The Pikers Pit

Still off work but putting the time to good use after collecting a load of sloes last week. Thought it might be good to share a few foraging / brewing / booze ideas.

Pick and freeze sloes.
Defrost and they split which saves pricking everyone single one of them!
Fill a sterilised kiln jar to within an inch ot the top.
Fill with Gin. I dont bother with the good stuff. Cheap London gin from the supermarkets.
Store in a cool dark (i dont know why but that is what the books say) cupboard. Turn and move a bit weekly for 2-3 months.

Taste test day.
Make sugar syrup by heating sugar in water.
Filter the gin through a sterile sieve, then through muslin. Keep the sloe berries!
Add the sugar syrup to taste.... the fun bit! Job done! Sloe Gin for Christmas!

Sloe berries back in a re- sterilised kiln jar. Add a bottle of Rioja / Chianti. Leave for a month or two in the came cupboard.
Sieve and filter through muslin as before.
Add 250ml brandy.
Add sugar syrup if required to taste.
Basic sloe fortified wine... its lovely.

I also did victoria plum Gin / fortified wine in the same way last year but didnt freeze them, just pricked the plums skin / flesh a few times. Gorgeous. Missed the viccy plums this year but just bought some other plums from the supermarkt and in soak!


Any other ideas????

I've done Sloe Gin, Sloe Whisky, Damson Gjn, Rhubarb Gin & Sloe Ruby (made with port instead of gin.
The best 2 in my eyes are the Damson gin & Rhubarb gin. Damsons don't need pricking or freezing as they tend to disintegrate anyway - but thiey make a more fruity & plummy drink than Sloes. Rhubarb is a good one as it can be drink after 2 weeks.

Old Farmers recipe.

Pick sloes after the first frost, preferably with the bloom on.
Prick with silver fork or thorns from sloe bush.
Empty gin bottle, 1/3 fill with white sugar, fill with sloes, top up with gin.
Stand bottle in old milk crate by the door, every time you go through it turn the bottle upside down.
Stop turning 1week efore the Boxing day shoot, drink on the day and top up with more gin the same evening, drink to empty at the end of the last fox shoot (not before).

.

The only reason for picking after the first frost is that they are 100% ripe by then.... as the demand for them has risen dramatically they get picked earlier & earlier and quite often before they have ripened. Also, pricking them is futile when freezing does the same job better and easier.

I used to do blackberry vodka.- mix same amount of blackberries with sugar.place somewhere warm,I used to heat up oven ,turn it off then leave them in there overnight. The sugar draws out the juice.
Strain through muslin then mix the resulting syrup with equal amount of cheap vodka.
You can either drink neat or with a mixer.
Too late for this year though unless someone's got blackberries in the freezer!

Mattjb wrote: ↑Tue Oct 27 2020 21:03 -

I used to do blackberry vodka.- mix same amount of blackberries with sugar.place somewhere warm,I used to heat up oven ,turn it off then leave them in there overnight. The sugar draws out the juice.
Strain through muslin then mix the resulting syrup with equal amount of cheap vodka.
You can either drink neat or with a mixer.
Too late for this year though unless someone's got blackberries in the freezer!

Yes I have, about 5ks in the bait freezer I use them as winter toppings for my muesli.
I also have blackberry syrup in the fridge.
No vodka so I will try the syrup with Bacardi, a bottle I unearthed the other day, might make it drinkable (its only guests that drink it).

Thanks for the ideas.

.

Swap the gin for Vodka. No need for all the typical gin 'botanicals', a much cleaner fruit-flavoured spirit is the result.
No need for expensive Vodka either, supermarket own brands do the trick.

Swap both for port....blackberry port. The winner.
With the sloe gin for extra added" yorkshire" tight fistedness when you strain off redo it with a cheap bottle of lambrini and then.....3rd hand on a backing tray with melted dark chocolate.

Mates wife did gin with the zest of an Orange, grapefruit and lemon.
I.was amazed how quickly this worked. It looked like poorly man's pee in less than a day and was drinkable in well under a fortnight.
For a proper headbanger pear drops- the boiled sweets in a cheap bottle of vodka. Deffo no need for the sugar here.

we have several demi johns full of sloe and black berry gin soaking away
1" of sloes in bottom of demi jon, 1lb of caster sugar, 3l of gin---keep shaking it every now and then---and dont let Grant near it, champion sloe gin guzzler at the last Pit do

JohnCopeman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16 2020 21:50 -

Swap both for port....blackberry port. The winner.
With the sloe gin for extra added" yorkshire" tight fistedness when you strain off redo it with a cheap bottle of lambrini and then.....3rd hand on a backing tray with melted dark chocolate.

The BlackBerry Port has taken my interest John. Do you add any sugar when making that?

I never add sugar first as fruits have their own sugar content and it varies.
Taste test day is fun.... make a sugar syrup after steeping and add to taste.

