To make sloe gin, the sloe berries must be ripe. In the Northern Hemisphere they were traditionally picked in late October or early November after the first frost of winter.
A wide-necked jar that can be sealed is needed. Each berry is pricked, and the wide necked jar is filled half way with the pricked berries. Folklore has it that when making sloe gin, one should not prick the berries with a metal fork, unless it is made of silver. The established traditional method is to prick the berries with a thorn taken from the blackthorn bush on which they grow.
For each 1 imperial pint (570 ml) of sloes, 4 ounces (110 g) of sugar is used, then the jar is filled with gin, adding a few cloves and a small stick of cinnamon. The jar is sealed and turned several times to mix, then stored in a cool, dark place. It is turned every day for the first two weeks,
then each week, until at least three months have passed.
The gin will now be a deep ruby red. The liqueur is poured off and the berries and spices discarded. Alternatively, the leftover berries can be infused in cider, made into jam, used as a basis for a chutney, or a filling for liqueur chocolates.[1]
The liqueur can be filtered, but it is best decanted back into clean containers and left to stand for another week.
Careful decanting can then ensure that almost all sediment is eliminated, leaving a clear liqueur.
Made in this way, the alcohol extracts an almond-like essence from the sloes.
Homemade sloe gin is a much more complex and subtle drink than that produced commercially,[and recipes will vary depending on the maker's taste.
The sweetness can be adjusted to taste at the end, but sufficient sugar is required at the start of the process to ensure full extraction of flavour from the sloes.

Bit early I would have thought for them to be properly ripe and as said they usually are better after frost. However if you live in an area where frost is later rather than early you can simulate the frost sweetening effect by collecting the ripe (soft to the squeeze) berries and puttint them in the freezer for a week.

And the good thing about freezing the sloes for a week is you do not need to prick them on thawing! Which website did you get your info from Peonyrose?

Having no sloes around I've made blackcurrant gin in the past. Nothing fancy or scientific: Take a litre or two litre wide necked glass container, fill will blackcurrants add sugar to approximately 1/4 full and the pour in the gin. Seal shake well bung in a cupboard and ignore. Shake occasionally if you remember. You can use other fruits too such as brambles and raspberries.

Make mine that way Moongrower, no messing about, always take a flask of sloe gin with us when walking the dog on Boxing Day, keeps the chill out, lovely!!!

I found a good crop of sloes while staying with friends and followed recipes already mentioned. We were very basic. When the bottle got low with liquid I topped up again a year later with cheapo gin and added blackberries and more sugar, and gave it a good shake every now and again. It tasted more scrummy the second time round.

Thank you all. Someone has cut the branches down and the sloes are very low which is how I spotted them. Will they ripen on cut branches I wonder? They are certainly not soft to the touch!

Gee I'd pick them and leave on a windowsill in the sun to ripen. Or try with black currants, brambles or raspberries.

Dorjac I confess we ate the black currants as a sauce on top of ice cream... it was exceedingly yummy :-) Yes cheapest gin you can find.

Thanks, Moon grower, I will collect them this evening.

Have fun - hic! Oh and you can also do fruit vodka if you prefer...

Try vodka as well as gin and someone suggested cider (although I haven't tried that one). My neighbour used to make raspberry brandy in much the same way but they had friends over for the evening and the lady ended up paralised - or rather paraletic - not that we imbibe much in our village I may add.Lol.

Pissed as a newt I think you mean Cammomile - lol

Hi Moongrower, it was one I found on Wikipedia some time ago -it's simple to make isn't it and sooooo good. I didn't bother with the cloves or cinnamon. My friend Ann makes Sloe Vodka.

Just reading the recipe tired me out Peonyrose - far to much weigh this and measure that... I'll stick to my simple method thanks and as for pricking with a thorn off the blackthorn (which is what sloes grow on) that really is an old wives tale. Bulba's father used to sit of an evening with a needle pricking the sloes but if they'd had a freezer I bet he would have bunged them in that!

I went to collect the sloes but found those on the cut branches had become wrinkled so I left them. There are loads more much higher on the bush so I will keep an eye on them and then take my tall granddaughter for a 'picking session' when they are ripened. Thanks for all the help - being one for the easy life I will go for the freezer option :)

Try some other fruits whilst you are waiting for the sloes to ripen... I wonder if normal plums would work? My idea would be to cut them open rather than prick - thoughts GoYers...