Recipe: Scrumpy Cider From Book "Brewing" by Jack Thompson

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Barley Rubble

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On page 39.

This recipe makes a strong, dry cider.

Ingredients:
3.6 kg apples, skin on.
10 litres water.
28g root ginger.
juice of 4 lemons.
1 kg white sugar.

Mature for: 2 months.
Drink within: 1 year.

Note - Do not use use any metallic utensils.

This is followed by 7 short paragraphs of the method.

Now forgive my ignorance here but am I missing something?

There is no mention of yeast!

How can this possibly make a strong dry cider without yeast?

Am I right to assume that the yeast ingredient has been omitted by mistake?
 
As far as I'm aware the term Scrumpy refers to using the wild yeasts on the apples naturally to ferment the sugars. Probably would have been helpful if they'd mentioned that somewhere in the text.

Not sure what is the significance of metal utensils although I think copper has antibacterial properties and so could kill the yeast perhaps.

Since ginger is in the recipe it's worth noting that organic ginger also has yeast on the skin and you can make alcoholic ginger beer that way too.
 
In the method does it say "wash the apples" anywhere? The natural yeast on the apples can give good results, I did my first and only batch that way and it had incredibly complex flavours.

In the method no.1 it says; Roughly chop up the apples and cover with 9 litres of boiling water.
In the method no.2 it says; Leave the mixture for two weeks. Crush the apples every now and then. Ensure that no mould forms during this time.
There is no mention of washing the apples first.

Surely by adding boiling water to the apples, any natural yeast would be killed anyway.

As a matter of interest, what was the ABV of your cider that had incredibly complex flavours?
 
Thanks for your reply Jim.

The first line in the recipe states: This recipe makes a strong, dry cider.
There is no mention in the text or method anywhere about natural yeast on the fruit turning the sugar into alcohol.
As I said in my previous post, by adding 9 litres of boiling water, surely that would kill off any natural yeast?
 
In the method no.1 it says; Roughly chop up the apples and cover with 9 litres of boiling water.
In the method no.2 it says; Leave the mixture for two weeks. Crush the apples every now and then. Ensure that no mould forms during this time.
There is no mention of washing the apples first.

Surely by adding boiling water to the apples, any natural yeast would be killed anyway.

As a matter of interest, what was the ABV of your cider that had incredibly complex flavours?
I think it came out at around 8-9% but I can't say for sure, it was my first attempt at any kind of brewing and I don't think I even had a hydrometer at the time. It wasn't great but it was plenty drinkable, surprising considering it was mostly cooking apples. The taste was mostly sourness from that mistake but in the background it was kind of like a cocktail of every spirit, whisk, vodka, rum, etc. A lot nicer than it probably sounds and something I've been meaning to try again for a long time.

Adding boiling water would almost certainly be intended to kill off the natural yeasts so I'm not sure where he's going with that. They're incredibly tough and have lots of places to hide on an apple so I doubt they'd all be killed of without the apples themselves being boiled, maybe it tends to just kill off the weaker or less desirable strains?
 
It sounds a bit like the author was consuming too much of the final product...

I don't think you add yeast to a proper sourdough bread either. Just use the natural yeasts in the air and flour.
 
Wow. 8 to 9 % ABV without a cider yeast! That is amazing.

At least 7% anyway, just one 33cl bottle had one hell of a kick! Natural yeasts will go quite high, I've done quite a few batches of elderflower and rhubarb wine with natural yeasts from the elderflower and they came out a fairly consistent 10-12% (I'd keep adding sugar until the yeast gave up). They can have strange effects though, one batch was mildly hallucinogenic (wish I'd saved that one) and the wine turning out fine except for a thickness or even jelly like property is fairly common. I missed the elderflowers this year but will probably give something like a seison a try using them next year (they generally have very high attenuation).
 
I never realised that a natural yeast in a fruit could give such results!
Its a wonder then that more recipes don't make use of natural yeasts.

That's what I love about this forum. You are constantly learning. acheers.acheers.
 
Most traditional and many craft cider makers will make cider without ever using any cultured yeast, they will rely on just wild yeast to populate the apple juice. Wild yeast is all around us and on most things, it's amazing how it gets into everything, which is one reason why cleanliness and sanitation is so important with beer. It's a little more risky and far less controlled, but the end result can give you some of the best and most characterful ciders ever.

When I make cider I keep it really simple. I make cider/perry only at fruit harvest time and make enough for the whole year. Literally, pick (or buy) your apples, ensure there are no apples with rot or mold, swill them (to remove any muck off the skins mainly), crushed them up as finely as you can, press them as well as you can to extract as much juice as possible, discard the pulp (compost) and collect the juice into a container. I normally then leave the container open but covered with a damp cloth for a day or so. This isn't strictly necessary (I have also used an airlock straight after pressing and often it still starts fermenting, as it's had sometime exposure for the yeasts during pressing, etc) but I have found it helps avoid non-starts of fermentation and can actually increase the character of the cider, as it will allow plenty of yeasts to take hold, particularly if you have been scrupulously clean with all your equipment. After a day or so, or sooner if you see evidence of fermentation, then get an airlock on there for the rest of the fermentation.

The wonderful thing is that depending on many factors, will depend on what yeast take hold and start fermenting. Yeast strains have a terrific influence (like with beer) on the flavours of the end result. Often it will be many different strains of yeast through the process, as the conditions of the juice changes. This all adds to the character of your final cider, along with a few other factors. The wild yeast will also vary from area to area, and many cider makers say that this, along with where the apples are grown, etc, contributes to a cider area having a unique "terroir" of their own.

One thing to note though, the apple varieties you choose will have the huge influence on the final flavour. If buying fruit as many do, cooking apples and many eating apples will be high in acid and give a largely tart or "sharp" flavour, and be quite "thin" more like a wine, which is what most people making their first cider will experience. I'm lucky living in Herefordshire, I am surrounded by apple orchards, most of them growing cider apple fruit, which can be Sweets, Bittersweets, Bittersharps and Sharps, which are basically referring to the tannin, sugar and acidity levels. You probably know about sweetness and acid, but tannin can give body, depth and bitterness. The best cider for me, I have found, is achieving a nice balance of those qualities in your final drink. I often make batches of cider from single trees, ferment them separate and then when they are finished cider, taste and blend from the different batches, as they can all offer something different to the flavour.

I could go on for hours, I hope I haven't bored you, and I hope that goes someway to helping.
 
Thank you Rigsby for taking the time to explain the wonders of natural yeasts in a most informative manner!
You haven't bored me in the slightest, on the contrary, you are quenching my thirst for knowledge! athumb..
 

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