I made some Victoria plum gin and then added the left over plums a bottle of Chianti for 6 weeks. The filtered and added 250ml of brandy.... now that was nice! Didn't last long.
This year I had to buy plums from the supermarket.... not done yet!

Last year I made Cherry whisky. Same proportions as sloe gin etc., and add sugar to taste. Yummy. Don't waste a single malt though. Famous grouse is sufficient.

This years batch

12 ltrs of joy in a bottle.
Made one batch of blackberry gin with a little bit more sugar, I still more akin to a liqueur, nice and thick

Edward.P.A.C wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09 2021 17:28 -

This years batch

12 ltrs of joy in a bottle.
Made one batch of blackberry gin with a little bit more sugar, I still more akin to a liqueur, nice and thick 20E0AF37-B648-4983-8328-EA2EEDC61FF7.jpeg

Omg they look so good
Might have ago myself this year
Regards
Tom

2l of our sloe gin has mysteriously evaporated already
keeps covid away

Mr Sykes....hardly any sugar in any of ours....most we put in is say pint of booze pound of fruit but only 4 oz sugar....it all depends how sweet you want it. As the port is fortified it spent make it any stronger at all...just dissolves.
If you like it sweet try vodka with just boiled sweets- pear drops, cola cubes, aniseed twist etc.

Cheers John, I don't put a lot in any of mine ... made the mistake of using an Internet recipe for Rhubarb gin before & it was far too sweet, though using dry ginger as a mixer made it more drinkable. This years spent fruit from the Sloe Gin has now got Port in.

I made Sloe Gin for the first time in September, yes i know it was a bit early but the berries were ready and i froze them to help them burst, and it was pretty easy to do.
I opened the first bottle christmas eve and it was gorgeous, i don't really drink but wanted to give it a try, ended up finishing most of my stock by Boxing Day evening lol.
I,ll be collecting a lot more when they are ready this season.
I posted the recipe on my blog here if you want a look [url]http://bryanscountryside.co.uk/various/sloe-gin//url]

Growing upI heard of plenty making Sloe gin and always thought they were actually making the Gin, once I realised that they were just taking essentially crappy gin and bunging Sloes/damsons in it I couldn't see the point at all. I dislike sweet drinks and would much prefer to drink good unsweetened gin.Hardly seems worth the hassle to me.

Happy as ever.....
Seriously....it ain't always " sweet".
Make it to your palet.
My mates Sloe Gin was always ready in less than a week and always tasted a lot like gin.

It tasted a lot like gin....then simply drink gin.

Edward.P.A.C wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09 2021 17:28 -

This years batch

12 ltrs of joy in a bottle.
Made one batch of blackberry gin with a little bit more sugar, I still more akin to a liqueur, nice and thick 20E0AF37-B648-4983-8328-EA2EEDC61FF7.jpeg

You best save me some. That batch we had at [redacted] was bloody lovely. I couldnt place it at the time but I said it reminds me of something.....

Believe it or not it actually reminds me of buckfast but without the caffeine overdose and a lot more... palatable ? is the word I think I'm looking for ?

bryan m wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26 2021 16:01 -

I made Sloe Gin for the first time in September, yes i know it was a bit early but the berries were ready and i froze them to help them burst, and it was pretty easy to do.
I opened the first bottle christmas eve and it was gorgeous, i don't really drink but wanted to give it a try, ended up finishing most of my stock by Boxing Day evening lol.
I,ll be collecting a lot more when they are ready this season.
I posted the recipe on my blog here if you want a look [url]http://bryanscountryside.co.uk/various/sloe-gin//url]

September isn't necessarily early. It depends where you pick the sloes & how ripe they are. Up here in Yorkshire they might ripen in late September, but while on holiday on the South coast i've picked some bumper hauls of very ripe ones in August both in Dorset & Cornwall. I don't go in for the old tale of only picking them after the first frost - i think that's only ever been said because they must be ripe by then.

Andrew Croft wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05 2021 23:26 -

Edward.P.A.C wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09 2021 17:28 -

This years batch

12 ltrs of joy in a bottle.
Made one batch of blackberry gin with a little bit more sugar, I still more akin to a liqueur, nice and thick 20E0AF37-B648-4983-8328-EA2EEDC61FF7.jpeg

You best save me some. That batch we had at [redacted] was bloody lovely. I couldnt place it at the time but I said it reminds me of something.....

Believe it or not it actually reminds me of buckfast but without the caffeine overdose and a lot more... palatable ? is the word I think I'm looking for ?

best you drag your sorry ginger a**e to the next social (whenever that is ) then.
I’ve also got a couple of good malts I’ll bring along. But might have to ration those to those who’ll appreciate them.
So far it’ll only be Stew and myself that’ll be sharing a dram