Sloe Gin advice?

[awarner]

Finally going to have a go at sloe gin/vodka and the same with hawthorn.
Now as we are getting into the sloe season, any hints and tips on getting the best from the harvest?
Also do you need to strain out the fruit before bottling or can you just bottle fruit and all or would there be a limited shelf life in doing so?

As a side thought, is blackberry gin worth trying?

 

[Tengu]

Leave at least until xmas (a year is better)

Sloes are best after frost, so cheat and freeze them first

 

[Leshy]

Hello awarner!

Sound advice from Tengu above...

Also have a look at this article!
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/readers-solutions/sloe-gin-recipe

Nice little recipe and ideas there, especially with the coriander seeds and cinnamon.
I'll try the chillies this year too methinks...
😀

Ive never tried blackberry gin , but have tried someone elses blackberry vodka , harvested and made locally and that was dangerously delicious!
😵


I'll try and dig out a berry vodka recipe ...
👍

 

[johnnytheboy]

Don't put your sugar in first, it's a beginners mistake, let the fruit sit in the vodka when you remove the fruit then add the sugar to your desired taste, it only takes a few minutes to dissolve sugar no need to put it in early and have no control over the sweetness!

 

[crosslandkelly]

Freeze your Sloes and Haws before using them, when defrosted they will mix better with your spirits.

 

[Toddy]

Johnnytheboy has a good point. All too often the traditionally made stuff is syrupy sweet. It's supposed to be a liqueur not a cough medicine

I admit I do add sugar to the fruits before I add the gin or whisky (works well) but I'm sparing with it.

You do need to remove the fruit and strain before you finally bottle it if you want a clear, clean looking drink. Otherwise it's full of lees.

M

 

[Monikieman]

Don't put your sugar in first, it's a beginners mistake,

Apparently making a sugar syrup 50/50 sugar and water takes less sugar to get the desired sweetness (an adding it after the brew). I waters it down a bit though!!

 

[mick91]

As has been said freeze the sloes first. Ideally avoid the dried ones too. The hardest part about sloe gin is not drinking it too early! I personally prefer it sweeter so I add sugar first. Shake it twice a day for 6 months to a year and strain though a coffee paper. As for shelf life, almost indefinite, sugar and alcohol are both preservatives and sloe gin has both in abundance. One tip I can give you is use the cheapest, lowest quality gin you can find. Botanicals in expensive gin interfere with the taste I have found. Conversely use the best quality vodka you can afford, something clean like belvedere or grey goose take flavours very well. Balkan 176° is probably the best I've found for flavoring, but its viciously strong stuff (88% abv) and only available online or imported from Serbia

 

[slowworm]

My never fail recipe is very quick and simple. Pick sloes, select gin, throw slows away and drink the gin.

It's not something I've acquired the taste to despite liking gin and damson wine, which is a shame as our new wood has some trees that produce very large sloes.

 

[awarner]

Cheers for the advice, jars on order ready to start making

 

[bob_the_baker]

And don't forget, after pouring off the gin, refill with sherry, cider or red wine for slerry, slider or sline.

 

[Harlequin1974]

I use a large Tupperware box for the early "shake it all over" stage of the process - and don't miss out on scoffing the sloes once you've strained the liquor off: they will have lost all of their bitterness and become a boozy treat. I try to bottle mine around the end of November at the latest to drink the following (i.e. over a year later) Chrimbo. Blackberry vodka is delicious too - last year I made some with a bit of vanilla pod in too and it worked pretty well.

 

[Macaroon]

My never fail recipe is very quick and simple. Pick sloes, select gin, throw slows away and drink the gin.

It's not something I've acquired the taste to despite liking gin and damson wine, which is a shame as our new wood has some trees that produce very large sloes.

I'd have a very close look at your 'very large sloes', there's a good chance that they could be Bullace which are a true delight and very different from either of their parents, i.e. Sloes and Damsons; I have a much reduced selection of them as the years go by, people move here from the city and don't know what they are and either cut them down or just let them go to pot. I've had a lot of trouble with Crab Apples too, folk used to cut the tops out to make them spread at the base, making it easy to get the fruit; all those I used to harvest are now either gone or thirty foot high and you can't get at the fruit before it rots.........

 

[Janne]

If you do fruit flavoured Vodka, do not put any sugar in it. Cleaner taste.

 

[bigbear]

Or, take the sloes when the drink is made, pop out the stones, and cover in meltd chocolate for a real after dinner treat.

 

[Nice65]

If you do fruit flavoured Vodka, do not put any sugar in it. Cleaner taste.

Or do it Scottish style and put Kola Cubes in

Bullace are lovely, but don't always fit in a bottle neck. Sloes, we stab them a few times before they go in. I remember my dad making some wooden discs and putting tiny nails through them and attaching a handle. Made the sloe stabbing much easier for our tiny hands.

 

[Macaroon]

Or do it Scottish style and put Kola Cubes in

Bullace are lovely, but don't always fit in a bottle neck. Sloes, we stab them a few times before they go in. I remember my dad making some wooden discs and putting tiny nails through them and attaching a handle. Made the sloe stabbing much easier for our tiny hands.

We have always pricked the sloes with a thorn from the Blackthorn they came from; this was handed down the generations around here and I believe it's some kind of reaction that something in the Sloes sets up with metals, apart from Silver, apparently. We didn't have any Silver, needless to say....... As I've always used the thorns I can't say whether there's any truth to it or not.

 

[Everything Mac]

Hello awarner!

Sound advice from Tengu above...

Also have a look at this article!
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/readers-solutions/sloe-gin-recipe

Nice little recipe and ideas there, especially with the coriander seeds and cinnamon.
I'll try the chillies this year too methinks...


Ive never tried blackberry gin , but have tried someone elses blackberry vodka , harvested and made locally and that was dangerously delicious!



I'll try and dig out a berry vodka recipe ...


Blackberry gin? Blimey that does sound nice. I'll have to try that.
You ought to try Blueberry whiskey.
Andy

 

[johnnytheboy]

Apparently making a sugar syrup 50/50 sugar and water takes less sugar to get the desired sweetness (an adding it after the brew). I waters it down a bit though!!

the only thing you should be watering sloe gin down with is more alcohol ����

 

[galopede]

I can recommend blackberry whisky!