Cider/sloe

[seth]

I've Got At My Disposal Quite A Few Apples, Does Any Of The
Lads/lasses Know A Cheap Way Of Making Cider..i Don't Want
To Spend To Much On Presses And Other Materials When The
Apples Our Free....also When Is It A Good Time To Pick Sloe's
For Sloe Gin,i've Come Across A Small Patch When Trapping
Moles And How Long Would I Leave It For.

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

From another forum, so not strictly bushy, but easy....

This really works well and is simple to make

One carton of "justjuice" (it has to be justjuice as it has no additives)
a 2lb bag of sugar
wine yeast
a demijohn
a one way valve (glass or plastic )

slightly warm the juice to blood tempreture, then pour it into the demijohn, add the suger and swirl it round to mix together....add the yeast , fit the airlock valve and stick it in a nice warm airing cupboard for six months

siphon it out into another demijohn and use "finings" (to help clear any sediment)

then its drinkable, but watch it as its usually VERY strong ABV

 

[rich59]

I've Got At My Disposal Quite A Few Apples, Does Any Of The
Lads/lasses Know A Cheap Way Of Making Cider..i Don't Want
To Spend To Much On Presses And Other Materials When The
Apples Are Free.....

Are we talking 10lbs, 100lbs or more?

I made an apple wine with the skins and cores of an apple tree I was processing - putting it into the juicer attachment of the food processor.

For moderate quantities a press might be a good idea, but a car jack is probably all the hi tech you need.

Also, one can do away with the pressing of hard material by turning it into a sludge with modern enzymes from a brewing shop.

 

[Dougster]

In response to the sloes part. Here in Wilts, they are ready, I think it was the hot July and autumnal August. I put them in the freezer to break the cell walls(and make diffusion of flavour easier) and this keeps in with picking them after the first frost. I am currently shaking the fruit three times a day with gin & sugar. Choose your recipe from a google search. ATB with it.

Should be a merry Christmas then!!!!!

 

[EdS]

if you got a juicer put the apple through that them add some yeast. That is how I make cider.

You need about 20lb of apples per gallon. If you've not got that many mix apple juice with honey to make melomel.

 

[chickenofthewoods]

We made cider last year from wildings (mostly windfalls). Chopped them coarsely without peeling or coring them, then ran them thro' the grinder/masher that came with the press (Vigo).

Pressed the resulting pulp for juice and bottled it straight into sterile demijohns, added an airlock and put a heat belt around it to get it going. Then it was left alone to work. It took many months to clear, but the result was really lovely. Finally we bottled it up with a level spoonful of sugar in each one, which added a little sweetness and the merest hint of fizz. Nothing else was added during the process at all.

 

[seth]

rich59 thanks but brewing shop in jersey more chance Everton winning prem..
richeadon, excellent i/ll take this up and pick the sloe's for the freezer..
eds ...... juicer good idea seems i have not got press or crusher
chickenofthewoods most windfall bruise these also go in...give us a clue ..heat belt


also, finally got permission for my airrifle certificate after 5 months,....yes yes this is jersey and britain will catch up with stricth laws
which airrifle spring/gas/or other price £200/£400 at most shooting rats
bunnies and woodies.

 

[whitebeam]

Half fill a Kilo clean preservative jar with pricked and cleaned sloes, add 4oz of caster sugar and fill the jar to the top with dry gin.

Shake the jar daily until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid has taken on a darker colour. then add 10mls of almond essence after two weeks.

Leave the sloes in the jar for two months, shaking up fairly often.

then its ready.

I found that the sloes are not ready in our area at present, normally they say pick after the first frost, but you can cheat by putting them in the freezer overnight. But either way you must ***** them.

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Windfalls: As long as they're only recent, and not too bruised or damaged, been sitting about on the ground too long, wormy or otherwise obviously unfit, they go in after a quick rinse (& a good, pragmatic way to use them too, IMHO!).

A heat belt is a winemaking thingy. Similar to a heat mat, you either stand your demijohns on one, or strap it round them. It's just a doodad to get the brew up to optimum working temp for the yeasts to get started. I was given mine, but they're pretty easy to get hold of. You could just as easily stick the brew in a room with a consistently warm temp. tho'.

I have a great little book dating from the '70's called 'Cider Making' by Jo Deal, which has instructions, advice and recipes - it can still be had, but not easily. The most recent popular publication on the subject is 'Real Cider Making on a Small Scale' by Michael Pooley and John Lomax. But you might already know that!

By the way, you can make a fairly simple and efficient cider press with some timber and a car jack, look here for example:

http://www.ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Homemade_Cider_Press

 

[Dougster]

I've just done a test of my sloe gin... It's a month old.


