After seeing some confusion over the Westons Conquest Scrumpy currently on sale at the Wetherspoons international real-ale festival I thought it might be worth asking What is Scrumpy?
Opinions seem to vary widely as to the meaning of Scrumpy as much as to like or dislike the term. For me the idea of scrumpy is simply that’s it’s an ordinary west-country style cider that isn’t guaranteed to have been made with vintage cider making apples, but with whatever apples can be ‘scrumped’ ie begged borrowed or picked up from off the ground where somebody obviously doesn’t want them themselves. It doesn’t have to be the strongest, and it doesn’t have to be cloudy or hazy but it should be authentic farmhouse style cider made from apple juice and not manufactured from concentrate.
Another attempt to explain Scrumpy:
Scrumpy is cider from apples that have been scrimped, scrumped or stolen. To some this is a derogatory term for inferior ciders compared with the premium craft ciders produced by small and medium sized cider makers. A cider named Scrumpy suggests an unfiltered cider, strong in alcohol and with a yeast sediment. Scrumpy is usually sold in flaggons or containers larger than a single bottle.
