Scrumpy cider???

[elbastardo]

So im fishing last weekend (casting and realing no fish). Theres A guy there, A limey, I was born there. So we get to talking about beers here and over there (england). And he brings up this scrumpy cider, So I did a google search when I got home Can this stuff be brewed safer than everything I have read And is it worth brewing

Thanks for any input

 

[noggins]

You did a google search, but did you do a HBT search? These may or may not have what you're looking for...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/scrumpy-137241/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/scrumpy-same-thing-apple-cider-159272/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/scrumpys-farmhouse-style-38171/

 

[Teromous]

You probably stumbled across something that involved meat. We've talked about it a few times on the forum. Scrumpy is cider, and no you don't have to add meat. A lot of people try ciders from locations outside the US and notice there is a difference, but that is because many of these places still use the heirloom variety apples and traditional methods of cidermaking. Often times you'll find drier wine-like ciders, sometimes with more astringency and some with more of a sulfite taste. Many of the ciders from the US are much sweeter and often use regular table variety apples (like woodchuck) and also add flavoring (like woodchuck).

 

[thewurzel]

I grew up in Somerset England.

In England Fresh pressed cider would be apple juice

Basically cider was what you call hard cider and the name is used for larger Brewery's that make more of commercial ciders like Dry Blackthorn Cider, Magners Cider, Ballmer’s Cider, USA versions hardcore cider, "Wood Chuck" Hard Cider
I believe all cider in the USA was probably hard cider, just like England before the days of probation.

Scrumpy is a term for a cider which was made by local farmers. Especially in the West Country, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall were the local farmers were well renowned makers of Scrumpy. Scrumpy also was renowned for being cloudy and seemed to have more body than commercial cider

They would also normally have a dry and a sweet Cider
If you wanted a medium they would mix the two together.

Farmers were able to make without all the laws and taxes of breweries due to grandfathered in laws as they have been making it for years, and once in the past it was also a part of the farm hands wages was to receive so many pints of cider daily, i guess this stemmed from the days when alcohol was safer to drink than water.

It was a common known fact/Myth that those rats and other animals would fall into the vats of cider, and add body to the cider.

Personally I make a lot of cider but I have never had the need to add meat to my ciders.

Below is a picture of me drinking a pint of Scrumpy at a really old cider house called Tuckers Grave in Somerset, England if anyone is ever in this neck of the woods and would like to try an old cider pub this is the place to go?

 

[unionrdr]

Looks a lot like some bronze age lambic or something. Looks interesting.

 

[elbastardo]

Funny, I talked to my dad yesterday about the cider (I was born in kent). And he mentioned the rat in the cider as an accident that may have added the extra (special) ingrediant. The guy on the dock mentioned A side of beef as one possible ingrediant, He was from the north IIRC. He also mentioned the "bits" of things floating in the cider, and A complete lack of clarity.

Another thing he brought up was "poor mans hooch", He said that if you bore A hole in A watermellon and pitch some yeast, then plug the hole, place in A pair of pantyhose (to keep the bugs off...I guess). Then place in A warm area for A couple of months. And the end result was almost strait alchoal. I might try it just to see Still A good day casting

Thanks for the added input

 

[unionrdr]

I remember my brother doing that when I was a teen. The water melon had to be handled with care. Flavor wasn't bad,I guess. Watermelon lightnin? He did it with a pumpkin too. Have to try to remember how.

 

[RobWalker]

^^ My dad mentioned this the other day. Apparently it genuinely is that exact process.

As for scrumpy...if it ain't cloudy, it ain't scrumpy!

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

I don't think that the UK equivalent of the FDA would allow rats or other "meats" in your cider drink, that's for certain.

I've had Scrumpy in B'ham (go Villa!) quite a few times, I liked it quite a bit.

M_C

^^ My dad mentioned this the other day. Apparently it genuinely is that exact process.

As for scrumpy...if it ain't cloudy, it ain't scrumpy!

 

[cclloyd]

You sure that's not "Tang" in that pic?

 

[unionrdr]

I've noticed that bronze-age lambics are yellow-orange to orange in color. Come to think of it,my bro did the pumpkin thing two different ways. You clean out the pumpkin,add sugar (I think yeast?),put the lid back on,& pour hot wax all over it to seal it. Not to mention,lend a little structural support as it ferments. It'll get pretty thin/soft. The other way was in a carboy with pumpkin cubes,water,sugar,& yeast. With a big balloon over the top. It's what used to be called,"skid row scotch".