WOW... can't wait for Christmas - anyone else having a go this year?

 

[andyn]

I've just done a test of my sloe gin... It's a month old.


WOW... can't wait for Christmas - anyone else having a go this year?

Got my batches on. Started a bottle a bit early this year with the hope i can get it ready for Mid november. The rest will err...umm.. be for christmas presents...shhhh

 

[Rob]

75cl bottle of gin. Clean, empty 1L bottle.

Freezing is great. But pricking does work too. 1 cup of sloes. 1 Cup of sugar. Put them in the 1L bottle and top it up. This should all just about fit.

Shake up bottles every day or so until at least after the last of the sugar has dissolved.

Wait until christmas - we finished the last bit of the 2005 the other week. Definitely gets better with age.

 

[Tadpole]

I've just done a test of my sloe gin... It's a month old.


WOW... can't wait for Christmas - anyone else having a go this year?

I'm on the last bottle of the batch I made last year, come pay day I will gin up and make enough for next year.

I'm worried about my sloes this years as they are quite sweet, in no way are they at all bitter. I've checked them in several books, online sites even asked advice from friends and they all say yes they are sloes, but still I worry as they taste ok.

 

[EdS]

got 6 gallons of cider - plus some more apples on thier way.

Got 2 bottles worth of sloe gin going from sloe I found in the freezer from last year and 7lb of sloes to do this weekend. Going to makes some sloe whiskey as well as gin.


Use a juicer for the cider much easier and quicker.

 

[dave k]

I've made blackberry whisky in the past - I think it's a better flavour, because the tartness of the sloes doesn't go well with the whisky taste IMHO.

I made 6 litres of sloe gin last year! So far this year I've only got about 2 on the go, and 1 has already been drunk!

 

[andyn]

I'm on the last bottle of the batch I made last year, come pay day I will gin up and make enough for next year.

I'm worried about my sloes this years as they are quite sweet, in no way are they at all bitter. I've checked them in several books, online sites even asked advice from friends and they all say yes they are sloes, but still I worry as they taste ok.

Are you sure it wasnt Bullace you were picking from? I've never heard of a sloes described as being sweet.

 

[dave k]

I you remember what the tree looks like you can tell the difference. If you are getting your hands wripped to shreads my thorn's you are picking sloe's if not it's probally bullaces.

 

[Wenie]

I've just done a test of my sloe gin... It's a month old.


WOW... can't wait for Christmas - anyone else having a go this year?

I just started two bottles off today. Not sure how they'll turn out though, as it's my first attempt, and I put way too much sugar in the one bottle....

 

[Tadpole]

Are you sure it wasnt Bullace you were picking from? I've never heard of a sloes described as being sweet.

I'll have to check, I run past the spot three times a week, I'll take pictures

I you remember what the tree looks like you can tell the difference. If you are getting your hands wripped to shreads my thorn's you are picking sloe's if not it's probally bullaces.

See here is the problem, on one side of the bush, the thorns are long enough to take your eyes out, but the other side there were just 'nubs' where the thorns should have been. I have a left handing brain, thought that some one else had been there a head of me harvested some berries and broken off the thorns in the process.
What I am now thinking is two bushes growing so close together that they look to be one tree. one sloe, one wild plums (bullaces). Is that possible? The berries, and from the ground the leaves, look the same.


Edited to add pictures 01/10/06

As promised, I ran past the spot, this time I took my camera, as I suspected and as some of you pointed out, not a thorn to be seen on the bushes that were laden down with fruit. There were thorns mixed in with the branches but they were from some other bush, which was grown through and alongside the “bullace” bush.
Pictures

 

[dave k]

I'll have to check, I run past the spot three times a week, I'll take pictures


See here is the problem, on one side of the bush, the thorns are long enough to take your eyes out, but the other side there were just 'nubs' where the thorns should have been. I have a left handing brain, thought that some one else had been there a head of me harvested some berries and broken off the thorns in the process.
What I am now thinking is two bushes growing so close together that they look to be one tree. one sloe, one wild plums (bullaces). Is that possible? The berries, and from the ground the leaves, look the same.


Edited to add pictures 01/10/06

As promised, I ran past the spot, this time I took my camera, as I suspected and as some of you pointed out, not a thorn to be seen on the bushes that were laden down with fruit. There were thorns mixed in with the branches but they were from some other bush, which was grown through and alongside the “bullace” bush.
Pictures

HI,
Yep, looks like bullaces. You should also find that bullaces also crop a lot heavier than sloes - I passed a bush yesterday while in Hastings that was groaning under the weight of them.. I've now added another 3 KG's of fruit to my stockpile