GrillMonkey
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Sloes... to early to pick?I found some sloes today and picked one, I gave it a squeeze, it was firm but with some give, and green juice came out. Is that normal or should the inside be red? Sloe gin is redish in colour so I'm unsure if I should harvest now or wait.
Many thanks.
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sean
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The colour is in the skin, not the pulp same as with grapes. We've already harvested ours.
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colour it green
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yeh if they gve a bit, and are dark in colour, i'd say they were ready. I always freeze before use.
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GrillMonkey
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Cool, thanks for the replies. I was worried that my sloe gin would turn out green if I picked now.
I'll go back after work and pick enough for a bottle of sloe gin and see how it goes 
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Nick
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You should freeze them first, before use if you pick them this early. Helps break them down and release the sloey goodness.
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catbaffler
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I picked about 3 lbs yesterday but noticed that quite a lot were getting very wrinkly so I'm going out for more today, before there are no good ones left. I also got 5lbs of bullaces (woohoo!), now also in the freezer till I decide what to do with them.
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sean
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Bullace wine is nice though with a tendency to cloudiness. I'd lob some pectinase in for 24 hours before you add the yeast, even using frozen fruit. But I'm a bit 'belt-and-braces' about this having ended up pouring five gallons down the drain.
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jema
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We also when out yesterday and wrinklyness is happening, so we were a bit more aggressive in grabbing rather than waiting longer. This was on a patch that a couple of weeks ago I decided to leave alone.
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