(Adj.) Describes
hard cider with a rank, rotten-meat
bouquet. Cider fermentation consumes
nitrogen; this was not obvious to early brewers, but they knew that a stalled fermentation could be restarted by tossing in some raw meat (
beefsteak was popular) - rotting meat gives off nitrogenous wastes. You can imagine what this did for the flavor of the finished product.
Iw! Modern cider production employs
nitrogenous additives to invigorate a
stuck fermentation, neatly avoiding scrumpy cider.
Thanks to Annie Proulx, Making The Best Apple Cider, 1980, (c) Storey Communications, Inc.