Sloe Wine

[IanAl]

Hi all, yes another newbie!

I have started making some Sloe wine following a very old recipie passed down through 3 generations of my family.

8 Pints Sloe's
8 Pints water
4lb Sugar

I have soaked the sloes in boiling water all night (at least I will have by morning) and the book says to let the sloes soak for 5 days strirring twice a day. After 5 days add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Filter out the liquid into bottles and loosely cork for another 2 days after which leave until required to drink.

My problem is......

The recipie mentions no yeast and I wouldn't have thought days is enough to let wine ferment? It is a proper published recipie which my family say they have always followed but Im afraid I am not convinced.

Any ideas?

[Two_Sheds]

I'm not convinced either.

CJJ Berry's recipe is:

3 lb sloes
0.5 lb raisins
3 lb sugar
6 pints water
yeast
yeast nutrient
pectic enzyme

He says it takes at least a year to be drinkable.

I guess in the Olden Dayes people used to rely on there being natural yeasts on the fruit?

[rustylady]

Trouble with relying on natural yeasts is that they're not always present. It then becomes a bit of hit and miss as to whether the wine will actually work. I used to make a lot of wine and would add some wine yeast to the bucket of fruit mix before straining it into a demijohn or something similar. Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out before bottling.

[IanAl]

Thanks for the feedback, will try adding yeast and fermenting it in a demijohn, Im really not convinced its going to work otherwise.

Cheers!

[bobleponge]

Even with natural yeasts a few days surely wouldnt be enough to work?
Is it possible there's been a typo somewhere over the years?

I would also add a bit of wine yeast and let it ferment a bit in a bucket before chucking into demi johns and leaving for a while.

Would it be possible to do just a bit (do the maths and fraction out a bit of it?) as a taste test, I'm intrigued by the thought of drinking wine 12 days after the process starts.

[IanAl]

I seived out the Sloes last night, added the 2 bags of sugar and put the liquid into wine bottles, I got up this morning to find it is fermenting! There is a healthy head of scum being pushed up the neck of the bottle and the stuff even smells like wine.
I refrained from adding any yeast in the end and thought Id follow the recipe (Its a printed one not hand written from an old book)
But for now all seems to be working, I will keep you posted but to say I am suprised by this would be an understatement. I will leave the bottles uncorked for obvious reasons until it seems to have stopped working then will cork down loosely to begin with
Thanks for all your help so far!

Ian

[IanAl]

Well, the wine continues to bubble away but has got very like syrup, I am asssuming that after the sugar has broken down it will thin back down?
Smells fantastic!! Sorry Im a bit excited but this is the first time we've done any wine making, its just nice to see it working.

[SlugLobber]

Any more updates on this, Ian? I have a surplus of sloes and already have more than enough gin and jam!!

[AnitaM]

old sloe recipe

Hi Ian et al

I see you are sorted and glad to hear its working.

I was equally excited when I first made it about 9 years ago. my recipe had slightly different numbers and process so am intrigued to hear about yours after 12 days.

The recipe was 4 lbs sloes 4lbs sugar 8 pints water. If I remember rightly though mine stayed in the bucket for about 6 weeks.

Unbelievably it worked a treat but was very very alcoholic!!!

Thankfully also had a tip from an experienced wine / beer maker which was to do it in a beer bucket and fit an airlock. It did attempt to blow the lid off after about 4 weeks, which being in a plastic bucket didn't cause too much problems.

I have been looking for the recipe again recently which is how I came across your question. I also found this link below which also seems to say (as someone replied to you) there are natural yeasts in the skins.

http://www.welcombe-hills-fungi.co.u...20way%2001.pdf

I started on 31st Oct and froze the fruit as a way of sterilising so will see how it goes and will let you know if interested.

A

[mrdinkle]

I bottled mine the other day, I sampled a little and my impression was that it tasted just like a passable red wine.

I have resisted the temptation to open a bottle since as I only made a gallon. I will be bringing a bottle out at christmas and saving some for next winter.

I *think* I used the CJJ Berry recipe, though cribbed off of another thread on here. Also, I used a general purpose wine yeast. There was a heap of sediment and I ended up topping it up with cooled boiled water on the first racking.

I have more sloes in the freezer - assuming I can maintain a constant temperature I might make more!

[Winemaker]

Re sloe wine

Hi

I am also a newbe to this site however have been making wine for the last 3-4 years. A quick question about your recipe as I have picked lots of sloes and wanted to try yours. How long did you initially boil the sloes for and you have put all night-is this correct??? just checking as I wasn't sure.

Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

[Kleftiwallah]

It is very important you choose the correct type of yeast. I would go for Young's Red Bordeaux or second choice, Vitner's Harvest CR51, (best if you are not thinking of 'laying down' your sloe wine).

Cheers, Tony.