Content
It would hardly occur to anyone to consume this berry raw - it is very sour and tart. Even when frozen, it doesn’t change the taste too much. We are talking about damson or prickly plum. Small blue berries cover the thorny bushes in abundance. It would be a pity if such a harvest was lost. When it's delicious sauce and you have already prepared jam, jam, compote, but there are still berries left, try making homemade wine from them. Experts believe that it is not much inferior to grape. Homemade sloe wine will compare favorably with its store-bought counterpart not only in taste, but also in the absence of harmful additives. He has an original bouquet. This wine goes especially well with meat dishes, and in dessert form it goes very well with sweets.
The technology for making sloe wine at home is not complicated. You just need to prepare the berries correctly.
Preparing the berries
It is better to collect them when they are caught by the first frost, then the soft berries will be able to release their juice better. The collected berries are laid out in a thin layer on the litter to dry slightly. It is optimal if this takes place in the sun. The wild yeast with which they are enriched during this time will enhance the fermentation process of the future wine, and, therefore, improve its quality, give the desired taste and form a unique bouquet.
Sloe wine without yeast
To make sloe wine at home, we will use the simplest recipe.
The prepared berries are thoroughly crushed using a wooden pestle.
Dilute the sloe puree with water. There should be the same amount as puree. To do this, its quantity will have to be measured first. We leave the mixture to ferment in the air, covering it with gauze to prevent insects. As soon as fermentation begins, as evidenced by the appearance of foam and bubbles, strain the contents of the container.
Add sugar to the blackthorn extract. Its quantity depends on what kind of wine they are going to receive. For dry, 200 to 250 g per liter is enough; for dessert, you will have to add more - from 300 to 350 g for the same amount.
Pour the prepared wort into fermentation bottles, leaving space in each for the foam to form. This is approximately 1/4 of the total volume. To ensure that there is a free outlet for carbon dioxide and oxygen, which is detrimental to wine at this stage of making wine, does not get into the wort, you need to install a water seal.
At this stage, the future wine needs warmth. To ensure that it completely ferments, keep the bottles in a room where it is at least 20 degrees Celsius. As a rule, 45 days are enough for rapid fermentation. It’s easy to know when it’s finished when the release of gases stops. The glove placed on the bottle will fall off.
The wine we received is young. In order for it to acquire a real bouquet and taste, it has to mature.Let's pour it into bottles.
Now it needs to be hermetically sealed and left alone in a cool place without access to light.
After a maximum of 8 months, it will acquire a rich plum aroma and a stunning bouquet with tart notes, its color is dark ruby, noble. This wine is a decoration for any holiday table.
Adding raisins, even in small quantities, will provide additional yeast, and therefore enhance fermentation.
Sloe wine with raisins
The recipe for its preparation is quite simple.
To prepare it we will stock up on the following products:
- 5 kg of thorn berries;
- 3 kg sugar;
- 200 g raisins;
- 6 liters of water.
We prepare the berries and wash them. Yeast for fermentation will be provided by raisins, which cannot be washed. Prepare syrup from 2 liters of water and the entire amount of sugar. While it is cooking, constantly skim off the foam. As soon as it no longer appears, the syrup is ready. It needs to be cooled to room temperature.
Fill the berries with the rest of the water. Cook until the skin cracks. Mix the berries, broth, and 1/3 of the syrup in a fermentation container. To start fermentation, add raisins.
We place a water seal on the container.
An ordinary rubber glove will do the job well. In order for carbon dioxide to escape unhindered, you need to make a couple of small holes in it, simple punctures are enough.
If everything is done correctly, no later than a day later a foam cap and quite a few bubbles will appear in the container.
After a week, the rest of the syrup should be added to the wort. The fermentation process can take up to 50 days. The fact that the young wine is ready will be indicated by the berries that settle to the bottom. There is a cessation of gas formation and wine clarification.
If you want to get a dessert wine, you can add more sugar, now to taste. Then you need to let the wine ferment for a couple more weeks under a water seal. For strength, you can add vodka or alcohol, but not more than 15% of the volume.
Now is the time to drain the young wine from the sediment so that it can slowly ripen, gaining the desired taste. In 8 months in a cool place it will develop a unique bouquet, amazing color and taste.
Tincture on the turn
For lovers of strong alcohol, you can prepare a very beautiful and tasty tincture from sloe berries.
For it you need:
- berries - 5 kg;
- vodka - 4.5 l;
- sugar - half the amount of berries.
Sprinkle the washed and dried berries with sugar.
You can leave the seeds in, otherwise the drink will have an almond flavor. For those who don’t like it, it’s better to infuse seedless berries.
The bottle covered with gauze should be placed in the sun. After fermentation is complete, 0.5 liters of vodka is added to the mixture. A month later, everything is filtered and the strained mixture is bottled with the remaining vodka added. If you add a pod of hot pepper at the last stage of infusion, this tincture can easily treat a cold.
Conclusion
Sloe drinks not only have high taste qualities. Properly prepared, they will be good helpers in the treatment of a number of diseases.
Good afternoon I put the wine according to your recipe. After the solution was placed under the seal, after a week the glove fell off. Is the wine already ripe? What to do?