Can I freeze the sloe berries that I have just picked? Saw them and picked them straight away but going on holiday tomorrow for a week.

Hi,

We are in Kent and went out today to pick some sloes (18/9/2011). This is the first time we have picked them. Although they looked the right colour they seem very small – about 1cm. Some of the pictures I have seen show them as quite a bit larger.

Is this because we are picking them too early, or because we have had a poor summer. If we wait until late October will they be bigger.

Are the small ones OK/taste OK to use?

Thanks

Len

I’ve been following a recipe from an old wines and drinks recipe book. It recommends 6oz sugar per lb of sloes, unless you are using Dry Gin, in which case DOUBLE the amount of sugar. I made it this way last year (12 oz sugar/lb) and it was fabulous. My question is – has anyone ever seen gin that is NOT Dry Gin?

This is our third year making sloe gin. We also make sloe vodka and sloe white rum which is delicious! Normally my husband fills the bottles with berries- need a lot of bottles! This year I half filled them as per your recipe- the old man is grumbling but I’m sure it will be just as good! I had some nice screw top large cider bottles and filled about 7, so a nice stash for Yule drinkies. Sometimes we decant some into smaller decorative bottles as presents- no complaints from any recipients so far!
I’ll let you know how the new recipe (half bottle of berries) turns out!
Love your blog, we are now going to try rosehip syrup/cordial!

My receipe: 500 gramms of sloes, 500 ml gin, 100 grammes of sugar. Doesn’t need more sugar to be delicious !

Hi everyone, need some help. I’ve made Sloe Gin for the first time this year and must admit I just got addicted to picking sloes. I want to bottle it this week for Christmas presents and really don’t know the best way to strain the sloes. Some recipes say strain through muslin and other just pour into bottles. Others then say strain twice! HELP PLEASE

@ Els: I always add the sugar right from the start together with the sloes. I just find the flavour is better. I leave the sloes in the gin for 3 to 4 months, so if I were you I would add some sugar now, leaving the sloes in, and then try the gin again in a month to see if it needs more sugar. Remember it takes a little while for the sugar to dissolve at room temperature, so one shouldn’t taste the gin too soon after adding the sugar as you may underestimate the sweetness.

@ John: sloe stones contain cyanide (not arsenic) and in theory if you ate them you would indeed get cyanide poisoning. As far as I am aware, however, the stones need to be broken and you would need to consume stone ‘extract’ in order to be poisoned. I have heard of people leaving (by accident) sloes in the gin for over ten years and surviving drinking it.

I made sloe gin for the first time this year, so I’m no expert. However, I like to think I’m a good cook! My advice would be to add the sugar now but leave the sloes in. You just need to gently shake until the sugar has dissolved (maybe over a couple of days).

Attempted to make sloe gin for first time but recipe I was given by friend didn’t mention sugar. Pricked sloes have been soaking in gin for 8 weeks now – should I decant sloes and add sugar now?

We have masses of sloes still on our organic farm in Dorset (must be the lack of sprays!) – not shrivelled at all yet, so if anyone wants me to picks them some….email me at [email protected]

Sandra,
I just picked some today and they are perfect. I live in the west of Ireland and the sloes here seem to rippen a bit later. If you still want some and can’t get them locally, I will fill a tupperware with a couple of lbs and post them to you.

The King’s Head in Hursley near Winchester (Hampshire) will be holding a Sloe Gin Championship on Sunday 6th March 2011. With sloe season underway it’s time to get sloe gin making!.
Please contact the pub for more details and to register your sloe gin :-
Telephone: 01962 775 208
Email: [email protected]

Julia, yes, Sloes do have stones… they are members of the plum family, so the stone is quite large in relation to the fruit.

Sandra, there are plenty of Sloe bushes around….but you’re possibly not in time now…I went back to collect more today (I am from Leeds myself) and they were mostly shrivelled up :(. Best way to tell is in early Spring when they are in blossom. You will see they are probably the first thing to come into flower March/April time,before the Hawthorn… make a note of where they are located and then you will know for next year’s harvest (they were ready to collect in September this year, so don’t miss out)…

i have sloes in my jar with gin for almost 12 months and want to decanter them ,someone has told me you can get arsonic poisoning from them if they are in there too long ,will mine be safe ?

Please can anyone tell me where can I go and pick wild sloes in Leeds , Horsforth . Or Harrogate Area

Not the ones I picked! Damsons do though.

Do sloe berries have stones? Thanks, Julia

Oh, and my solution to the problem of crossing the nettles to get to the sloes? I tied a binliner around each leg, and waded in!

I made sloe gin for the first time on Saturday. Had picked them on Friday, but was too tired to do anything with them. Saturday I washed and seived them then had to leave them a couple of hours while I did some other jobs. In the evening I sat watching telly, laboriously pricking the sloes (not having thought to investigate this website first, which would have saved pricked, stained hands and fingers!). I was concerned to see that at least a third of them had split. I tossed up whether to chuck them out or not, then decided to bottle them separately and see what happens. I’m glad I did, as I understand the aim seems to be to split them!!! I didn’t even freeze them, and they did it all by themselves.

Friday was also the first time I’d ever heard of a bullace, let alone seen one! I was out picking elderberries with an elderly friend (aged 82), who was able to tell me what they were. I had to stand on the roof of the car to pick the few that were still on the tree, but I was feeling adventurous. (The reader on horseback has the right idea!) They’re in the fridge, so now I’ve read everyone’s comments, I’ll try making some bullace rum!

Our garden backs onto a paddock and we’ve just spotted lots of sloes growing out there. Is it to early to pick them? Some of them have started to shrivel (?) up already. They’re quite purple at the moment, should they be darker in colour? Made sloe vodka a few years ago so going to give it another go.

just picked my first lot of sloes, going to give it go ,thanks for your different recipes.
Try looking down country lanes if there are any near you, the hedge rows near me are positivly bursting with sloes this year never noticed them before

Anyone know where I can find sloes around the South Northants/North Milton Keynes area?

My sloe gin this year has mould at the top after bottling it.

It was clear when I bottled it but, after drinking some, the mould has formed at the top of the liquid in the bottle.

Help!! What has happened? Should I empty the sloe gin in a container using muslin again, sterilise the bottles and then rebottle it?

I made it in my garage this year in a big covered container, stirring it from time to time.

Hi, does anyone know what slo berries taste like ?