Sloe Gin time

[pjbiker]

Hi,
I spotted tons of sloe's in my office car park and picked 6Lbs of them in about an hour yesterday.
Made some sloe gin last year which went down well as Christmas presents. Gin has gone up from about £7/70CL bottle to £9 for the cheapest in Tesco
It is general practice to prick the sloes first. I really can't be arsed but other methods are suggested. Roll them on a flat surface with the rough side of a cheese grater. I remember a gamekeeper telling me years ago that you should pick them after the first frost or put them in the freezer overnight. This breaks the cell walls, effectively softening them.
Anyway, recipe and method.
proportionally 1 Lb sloes: 4oz sugar : 1 litre Gin
agitate daily (I use 5L mineral water containers) for about 2-3 months then filter through muslin cloth into gin or wine bottles.

 

[markp]

I've got my first ever 2 litres on the go. The 5 litre water bottles are perfect for 2kg of fruit and 2 litres of gin. I used 'middle of the road' gin from Sain$burys....£13 IIRC.

I've never seen so many sloes on the trees this year.....the patch that I found were absolutely rammed and I picked about 5kg in 40 minutes or so. The sloes were better on the opposite side of the trees, but there was a 12 foot drop over the other side of the wall and I had to make do with what I could reach.

There are still loads left on the tree, if anyone around Sherburn-In-Elmet would like the location then please let me know as there doesn't seem to be an abundance of trees around....well not that I can find anyway.

ATB

 

[jujumoose]

I love sloegin made my first lot last year, was hoping to make a bigger batch this time round, but the price of gin is suggesting otherwise...1 and a half litre bottle of Asda's London Gin just under £21...it's not like it will last for months on end...not once I crack the lid anyway :whistle:

 

[metalmickey]

JUst a quick tip, but you shouldnt keep high percentage spirits in plastic bottles as the alcohol will denature the plastic and youll end up drinking it.

I probly wouldnt worry for a short infusion of a few months, but long term should be in glass bottle.

MM