Sloe Beer?

[Little Rock Brewing]

Been picking sloes for sloe gin as there are tonnes here.
Got me thinking about alternative uses for them and obviously thought about adding to beer.
Did a quick google and it seems that it has been done, but by using the "spent" sloes from sloe gin.
This sounds interesting, as I have a load from last year still sitting in gin.
Any one tried it?

 

[peebee]

Sloe beer? Sorry, don't fancy that at all 'though I have heard of "damson porter" which I don't imagine sloes will make any worse?

The most palatable thing I've made with spent sloes is "Slider" (a while ago now ... 10 years or more?) which is rather jolly. Definitely improved by not being too stringent draining the gin off the sloes. This lot have an article on it:

How to make 'slider' - sloe cider | Cider | The Guardian

Gives you a sneaky preview of the sloe gin. The sloe gin might stay in the bottle for a while maturing. The slider might better be drunk soon as it is not so strong and can "go off". I never have a problem keeping it too long

Don't be tempted to overdo the sloes in your sloe gin 'cos you've got loads ... makes for really rubbish sloe gin!

 

[Stu's Brews]

I brewed a Sloe Stout last year that came out pretty well. Brewed up a fairly smooth and sweet stout to balance out the sloes. Had just enough of the sloe taste you would expect without being overly harsh or bitter.

This is the recipe I used for a 23L batch:

Grain Bill

• Maris Otter - 3.6kg
• Munich - 0.4kg
• Chocolate Malt - 0.4kg
• Flaked Oats - 0.4kg
• Crystal 80L - 0.2kg
• Carafa Special Type III - 0.1kg

Hops

• Challenger - 30g @ 60mins
• Challenger - 10g @ 30mins

Yeast

• Wyeast Whitbread Ale

Adjuncts

• Black Treacle (Molasses) - 0.45kg added 10 minutes before end of boil
• Sloes - 0.8kg, beer racked onto sloes after 2 weeks fermenting and then left for a further 4 weeks.

This year I'm going to crank up the amount of sloes to 1kg and add a bit of lactose to round it all out. Might also swap the second Challenger hop addition to Phoenix but not 100% decided on that yet.

 

[Jordang]

I brewed a Sloe Stout last year that came out pretty well. Brewed up a fairly smooth and sweet stout to balance out the sloes. Had just enough of the sloe taste you would expect without being overly harsh or bitter.

This is the recipe I used for a 23L batch:

Grain Bill

• Maris Otter - 3.6kg
• Munich - 0.4kg
• Chocolate Malt - 0.4kg
• Flaked Oats - 0.4kg
• Crystal 80L - 0.2kg
• Carafa Special Type III - 0.1kg

Hops

• Challenger - 30g @ 60mins
• Challenger - 10g @ 30mins

Yeast

• Wyeast Whitbread Ale

Adjuncts

• Black Treacle (Molasses) - 0.45kg added 10 minutes before end of boil
• Sloes - 0.8kg, beer racked onto sloes after 2 weeks fermenting and then left for a further 4 weeks.

This year I'm going to crank up the amount of sloes to 1kg and add a bit of lactose to round it all out. Might also swap the second Challenger hop addition to Phoenix but not 100% decided on that yet.

thats excellent- I’m definitely pinching that!!! Cheers

 

[Stu's Brews]

thats excellent- I’m definitely pinching that!!! Cheers

Pinch away! Let me know what you think of it

 

[NormanHurst]

Not beer related at all but Sloe Jelly (like redcurrant jelly but sloes + cooking apples) is an excellent of sloes. Brilliant with game in the autumn.

 

[Jordang]

Not beer related at all but Sloe Jelly (like redcurrant jelly but sloes + cooking apples) is an excellent of sloes. Brilliant with game in the autumn.

This thread just keeps giving!! I butchered a couple of Roe last week and that will do very nicely

 

[Jordang]

Pinch away! Let me know what you think of it

How much lactose were you thinking? I’ve got a metric **** ton of sloes so will be chucking at least a kg in ….

 

[Cwrw666]

Well I've got a bottle of gin steeping about a Lb of sloes plus 6 oz sugar at the moment.
Also got about 6 Lb sloes in the freezer that I'll be making into sloe wine (which is really good stuff!)
Recipe:
3 to 4 Lb of sloes, frozen then thawed.
Add a gallon of boiling water and let it soak for about 5 days.
Strain off the liquid, add 2.5Lb sugar.
Chuck in a teaspoonful of wine yeast.
Ferment in a bucket for a week then transfer to a demijohn with an air lock.

That'll give you a gallon of very nice wine.

 

[Stu's Brews]

How much lactose were you thinking? I’ve got a metric **** ton of sloes so will be chucking at least a kg in ….

Probably about 200g or so. Don't think it needs a huge amount as there is already some sweetness from the malt and treacle.

 

[NormanHurst]

Well I've got a bottle of gin steeping about a Lb of sloes plus 6 oz sugar at the moment.
Also got about 6 Lb sloes in the freezer that I'll be making into sloe wine (which is really good stuff!)
Recipe:
3 to 4 Lb of sloes, frozen then thawed.
Add a gallon of boiling water and let it soak for about 5 days.
Strain off the liquid, add 2.5Lb sugar.
Chuck in a teaspoonful of wine yeast.
Ferment in a bucket for a week then transfer to a demijohn with an air lock.

That'll give you a gallon of very nice wine.

Love Sloe Gin. We did a vertical tasting over the summer of recent vintages. The 2017 (still in decanted on the sloes) was the pick. 2014 was the oldest we had and a bit past it.

2021 sloes in freezer ready to go - it will be a mix of slightly harder Pembrokeshire sloes picked late August and plumper riper Somerset fruit picked this week.

All good fun

 

[Graz]

Also got some Sloe Gin currently infusing, should be ready to decant soon, usually leave it for about a year on the sloes.

As well as Slider above you can also make Slerry with the spent sloes. Basically chuck a bottle of medium sherry into the Kilner jar with the sloes once the gin has been removed and leave for a month or so. Once that has been decanted off I think you can also lob in some cider to get the last of the goodness out of the berries.