Porky's Sloe Wine
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Very interesting read about the sloe berries here, I made two gallons last september, its the same bright red colour as the ones in the pictures here.
It already tastes really nice, had a taster when I racked it for the last time a couple of weeks ago.
Looking forward to drinking some of it this Christmas.
It already tastes really nice, had a taster when I racked it for the last time a couple of weeks ago.
Looking forward to drinking some of it this Christmas.
yellafella
Active Member
We are lucky enough to have an entire stretch of Sloe bushes in front of our house and we picked a load at the end of last year and made:-
2 bottles of Sloe Gin
2 bottles of Sloe Vodka
1 bottle of Sloe Bournon
Sounds like next year I may be picking more and trying a kilo of Sloe for 6 bottles of wine as well, just means a demi john out of action for a whole year, thats my only reservation about country style wines which need to mature in bulk for a long time.
Could I use really use the Sloes from the liquers to start wine or would it be better to put them in a sherry for their second use? I hear that can be very tasty.
2 bottles of Sloe Gin
2 bottles of Sloe Vodka
1 bottle of Sloe Bournon
Sounds like next year I may be picking more and trying a kilo of Sloe for 6 bottles of wine as well, just means a demi john out of action for a whole year, thats my only reservation about country style wines which need to mature in bulk for a long time.
Could I use really use the Sloes from the liquers to start wine or would it be better to put them in a sherry for their second use? I hear that can be very tasty.
I didn't realize that sloes had so many medicinal properties, I have 2 gallons of it on the go from last September, after reading all the info on here about how many health properties sloes contain I'll be making at least another 2 gallons this year.
"Sounds like next year I may be picking more and trying a kilo of Sloe for 6 bottles of wine as well, just means a demi john out of action for a whole year, thats my only reservation about country style wines which need to mature in bulk for a long time."
I used to make tons of country wine, all kinds, but eventually ended up sticking to elderberry and sloe as they were the most reliable at turning out a tasty product. Sloe wine particularly is really drinkable from a very early stage as it's so fruity. Personally I don't think you need to mash the sloes - just freeze them in the freezer first as this ruptures all the cell walls and lets the taste out without letting out all the gunk that then needs clearing from the wine.
We had a basic recipe that worked well:
3lb sloes
juice of 1 lemon
make up to a gallon with boiling water
let it steep for a week
strain off the sloes & add 2 1/2lb sugar, and yeast.
Ferment in the bin until it stops. Then pour into a demijon to settle and clear. Bottle and drink !
By the way, they used to say wait until the first frosts before picking sloes, but this is way too late. As I write this I've just been out and picked 4 lb of sloes, they were very very ripe and starting to fall from the bushes - and it's still only september!
Another by-the-way : sloes are not edible straight from the bush, if you try one they're horrible, totally acrid and drying in the mouth. But when you steep them you get a lovely plum flavour, much stronger than from any plum, and the acrid part is left behind in the fruit. They also come in different sizes. Some bushes produce fruit approx 1 cm across, others can be more like the size of grapes. The smaller ones are strongest in flavour but are a pain to pick. The bigger ones when really ripe are almost edible and you could make jam out of them.
I used to make tons of country wine, all kinds, but eventually ended up sticking to elderberry and sloe as they were the most reliable at turning out a tasty product. Sloe wine particularly is really drinkable from a very early stage as it's so fruity. Personally I don't think you need to mash the sloes - just freeze them in the freezer first as this ruptures all the cell walls and lets the taste out without letting out all the gunk that then needs clearing from the wine.
We had a basic recipe that worked well:
3lb sloes
juice of 1 lemon
make up to a gallon with boiling water
let it steep for a week
strain off the sloes & add 2 1/2lb sugar, and yeast.
Ferment in the bin until it stops. Then pour into a demijon to settle and clear. Bottle and drink !
By the way, they used to say wait until the first frosts before picking sloes, but this is way too late. As I write this I've just been out and picked 4 lb of sloes, they were very very ripe and starting to fall from the bushes - and it's still only september!
Another by-the-way : sloes are not edible straight from the bush, if you try one they're horrible, totally acrid and drying in the mouth. But when you steep them you get a lovely plum flavour, much stronger than from any plum, and the acrid part is left behind in the fruit. They also come in different sizes. Some bushes produce fruit approx 1 cm across, others can be more like the size of grapes. The smaller ones are strongest in flavour but are a pain to pick. The bigger ones when really ripe are almost edible and you could make jam out of them.
wezil
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Hi, as an aside the stones in plums etc, actually taste of almonds! This is what flavours sloe gin! And as an experiment I've got just the stones from a bullace ( a type of plum) marinating in whisky as I type, and I can assure you it both tastes and smells of marzipan!
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