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I made some sloe gin last Autumn and have been keeping it to mature (well, I've had a nip or two!). How long does it keep before it starts to deteriorate? What age is it at it's best? I've never kept it longer than a year before.

Cheers!

A year??? Mine gets nowhere near that. However, the sloes and the sugar dilute the alcoholic strength of the gin. That, at worst is going to be a 50% dilution, so your sloe gin will be a minimum 18% alcohol (and more likely to be appreciably more).

Wines at a strength of 15% can be kept for years. So the sloe gin won't go off. The flavour may change (it may even improve) over that period of time, but I don't know about that.

Would the sugar not help to preserve it too? Or isn't there enough of it? I love sloe gin, just the thing to warm you up on a winter's day!

It all depends on how much sugar and sloes you put into it in the first place! And whether you take the sloes out after a while, or leave them in. My friend has had bottles for many, many years (she doesn't drink - goodness knows why she made the stuff in the first place), and it was perfectly OK.

My mum has some raspberry gin she made the first year we moved to the house they still live in, she used weight for weight fruit and sugar and strained after 3 months into sterilised bottles. it's still drinkable, but only if you REALLY hate your liver. she's saving one bottle until they've lived there 10 years (2009), but the other bottle gets brought out at new year for a win or forfeit card game/scrabble match.

I assume sloes to be much the same, I use them in FlibbleHooch but that never lasts more than a year.

FlibbleHooch! Hahahaha!

seriously, best name for it.
the last bacth was truely evil. much fruit, sugar and vodka, left for 3 months, turned once a week, strained, more sugar added and it's turned about once a week again. it's gooooood stuff.
all from Noak Bridge Village and nature reserve of the same name in Basildon too. Sloe, blackberry, apple, elderberry and pear

ocailleagh wrote:Would the sugar not help to preserve it too? Or isn't there enough of it? I love sloe gin, just the thing to warm you up on a winter's day!

Thats why mine goes fast

Mrsflibble .... ? pear gin/vodka how do you do that one ... Please

You know for a forum that deals with so much booze we only have one related smiley

I am still drinking some sloe gin that is well over 10 years old and it is still delicious. Hmmm - excuse me while I find a glass

Zoe

I like to think it matures with age...

I've kept the demi-john of sloe vodka going since 2003, I just occasionally add more vodka, sloes and sugar...

Now THAT sounds like a great idea. I've read your link, but can you give us a few more details? Do you ever take out the old sloes, for instance?

Silver Ether wrote:Mrsflibble .... ? pear gin/vodka how do you do that one ... Please

You know for a forum that deals with so much booze we only have one related smiley

weight for weight fruit and sugar, bash it up a bit, shove into a bottle, whack on booze and leave to stand for at least a month, turning weekly. strain into clean sterilised bottles, taste, add more sugar and repeat process if it's not sweet enough. leave for a while, drink. do not be alarmed if it comes out brown, it's ok. it stil tastes good.

The recipe we use (out of a very old book) advises removing the sloes after around six months as they will ultimatley impair the flavour.

Never had to do that yet though as it is so yummy the gin has never lasted that long!

mrsflibble wrote:

Silver Ether wrote:Mrsflibble .... ? pear gin/vodka how do you do that one ... Please

You know for a forum that deals with so much booze we only have one related smiley

weight for weight fruit and sugar, bash it up a bit, shove into a bottle, whack on booze and leave to stand for at least a month, turning weekly. strain into clean sterilised bottles, taste, add more sugar and repeat process if it's not sweet enough. leave for a while, drink. do not be alarmed if it comes out brown, it's ok. it stil tastes good.

Thanks flower