Hey Guys and Gals! Sloes are too sharp to eat but they make a deep, dry red wine. Give it time. Makes one gallon.
Ingredients
Step 1
3 lb ripe sloes
1/2 lb raisins, chopped
2.75 lb sugar
1 gallon water
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 Campden tablet, crushed
Step 2
1 pack red wine yeast
Directions
1. Wash the sloes and freeze them overnight to split the skins. Thaw them in a straining bag in the primary fermenter with the raisins. Mash gently. Do not crack the stones.
2. Pour a gallon of boiling water over the fruit. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Cool, then add everything except the yeast. Wait 24 hours.
3. Hydrate the yeast in 4 oz of warm water for 15 minutes, add it, take a hydrometer reading and fit an airlock.
4. Ferment on the fruit 5 to 7 days, stirring daily.
5. Remove the bag with the stones. Siphon into a secondary carboy and let it finish.
6. Rack every two to three months until clear.
7. Bottle and age at least a year. Sloe wine is harsh when young.