# How sweet?



## Morten (May 6, 2022)

How sweet (oecshle) do you like your pee? I am tetting to figure it out rugby noe, but I can’t really make up my mind regarding the perfect sweetness.


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## winemanden (May 6, 2022)

Morten said:


> How sweet (oecshle) do you like your pee? I am tetting to figure it out rugby noe, but I can’t really make up my mind regarding the perfect sweetness.


Never tasted my pee. Never been that desperate!


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## joeswine (May 6, 2022)

I’m old so I guess mind bitter and could use sweeting, to late??


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## cmason1957 (May 6, 2022)

Morten said:


> How sweet (oecshle) do you like your pee? I am tetting to figure it out rugby noe, but I can’t really make up my mind regarding the perfect sweetness.



The obvious answer is to split it into 5 one gallon batches, each with a different sweetness level. Try them all, you will like one better than the others, maybe.


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## Vlabruz (May 6, 2022)

I just sweetened a little at a time and tasted it with my wife.


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## Dan M (May 6, 2022)

Just out of curiosity, how does your pee taste before sweetening?


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## Dan M (May 6, 2022)

Dan M said:


> Just out of curiosity, how does your pee taste before sweetening?



This is a serious question.  I just tasted my first batch of DB (berry pee) as I'm racking it and honestly, it tastes like crap (pun intended). Will it get better after sweetening?


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## Jusatele (May 20, 2022)

Depends on a lot, I use champagne yeast, so it is pretty dry and yeasty after 2 weeks, I kill fermentation and clear, then add sugar and it taste like lemonade


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## winemaker81 (May 21, 2022)

Dan M said:


> This is a serious question.  I just tasted my first batch of DB (berry pee) as I'm racking it and honestly, it tastes like crap (pun intended). Will it get better after sweetening?


It was what? 2 weeks old? Very few wines taste good at that point. Give it a month or 2 ...


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## Dan M (May 21, 2022)

Thank you for the replies. I hear ya, but... I taste all my wines throughout the process so I have a rough idea what unfinished wine should taste like. Dragon Pee is also supposed to be a quick drinker, so I expect to taste something palatable before I bottle it, even though it's very young. I topped up with 2 bottles of White Zin and later added some sugar after the 2nd racking. At this point I expected it to taste like berry lemonade, as @Jusatele suggested above. Instead, I tasted sugar, alcohol and faint lemon/berry flavors. I've let it sit for another week and I'm hoping those flavors will merge together some. I'll be tasting it again soon. 

In a nutshell, I'm expecting Kool-Aid, but I have something that tastes more like sweetened moonshine (its ~11% ABV). I have a liter of red grape concentrate I may add, if needed. I admit I've never made Skeeter Pee or Dragon Blood before, so I don't know exactly what it should taste like. If anyone has had a similar experience, please chime in. Thanks!


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## winemaker81 (May 21, 2022)

@Dan M, I suspect your expectations are a bit off. SP and DB are both quick drinkers, but not _that_ quick. Give it a month then reevaluate.


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## cmason1957 (May 21, 2022)

I make skeeter pee and some Dragons Blood every year for the part of the family who like sweet things to drink. For my personal taste, which runs to bold, heavy red wines, I just don't find it something I'm going to enjoy. But, the family loves it, it costs almost nothing to make. It's pretty much ready in two to three months from start to finish.


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## Jovimaple (May 21, 2022)

Try chilling it or drinking it over ice. Also, as others have said, time will help to mesh the flavors together.


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## Dan M (May 21, 2022)

OK. That patience thing again...


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## winemaker81 (May 21, 2022)

Yup! The "p" word!


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## G259 (May 21, 2022)

Yeah, I made some Finer Wine kits, and put extra (after racking) in 1L bottles, to use for top-up. Problem is, the 'ol 'I'm going to try this' bug got me! ~ guess I'll top up with something similar!


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## Dan M (May 22, 2022)

Today, at 4 weeks, my Dragon Blood is tasting better. The flavors are merging and the sweetness is coming forward. I'm so relieved because I had already dreamed up plans for another batch; Blueberry Mojito Dragon Blood. Next time though, I'll probably skip the early tastings. Thanks for talking me off the ledge. Gotta go clean some bottles...


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## winemaker81 (May 22, 2022)

Dan M said:


> Next time though, I'll probably skip the early tastings.


Nope -- keep up the early tastings and teach yourself what the early stages taste like. It's good education.

Stay away from ledges while doing this -- I recommend tasting in the cellar -- the fall hazard is much reduced!


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## tmcfadden932 (May 23, 2022)

Let them add as much sweetness as they like when it is served.


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## QuiQuog (May 23, 2022)

To answer the OP's question, I like it as the recipe says to make it. I've only done 2 batches though. My first batch tasted like sweetened alcohol, as Dan M said. I ended up discarding the whole carboy. My latest batch is fine, and has a light lemony flavor. The sweetness is on the sweeter side of semi-sweet. This was made with a slurry from a red wine kit that used ec-1118


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## G259 (Jun 20, 2022)

EVERY new winemaker does that (including me, 16.5% or so), then you realize that the flavors come through better at 13-14 (reds), lower for whites (12?)


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