Additional to "Sloe Gin"...........

Further to Marek's comment about making a "Blackthorn" melomel......

Well that's a possibility already, as I still have 4lb (just under 2kg) of sloes in the freezer at the moment.

The only thing that's got me thinking, is that given that sloes are of the "prunus" family, according to Luc Volders blog, when making "Plum" wine, it's a good thing to soak the fruit in "Soda Ash" for 24 hours first, to remove the waxy/fungal looking "bloom" from the fruit as this can cause a haze that's hard to clear from the finished product.

I'm unsure whether sloes are closely enough related to plums that this might be an issue ? Either way, I'll probably just put the fruit through my "steam juice extractor" and then add most of the juice, but reserving a little for back sweetening/flavouring after fermentation is complete.

Also, as I understand that plums can be quite high in malic acid, what yeast to use ? 71B would be good as it will metabolise some of the malic acid during the ferment, but I don't want to loose any of the fruitiness of the sloes.....