Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Homebrew => Topic started by: bearhugger1972 on May 18, 2012, 00:48
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A long time ago (20 odd years) I tried some home brew liqueur which was very nice but was terrific 'sleep juice' ie a few 'shots' ended up knocking you right out for the night. As far as spirits go i usually only drink malt whiskies occasionally. just wonderedwhat others drank /brewed?
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Sloe gin is one I make fairly regularly, although now generally in larger batches every other year. And with at least one bottle made with Muscovado or a similar dark, treacly sugar (very mellow after a year maturing).
Last year I invented a new one for me that I'll definitely try again. I steeped quartered fresh figs in rum for about 8 weeks. The figs were removed and eaten with mascarpone and honey. I then filtered the rum, dosed it up with with sugar and added a half-teaspoon of vanilla paste. This year I'll add the sugar at the start and a vanillla pod.
Ten days or so ago I started a beech leaf noyau. This is a new recipe for me.
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I've not tried homebrewing any liquers or spirits yet (I'm still a novice) but do enjoy a malt whisky. There's a bottle of Ardbeg in the cabinet waiting for a good excuse to pop the cork ;)
My GF likes a sloe gin so could you recommend a tried and tested recipe I could try Alastair?
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Sloe gin - nothing could be easier.
Pick your sloes AFTER a good frost, prick each one, do NOT cut with a knife, half fill a glass (if you can find one) sweety jar and top up with GOOD gin. Don't forget, rubbish in - rubbish out. Add a few drops of Almond essence.
Cover the sweety jar with cling film and then screw on the top. Keep the jar in the airing cupboard and give it a good shake every day (or as often as you go in there). Three months later strain off the sloes and bottle the sloe gin.
Forget about it for 4 - 5 years. Easy peasy.
Cheers, Tony.
A
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Our list includes limoncello, sloe gin, winter warmer gin (sloes with cloves) raspberry vodka, blackberry brandy and plum vodka
Lucky they all keep for ages :lol:
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My GF likes a sloe gin so could you recommend a tried and tested recipe I could try Alastair?
Pick the sloes, preferably after a good frost but the last couple of years the first frost for us has been rather late. You could drop a bag of picked sloes into the freezer overnight.
I don't bother pricking the sloes myself, others do.
1/2-2/3 fill your clean jars with sloes (I use Kilner type jars). Fill around the sloes with sugar to about 1/2-2/3 the depth of the sloes. You can use white sugar or a heavy demerrara type. Dark sugar will give a rich caramel flavour.
Measurements are not critical.
Fill the jars with gin. Leave in a dark place for 3 months. Shake every day for the first week, and then afterwards when you remember.
Strain into bottles.
You can (in theory) have sloe gin ready for Christmas the same year, but it's better the following year. If you want it ready quicker use white sugar, dark sugar needs several months to mellow and for the slight bitter note that dark sugar introduces to fade away.
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Thanks for the Sloe Gin recipe advice guys! Sounds like I'd be best throwing a few jars together with a variety of white/dark sugar so I can stagger opening the finished bottles and appreciate the extra maturity in time. I'll just need to find a big enough sloe hedge/tree in my area before winter with an owner up for some trading...
Has anyone tried a chilli vodka in the past? I have six cayenne plants coming along nicely so may give that a try too if I have an abundance.
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Has anyone tried a chilli vodka in the past?
Oh yes... I did mine with hot lemon pepper, best to dehydrate the peppers first otherwise things taste 'green'. It didn't float my boat and was reduced to little more than a BBQ gimmick. As always though - try everything once, otherwise you'll never know if you like it ::)
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Thanks for the Sloe Gin recipe advice guys! Sounds like I'd be best throwing a few jars together with a variety of white/dark sugar so I can stagger opening the finished bottles and appreciate the extra maturity in time. I'll just need to find a big enough sloe hedge/tree in my area before winter with an owner up for some trading...
Has anyone tried a chilli vodka in the past? I have six cayenne plants coming along nicely so may give that a try too if I have an abundance.
Do not leave the peppers in for to long, as it will become almost undrinkable. Friend of mine left a couple of scotch bonnets in for 14 hours, he passed a hip flask of it round the campfire with some really heavy drinkers, and it came back almost untouched. :D which is rare, I passed a full bottle of raspberry whisky round and it came back empty, and that was after finishing off a wheelbarrow stacked high with beer :lol:
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Not tried raspberry whisky :nowink:
and I'll pass on the chilli vodka I think, thank you :lol:
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Quince Eau de Vie. Grated quinces, sugar, vodka. Not too sweet with a dry aftertaste - fabulous. :)
http://www.guntheranderson.com/liqueurs/quinceea.htm
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Quince Eau de Vie. Grated quinces, sugar, vodka. Not too sweet with a dry aftertaste - fabulous. :)
http://www.guntheranderson.com/liqueurs/quinceea.htm
Now that does sound rather good -- I'll have to beg some quinces from my plot-friend again ;)
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I've just bottled the beech leaf noyau (using the Andy Hamilton recipe) I started three weeks ago. A quick taste during bottling and I have to say it's very, very nice. Difficult to decribe the flavour, and it's a lovely pale golden-green colour.
It's definitely going onto the Spring must-do list - but the window of opportunity is quite short, I suspect it's already too late for anyone to start this year.
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Try and track down a bottle of this 'stuff'
http://mideastfood.about.com/od/drinkscoffeetea/a/arak.htm :ohmy:
Even better than siddique (sid for short). Cheers, Tony.
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Try and track down a bottle of this 'stuff'
http://mideastfood.about.com/od/drinkscoffeetea/a/arak.htm :ohmy:
Even better than siddique (sid for short). Cheers, Tony.
But in the spirit of the thread.. how do you make it?