Sloe Wine

[samnorfolk]

Anyone got a good recipe for sloe wine? Never made it before

 

[Chippy_Tea]

One here (the member still posts in the forum so if you get stuck help is at hand) - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49555&highlight=Sloe+Wine

 

[tonyhibbett]

How many sloes do you have?

 

[samnorfolk]

How many sloes do you have?

Ive currently got about 1.6kg although i can/will get some more on thurs

 

[NCFCcrazy]

Plenty of Sloes about this year, I picked 14lb of them last week! Made 3.5 litres of sloe gin, and the rest went to 2 gallons of wine. I haven't really followed a recipe as such, but of all the recipes I found, they all suggested 4lb of sloes for a gallon. I just added Pectolase and sugar (calc using hyrdometer).

 

[tonyhibbett]

1.6 kilos is enough for a gallon. You need to break the skins by crushing to get the full flavour. They don't contain much sugar so you will need a kilo for a dry wine. I use an enzyme called Rohapect, which is best for extracting colour and flavour. Leave for 3 days with yeast and nutrient then strain. A fruit press is ideal but hand wringing through a straining bag will do.

 

[NCFCcrazy]

Im glad you say 3 days, I strained mine after 4 days and thought I may had done it too soon, but it looked ready.

 

[samnorfolk]

1.6 kilos is enough for a gallon. You need to break the skins by crushing to get the full flavour. They don't contain much sugar so you will need a kilo for a dry wine. I use an enzyme called Rohapect, which is best for extracting colour and flavour. Leave for 3 days with yeast and nutrient then strain. A fruit press is ideal but hand wringing through a straining bag will do.

Do i add the sugar in with the boiling water?

 

[Cwrw666]

An alternate way to break the skins is to freeze them. When you thaw them the juices can leak out much easier. Works when making sloe gin as well.

 

[tonyhibbett]

At what stage were you intending to use boiling water?

 

[samnorfolk]

So i put the sloes in a bucket and added sugar and boiling water crushed them up. Let it cool and added pectolase and half crushed C Tablet. Then let sit for 4 days. Now do i strain through a muslin straight into a DJ? or into another bucket then transfer to DJ or doesnt it matter?

 

[NCFCcrazy]

So i put the sloes in a bucket and added sugar and boiling water crushed them up. Let it cool and added pectolase and half crushed C Tablet. Then let sit for 4 days. Now do i strain through a muslin straight into a DJ? or into another bucket then transfer to DJ or doesnt it matter?

Im new to this so can only advise what I did after advice from local brewshop. I strained mine back into another bucket with Finings for 3 days for it to settle, then into a demi john. I also added a 240ml concentrated red grape juice to 2 gallons (120 in each DJ), apparently its not great on its own, although in hindsight, I would have done one with and one without to see for myself.

 

[samnorfolk]

i always used to put the finings in at the end if it wasn't clearing, so thats new to me.

 

[NCFCcrazy]

i always used to put the finings in at the end if it wasn't clearing, so thats new to me.

In hindsight, I may have been wrong to do that :whistle:

Im new to this, will check the instructions on the finings when I get home, I thought it said you could do it anytime.

 

[tonyhibbett]

I've made wine just from sloes and it tasted great, but needs time to mature in bulk, not in bottle. A lot of tannin drops out during 3 months, when it can be racked into bottles.
The flavour is actually quite delicate and easily overwhelmed by other flavours. There is very little juice in a sloe as the stone is relatively large in proportion. At best 1.6 kilos contains 0.6 ml of juice, whereas 120 ml of grape juice concentrate is the equivalent of 500 ml of grape juice.

 

[samnorfolk]

I've made wine just from sloes and it tasted great, but needs time to mature in bulk, not in bottle. A lot of tannin drops out during 3 months, when it can be racked into bottles.
The flavour is actually quite delicate and easily overwhelmed by other flavours. There is very little juice in a sloe as the stone is relatively large in proportion. At best 1.6 kilos contains 0.6 ml of juice, whereas 120 ml of grape juice concentrate is the equivalent of 500 ml of grape juice.

So do you suggest straining into a DJ and leaving it for 3 months without racking?

 

[NCFCcrazy]

I appear to have misread the finings instructions, it says to add after Primary Fermentation for Beers and Ciders, for wine you add it after fermentation.... oops. I added it to my wine after Primary Fermentation, hope it doesnt affect it too badly, seems to still be fermenting though.

We live and learn.

 

[brumbrew]

I've never noticed a 'taste' from finning. So should be ok. If not a little hazy and slow to get going in secondary as yeast fall out. Just stir up to keep it in suspension and fin again at the end with kwik clear if need be.

Doing my first sloe and damson wine next week after the must has sat for a week.

 

[samnorfolk]

I've never noticed a 'taste' from finning. So should be ok. If not a little hazy and slow to get going in secondary as yeast fall out. Just stir up to keep it in suspension and fin again at the end with kwik clear if need be.

Doing my first sloe and damson wine next week after the must has sat for a week.

After it has sat for a week what will you do? Shall I strain into another bucket through a muslin then rack into a DJ?

 

[brumbrew]

After it has sat for a week what will you do? Shall I strain into another bucket through a muslin then rack into a DJ?

Sorry the post you quoted was for NCFcrazy.

When I make hedge row stuff I was the fruit remove leaves and leave them in a bucket covered with boiling water. Plus the appropriate dose of campden tablets. To stop natural fermentation. I add no sugar.

Leave for a week.

Strain and press or as suggested squeeze in a bag of no press.

Then ferment.

Pulp will fall and float back up etc. Mesmerising 😛 but I leave it for a while when making hedgrerow wines. They mature better in bulk and don't like to be rushed.

I feed them sugar and nutrients part way through too. When you rack them and check gravity. Add some more to sugar slowly to bring up desired abv.

Then add finnings probly 2 months later.

You could strain out any excess pulp now. But I'd just leave it. It's flavour 😋