Sloe gin tips please!

Former_MSE_Andrea

Guess what I'm making!

My girls and I picked a load of sloes a few weeks ago.

At least we think they're sloes. They're the right size, around the size of your little finger nail - and several facebook friends said they look like sloes.

But I'm concerned people I've spoken to and other threads here on the Forum have said the bushes are spikey. The ones we picked from weren't spikey at all!

I've read a few places that said they could be bullaces but those look a bit bigger, closer to plum sized. At least they're definitely not poisonous (fingers crossed)!

Anyway, I've heard all sorts of queries about how long to have them in the freezer to simulate a frost (it was before the first frost), how often to turn the bottles, sugar first or last etc etc.

If you've made it before can you post and let me know what worked for you please?

I'm planning to do a taste comparison Dealshunter blog on it in early December and it would be great to link to some of your tips.

Here are the other forum threads I found...

Are the new sloes ready? & bitter sloe gin from last year?

Sloe gin..GIN!

On a go sloe, with sloes!

Is it a damson or a sloe?

PasturesNew

Never had it, it's a middle-class aspirational activity, for smug people

beetlebug1

Hi I've been making it for years and I'm not middle class

1/3 sloes
1/3 sugar
1/3 gin

Give it a shake every couple of day. Leave it as long as you want. You can add a bit more sugar or gin depending on taste. I also add a few drops of almond extract before bottling.

I would have a taste of your Berries. Sloes are bitter bullace are sweeter and taste like damsons

torbrex

Recipe for Sloe Gin from 1901:
Using a 2 gallon jar, add 1 gallon of gin, 3 quarts of sloes, 2 and a half pounds of lump sugar and half an ounce of bitter almonds.
lay it by for 3 months taking care to shake it 2 or 3 times a week.
Strain and bottle it making sure the bottles are sealed carefully.

Sloe wine on the other hand is for medicinal use only.
It is made by steeping the sloes in water and letting them stand therin until a thick coating of mildew is formed on the surface. This is removed and the liquor is then strained and bottled.

No more than half a wine glassful should be taken at any one time to be used in the treatment of diarrhoea.

Islandmaid

I do the same as beetle bug

It should be drinkable by Christmas, but do leave some for next year as it 'matures'.

Make sure you drink it with a smug expression, or its all for nought x

[Deleted User]

If they're bigger than sloes but the same colour they might be wild plums but any of the hedgerow fruit like sloes/bullaces/wild plums/damsons will still make a good brew for Christmas. My daughter made some very acceptable wild plum vodka a couple of years ago, same recipe 1/3rd of each of fruit sugar and spirit and top up with Vodka at the end if needed and give it a good shake. The plums/damsons make a very nice pud with some cream/ice cream when you take the liquid off too, so very OS and no waste. Sloes are not quite so good as pudding though!

LameWolf

A wee tip re pricking them - most books say puncture them several times with a darning needle; I use a staple extractor, which puts 4 holes in the sloe in one hit, so you only need to do each one once - saves a lot of time and frustration!

Miró

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

If they're bigger than sloes but the same colour they might be wild plums but any of the hedgerow fruit like sloes/bullaces/wild plums/damsons will still make a good brew for Christmas. My daughter made some very acceptable wild plum vodka a couple of years ago, same recipe 1/3rd of each of fruit sugar and spirit and top up with Vodka at the end if needed and give it a good shake. The plums/damsons make a very nice pud with some cream/ice cream when you take the liquid off too, so very OS and no waste. Sloes are not quite so good as pudding though!

A couple of years ago I came across a recipe for using up the boozy sloes to make jam. It was quite nice.....now if only I could find it again....:o

gsymoo

I made some sloe gin last week. I'd made it once before but didn't realise my mum still had the bottle - its 25 years old! I even wrote the date on the bottle September 1990. Its like liquer - really lovely and almost sticky. Dont think I'll be able to leave this bottle for 25 years though!

PlymouthMaid

I have mine in freezer now and will make it when I can afford some more gin -I just agitate mine daily when passing and don't usually bother pricking them as freezing seems to break the skins a bit anyway. Last year, after decanting the gin from the sloes, I poured some red wine over them and left them again fro 2 months and it was lovely.

PasturesNew

Islandmaid wrote: »

Make sure you drink it with a smug expression, or its all for nought x

While warming yourself by the glow of the Aga (or at least the glossy brochure for them).