Pear cider from Woodchuck

[Batgrrrl]

"Scrumpable" is a sniglet if I ever heard one!

I can only assume that scrumpy is short for "scrumptious." I've always heard it used in reference to a person the speaker is attracted to, e.g., "Wow, check out that scrumpy bloke, I'd really like to have a snog with him!", "snog" being more good British slang meaning "to make out heavily", I think. It functions both as a verb ("to snog") and as a noun ("to have a snog"). Perhaps others can enlighten us further.

At last, a discussion thread that combines two of my greatest loves: cider and naughty slang!

Back to cider: Wilfrid expressed an interest in hearing more about making cider, so below I give basic instructions for doing so. If, on the other hand, Wilfrid (and others) are looking for amusing stories about my brewing experiences, I'll put that in another post! So if you're looking for the amusing stories, they're coming soon. Sorry it's taken me a while to do this; I was having some egullet problems. Hopefully the elves have worked their magic and all will be well now.

As I said above, it's very easy. Heck, if you're a college student without much in the way of room or resources, you can just take a gallon jug of cider, open it so that the seal is broken, put the cap back on but not all the way (so gasses can get out), and then wait. Eventually, you will have hard cider, uncarbonated. You'll probably have to scrape green stuff off the top, and might want to filter it through some cheesecloth, but it'll be alcoholic! There's plenty of natural yeast in the air that will get in there, and basically the other stuff that grows can't hurt you. The problem with this method is that you won't get a consistent taste, because you aren't controlling the kind of yeast that goes to work. It can be pretty funky, or it can be okay.

One note of caution: Make sure that you check the seal every day, to see that the gasses building up are being released--as the yeast converts sugar to alcohol, it's giving off carbonation, and those bottles aren't strong enough to withstand that. I knew a guy in college who had a gallon jug under his bed explode when he forgot it for a week. Not a pretty situation!

If, however, you're not in college (oh, the things we used to be willing to drink!) and want a better cider experience, you will need things available at any brewing supply store or online. You'll need:

--A primary fermenter: 7 gallon plastic bucket with lid with hole in it

--Stopper that fits that hole, and the stopper also needs a hole in it

--Airlock that fits in the stopper (how the gasses escape without letting bad stuff in

--A glass carboy, basically a 5-7 gallon jug that the stopper with airlock will also fit into

--plastic tubing

--Empty beer bottles (NOT the screwtop kind!), bottle caps, a capper (I recomomend getting the bottles the old fashioned way--empty them yourself! But you can buy them too.)

--a hydrometer, which helps you measure the alcohol content

--one packet of champagne yeast

5 gallons of cider--the lovely cloudy stuff with lots of pectin, if you can get it, but cheap grocery store stuff works fine--just make sure it doesn't have any added preservatives.

Some other things are handy to have--a tool that helps you start the syphoning process, for example, and a piece of rigid tubing that attaches to the flexible stuff, so that you can avoid sediment more easily. There's also stuff I can't remember the name of that helps the sediment settle out more quickly

What to do: sterilize everything by washing it with a very mild bleach solution. Rinse well, and let everything dry so that the chlorine evaporates thoroughly.

Pour the cider in the primary fermenter. Take a hydrometer reading at this point; this will tell you the potential alcohol content. Basic grocery store cider, no sugar added, will be about 6-7%. If you want it higher, you can add sugar. Note down this reading--you'll be taking readings every few days, and when the reading doesn't change for 3 days in a row, you're done fermenting.

Sprinkle the yeast on top of the cider, put the lid on, put the stopper with the airlock in the hole, and sit back and watch the magic! Enjoy the lovely smell of brewing filling your house! I actually had one housemate who didn't like the smell. Heathen.

For about a week, the cider will bubble and foam impressively. Incidentally, you can't do this in a cold room--temps need to be in the high sixties at least, and if it's warmer it'll go faster. When the foam has subsided, syphon the cider into the carboy for the rest of the fermentation process. This has a better seal, so there's less risk of stuff getting in, but it doesn't have enough air space to do the foamy primary fermentation; I once went to carboy too soon and had foam coming out the airlock!

