass was invented by Slavs.<ref name="ministerstwo" /><ref name="gazolsz" /> Kvass has existed in the northeastern part of Europe, where grain production is thought to have been insufficient for beer to become a daily drink.<ref name="Garshol"/> It has been known among the [[Early Slavs]] since the 10th century.<ref name="ministerstwo" /><ref name="gazolsz" /> Possibly invented in the [[Kievan Rus']] and known there since at least the 10th century, kvass has become one of the symbols of East Slavic cuisine.<ref name="gazolsz" /> The first written mention of kvass is found in the ''[[Primary Chronicle]]'', describing the celebration of [[Vladimir the Great]]'s baptism in 988, when kvass along with [[mead]] and food was given out to the citizens of [[Kiev]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/s5285.pdf |title=The Early History of Kiev |language=en |access-date=2023-11-28 |publisher=Princeton University |archive-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119193746/http://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/s5285.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Kvass-making remained a daily household activity well into the 19th century.<ref name="Hornsey"/>

In the second half of the 19th century, with military engagement, increasing industrialization, and large-scale projects, such as the construction of the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]] creating a growing need to supply large numbers of people with foodstuff for extended periods of time, kvass became commercialized; more than 150 kvass varieties, such as apple, pear, mint, lemon, chicory, raspberry, and cherry were recorded. As commercial kvass producers began selling it in barrels on the streets, domestic kvass-making started to decline.<ref name="Hornsey"/> For example, in the year ended 30 June 1912, there were 17 factories in the [[Governorate of Livonia]], producing a total of 437,255 gallons of kvass.<ref>{{Cite book |date=1913 |title=Daily Consular and Trade Reports |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mU3AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA114 |publisher=[[Government Printing Office]] |location=Washington |volume=1 |page=114}}</ref>

In the 1890s, the first scientific studies into the production of kvass were conducted in Kiev, and in the 1960s, commercial mass production technology of kvass was further developed by chemists in Moscow.<ref name="Hornsey"/>