Hi, Im new to the forum as I just joined today as it looks quite interesting.
Anyhow Ive been making Sloe gin and various others for over 40yrs now. I also smoke a lot of Salmon and other products hot and cold. I decided to make some Smoked Sloe Gin but couldnt find a recipy or anyone who had tried it. Is there anybody on here who has experience of this. What I done was cold smoke 10lbs of Sloes in the best of Oak for 12hrs and make the gin in Demi johns just to a normal recipy. I usually filter it after 1year and drink at 3yrs. I taste it when its filtered just to see what its like but Ive found its better between 2/3 yrs.It will be March next year before I filter it if anybody has done this can you let me know if there was any problems.
Cheers Bill
Hanna
Hope this helps.
I pick my sloes when you can eat them and they are sweet. Where I stay this is around Dec/Jan. Trouble is there is a thin red line between them being sweet and all falling of the trees. I make my gin in Demijohns and I never sterilise them or use any kind of tablets etc. If its a previous Demi I just wash it out with tap water and start again. When you pick Sloes that late within 1hr of shaking the Demi to dissolve the sugar it will go a lovely ruby red. I put my Demis in the loft for one year where there is no light. After 1 year I filter them twice through fine coffee filters,this takes quite a long time. I then wash the demi and put the gin back and store in the loft for another two years before drinking.Ive Sloe gin at 5/7yrs old crystal clear,Ive an 8yr old Blueberry the same, Raspberry,Blackberry,Damson,gooseberry, Sloe-sherry, plum all clear. In the early days it was the done thing not to filter it and leave the fruit in I found that after a certain time it turned brown and the taste wasnt so good. Subjecting it to sunlight or bright light it tended to lose its rich colour. Anyhow as you probably know dont throw the sloes away,chopped up and added to chocolate you get liquer chocolate, you can add the fruit to Trifles and puddings and one of my favourites add two bottles of med dry sherry shake every day for a week and store for two months and filter twice and you get Sloe sherry
Cheers Bill
Hi Bill, that explains it then, I have never kept mine in absolute darkness like you have. Yes I have re-used my sloes as well to make other things, unfortunately sloes are more difficult to find now in my area, there are far fewer old hedgerows as many farms operate on gigantic field systems, and many old hedges have been dug out. Mostly arable around here, very few animals raised (except pigs, but that is done large scale as well) so to hear you say you had 10 lbs of sloes I was envious, I struggle to find 1 lb in any one place these days.
Ours don't stay on the trees that late either, they have mostly fallen or been eaten by birds by September so it can't be left to late.
I made damson Gin last year that was very good and still tastes fruity and fresh. I would be very interested to know what your smoked sloe gin is like when you get around to tasting it.
I will probably give blueberries a go this year as well.
In my new place, (moved in March), I don't have a loft any more, so can't mimic your process. I will have to see if I can rig up a very dark space in the house and try your method at some point.
Hannah
Are we having fun yet? I am!
Hi Bill, welcome to the forum. We have a 'Introduce yourself' section, how about posting there telling us a bit about yourself, we do like to be nosey!
Sorry, no experience of sloe gin, smoked or otherwise, in fact I've never heard of smoked sloe gin. I made blackberry gin and raspberry vodka a couple of years ago, my one and only experience of anything like that.
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
Bill, I just dug out of the cupboard three small bottles of sloe gin I made in the past, one from 2007, one from 2011 and one from 2012. The 2007 still has a bit of red although it is browning and has a strange initial taste and then the flavour comes through well, more like cherries now, the 2011 and 2012 are better colour and also taste quite nice, still more like sloes, so I guess even though they were in the dark, but not absolute dark, the flavour and colour is holding up OK, so if I can rig up a proper dark space, maybe I can get them to last even longer.
Just need a good supply of sloes now for this year!
Are we having fun yet? I am!
Hannah
There is no bad Sloe Gin it just tastes different!
I would guess that your slightly brown colour was down to oxidation rather than anything else and maybe starting to taste like sherry. Some more key facts below might help a little more.
Pick your sloes as late as you can (first frost is a myth).
Pick twice as much as you need and freeze ( some years you dont get any at all).
I use Demijohns but any bottle or jar will do as long as you can get the sloes out.
You dont need to sterilize as your not making wine or beer (another myth)
Take the sloes out the freezer and most will burst as they thaw and will let out some juice,as you are putting them in the bottle and if you have picked them late a sqeeze between your fingers will burst them.
A friend of mine puts them in a tray and rolls a cheese grater over them before bottling.
Store in a dark place and dont open until filtering
Decant after 6mths ( I leave mine 1yr for Sloes or Damsons )
I syphon off down to fruit level then pour the rest through a strainer then the same liquid through the strainer lined with kitchen roll and then all the liquid through coffee filters twice.( takes a long time)
I put the gin back in the same bottle and store in a dark place for 2yrs.
After 3yrs I pour into a nice decanter put in my lounge and drink when I feel like it.
On the Sloe front Ive access to hundreds of bushes and the best ones I know are 2/3 miles in a 4x4 up dirt tracks and these ones are the best as no one goes there. but even so some years there are none. I believe you can buy them on the web but I dont know where.
Sumprat
Have you a good recipy for smoking Garlic?
Thanks Bill,
I used to work in the alcoholic drinks industry as a product developer, so I am very familiar with oxidation of drinks over time, and as I said earlier, I had not thought of using the loft as a dark place, although my old loft used to get very hot in the summer as it was well insulated so the heat was trapped in it, which would have mimicked the Madeira making procces (hot cycle followed by cold cycle etc) so might not have been too helpful.
I am in a slightly different area from where I was until recently so I will be on the look out for sloes more locally to me and will take your advice and pick double the quantity.
Are we having fun yet? I am!
425g6 said
SoolizCan you tell me how to access the introduce yourself, Ive tried a few times tonight but cant seem to get to the right place.
Bill
Sorry Bill, not sure what you mean, I saw you'd opened a new post in that section but didn't manage to actually say anything....are you shy?
Seriously, though, I'm not very good (useless) with technical problems so can't help you, I'm afraid. Perhaps Danny (Big Chief) or TA (2nd in command) will be able to help.
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
425g6 said
Sumprat
Have you a good recipy for smoking Garlic?
Hi
I smoke AND roast my garlic at the same time. I have a smoker designed just for this and got it from Clas Ohlson.
I remove the outer dry skin from garlic heads and stick them in for about half an hour. They come out all soft and gooey. The flavour is really good. As they have been roasted there is no harshness just a deeper garlic flavour.
Check out my other posts here regarding smoking.
SumpRat AKA Simon
A well fed rat is a HappyRat A smile a day keeps the psychiatrist away.
Hannah
I havnt managed to reply on the forum as where I work most things are blocked and alcohol and hunting are the first two. You certainly know more about oxidation than I do and as I make my sloe gin its normally January and my loft is freezing and dark so I dont know if this helps at the start but Ive never had a problem. After I pick them I throw them in a bucket of water and wash them before I freeze them,dont know if this helps either.
Sumprat
Ill try the Garlic the way you described. I have a Bradley Digital hot smoker and I have cold smoker outside which I built myself mainly for Salmon and other fish.
Sooliz
Managed to put something on today.
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