When you syphon, you're always going to lose a bit of cider--you want to leave the sediment at the bottom behind. That's the spent yeast. Syphoning back and forth between the bucket and the carboy a few times (once a week or so) is a great way to get rid of a bit of sediment each time.

Once you've got consistent hydrometer readings over 3 days, you add 1/4-1/2 cup more sugar to the cider, and then bottle. This last bit of sugar gets the yeast going again just enough to carbonate it in the bottle.

So you can have it bottled in about a month, and then after 2 weeks it's good to go. But if you can be patient and let it sit 6 months, it's fantastic! I've never managed to keep cider around for longer than a year or so, and I do hear it can go bad. It's got no preservatives, after all!

That's the basics. My advice if you want to do this would be to actually go talk to people at a brewing supply place--they're better than the books, and can help you specifically with any environmental factors you might be dealing with in your town. Good luck, and if anybody brews some, let us know how it goes!

Cheers,

Batgrrrl

[col klink]

You might want to add a beer thief to your list of equipment, it helps in taking gravity measurements immensly without disturbing the cider and it's a lot easier than setting up the siphon. Plus they cost less than a couple of bucks.

[g.johnson]

I can only assume that scrumpy is short for "scrumptious."  

The opposite according to the OED. It's derived from 'scrump' which is a variant of 'scrimp'. Scrimp as a verb means to economize (as in scrimp and save), and as an advective it means withered. So scrumpy is cider made from withered apples rather than the best.

Here endeth the lesson.

[Batgrrrl]

Fascinating! I had no idea it had an "official" meaning in addition to its "slang" usage--and I hope my quotes around those terms indicate that I do realize how problematic such attempts at distinctions are (I teach literature and writing for a living, after all). I even went and checked out some online slang dictionaries, and the only one I could find that listed scrumpy (not an exhaustive search, mind) defined it as a type of cider. But that's definitely not how we used it!

It makes me wonder if the slang use of scrumpy to refer to an attractive person is different in origin--because there doesn't seem to be a connection in meaning to scrumpy when it refers to cider. Or perhaps the term got stolen from cider because of it's similarity to scrumptious.

Interesting stuff! Thanks for enlightening us!

Batgrrl

[nightscotsman]

Haven't had the Woodchuck ciders - not sure they are available in the Seattle - but I do really like the apple and pear ciders from Spire made here in the Northwest. Good, true fruit flavor, not too sweet or dry. Years ago they also made delicious, natural cherry and peach ciders. I wish they would bring them back. Many other ciders I've tried sort of taste like fruity beer .

[col klink]

Woodchuck IS available in Seattle, I know this on good authority. Many pubs/bars now have Woodchuck like the Pacific Inn in Fremont and the College Inn Pub in the U District.

You won't be able to find it at the big grocery stores like QFC, Safeway or Albertson's but you can find it at the independents like Ballard Market, Market Time, Fremont Fresh Market and City Greens.

But I don't know if you'd like Woodchuck if you like Spire's. Spire's is far too sweet for my pallette and Woodchuck is nice and dry.

[alpinebomber]

woodchuck: i noticed the 'new' raspberry flavor in a local store a few weeks ago...it's nice every once in a while, but it won't be a regular choice for me...i've kind of grown out of the woodchuck line (i was a devout woodchucker for a few years)...i find that it's just too sweet and the flavors too inconsistent from within flavor lines...dark/dry too caramelly, pear has some wierd high tones of gasoline, amber has a wierd woody aftertaste after a couple...

hardcore cider/original sin: crap

magners: it's okay, but it's also too oaky

scrumpy cider: there's actually a company that makes Scrumpy Cider as a brand...it's non-alcoholic...tangy

woodpecker: my regular for the past few years...nice and dry...

haven't found any other decent brands in nyc...suggestions?

cheers,

=w=

[rickc_13]

Strongbow :)

It's made by the same people who make Woodpecker and Magner's. See the posts towards the beginning of this thread. :) :)