# Dragon Blood



## longhaul (Mar 22, 2016)

Is DB suppose to be a dry wine? I just made a batch and its clear, when I tasted it, its very dry and not much berry flavor


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## cimbaliw (Mar 22, 2016)

Did you follow step 5? 

Step 5: When wine is clear:
Carefully rack off of lees into cleaned & sanitized six gallon carboy
Add 4-5 cups of white granulated sugar (stir until sugar is completely disolved). This will give a SG of around 1.010: Add more or less sugar to taste. Remember! The sugars will blend with the berry flavors over time, and the sweetness will come forward. Do not over-sweeten!
Allow wine to clear free of all sediment: This may or may not require more racking over the next few weeks.


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## longhaul (Mar 23, 2016)

Yes I did that and tasted it yesterday and it pretty dry yet and hardly any berry flavor. I used two 3lb bags of 3 berry blend and a 1lb bag of blackberrys


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## wineforfun (Mar 23, 2016)

If yours is dry, then you did something wrong as it is not a dry wine. Even with sugar additions on the low end, it will at least be a semi-sweet wine.

As far as the berry flavor, it is light in the beginning but after 2-3 months in the bottle, it really comes forward.


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## bkisel (Mar 23, 2016)

longhaul said:


> Yes I did that and tasted it yesterday and it pretty dry yet and hardly any berry flavor. I used two 3lb bags of 3 berry blend and a 1lb bag of blackberrys



What is/was your final SG? If your SG is low you could add more sugar. 

I've done maybe half a dozen DB using only the 6lbs of berries that the recipe calls for... Even though DB is a decent early drinker it does improve some with age and have a more noticeable berry flavor than at the start.


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## Arne (Mar 23, 2016)

Make sure you stabalize it or it will most likely referment. Then you will have to wait for it to clear again, or if you bottle it you can have corks pushing or bottle bombs. Arne.


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## longhaul (Mar 31, 2016)

I followed the recipe to a T The SG now after clearing and stabilizing and sweetening is 1.030 and still has a very bitter taste. my skeeter pee turned out great though


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## longhaul (Sep 22, 2016)

Well after aging the DB for 3 months I bottled it and does have a very good berry flavor and people love it. I do think I have it a little too sweet but they love it and its almost gone


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## bkisel (Sep 22, 2016)

longhaul said:


> Well after aging the DB for 3 months I bottled it and does have a very good berry flavor and people love it. I do think I have it a little too sweet but they love it and its almost gone



That's great!


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## wineforfun (Sep 22, 2016)

longhaul said:


> Well after aging the DB for 3 months I bottled it and does have a very good berry flavor and people love it. I do think I have it a little too sweet but they love it and its almost gone



Ok, so I am guessing it was more "young" than dry, even though it is an early drinker.
Yes, 1.030 is very sweet. Shoot for around 1.010 - 1.015 for a semi-sweet to sweet DB.


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