HomebrewandBeer.com forum

Evo,
You need a dead rat in scrumpy and a few apple twigs to be authentic.
Went to a folk festival in Stainsby in the old Dart several decades ago and we had to help a Morris dancer out on the Sunday by drinking the rest of his scrumpy so he could return the drum back to the farmer who concocted it.
We were legless before we started but paralysed when finished.
Can't remember what it was like or who drove home.
I was right in that the cider I made wouldn't make it to Christmas.Drank the last 2 litres on Sunday after an arduous painting session.
Good news is that another 18 lites is bottled and maturing.
I must have used close to 300 gs of lactose which was the remainder of the 500g packet from the last lot.
It is a refreshing drop for a balmy weekend.
Or should that be barmy??????

Ahhh nice. I had a similar experience with my then girlfriend's sister's boyfriend. He came from Exeter (West England) and had THE funniest accent I'd ever heard. We all went to his parents place (in Exeter) for Christmas and did the family thing and hit the pub for an early sesh on Christmas day. So since I found my mate's accent funny, being surrounded by people speaking like this was a hoot (if not a bit surreal).

So, when in Rome I thought. Now I'll explain, the pub was only open from 10am til 1pm. People I didn't know were buying me pints of scrumpy. At one stage I had four lined up.

Let's just say my Christmas dinner banter wasn't as witty and charming as I would have liked. "So I said, I'll just slip out of this wet suit and into a dry Martini."

Probably one of my best memories (or not) of England. What a great tradition. Getting nailed with the fam at the pub on Chrissie day. Now I know why I want to make some of this stuff.

As it happens I bottled a batch of this a couple of days ago. It had been in the fermenter a month as I hadn't had time to get round to bottling it - it had settled out nicely and was crystal clear. I bulked-primed the 18 litres with 125g dextrose.

I had a slight variation on the recipe: 6 apples instead of 3 (sliced in a food processor and suspended in muslin) and 250g lactose instead of 150g. The latter was a mistake - a senior moment. I thought it might be over-sweet, but I chilled a glass left over from bottling - when chilled the sweetness is not so noticeable. It's going to be a great drink!

Before this I did the AHB enhanced kit based on Muntons. It was quite cloudy (not that I mind) and very dry - but very drinkable. I experimented with adding a small amount of Sucaryl to a glass. Doesn't do much - would just a soon have it dry,