DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[datcv]

Looks awesome!

Wow, so it would take about 70 lbs to yeild 6 gallons. By 100% you mean no water used, correct?

Almost - I did add 2 liters of water. It's pretty good but a little acidic.

 

[freqflyer]

My first batch is almost a month old now. I have notice a bit of really fine sediment in the bottles. I guessed I bottle a bit early. So far it really isn't much at all. I guess I will have to rebottle it. I'm going go put together one of the whole house filter things from another thread. My questionis about it being a bit yeasty in flavor still. Will this go away? How long will it take. I have a sample bottle I put in the fridge and I taste it every so often.

 

[datcv]

My first batch is almost a month old now. I have notice a bit of really fine sediment in the bottles. I guessed I bottle a bit early. So far it really isn't much at all. I guess I will have to rebottle it. I'm going go put together one of the whole house filter things from another thread. My questionis about it being a bit yeasty in flavor still. Will this go away? How long will it take. I have a sample bottle I put in the fridge and I taste it every so often.

If it is opaque yeast sediment then the problem is lack of preservatives (I.e. There was still residual sugar for the yeast to eat and not enough sulfites/sorbate)... or you got it in the wine when you bottled. If it is the sort of translucent particles it is just pectin and it won't affect the flavor at all.




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[datcv]

I put some heat shrink caps (I just used some steam from a pot of boiling water) and some labels printed on my old b&w laser printer. It is really difficult to put the labels on straight!

It's a little uncreative-- I need a winery name.


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[bkisel]

I put the wraps right into the boiling water for about 3 seconds. Caps are held on inverted bottle with a wooden spoon.

By laying the bottles down you can use the bubbles as a guide for putting the labels on straight. Also, the lower to the bottom the easier it is to use the bottle bottom edge as a guide to squaring the labels.

I don't have a fixed winery name but create one for a particular batch or for a particular person. The first label you see was for my Mother in Law suing Google maps to get a street view of her home. The second label is a generic but only for my Lemon Berry Wine.

[Oops! First label was snipped from my Avery account with spell check turned on. Label doesn't print with red underlines.]

 

[bkisel]

Almost - I did add 2 liters of water. It's pretty good but a little acidic.

What could you do next time so it wouldn't turn out as acidic?

Thanx...

 

[datcv]

What could you do next time so it wouldn't turn out as acidic?



Thanx...

From what I've read, the right thing to do is have a measurement taken of the acidity, and then adjust up or down using either acid blend to make it more acidic or calcium carbonate to make it less acidic. The downside of adding calcium carbonate however, is that too much will alter the flavor. Acid adjustments should probably be done before primary fermentation. But don't quote me on that.


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[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

My DB batch is still fizzing like crazy after several degassing sessions! Could this be malolactic fermentation? I added the metabisulfite and sorbate when racking from the primary...shouldn't that prevent a MLF? Is there anything I can do to stop it? If so, should I? Thanks!

 

[bkisel]

My DB batch is still fizzing like crazy after several degassing sessions! Could this be malolactic fermentation? I added the metabisulfite and sorbate when racking from the primary...shouldn't that prevent a MLF? Is there anything I can do to stop it? If so, should I? Thanks!

What was your SG when you racked from primary and what was your SG at the end of your "secondary"? Could it be that you hadn't fermented to dry before stabilization?

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

What was your SG when you racked from primary and what was your SG at the end of your "secondary"? Could it be that you hadn't fermented to dry before stabilization?

The gravity was at .990 when I racked to secondary and that is where it has been for the last 4 days. So it has definitely fermented to dry.

UPDATE: Looking over the recipe and through my notes, it appears that I quite drastically under-dosed the Potassium Metabisulfite when I racked into the secondary. I went ahead and added the correct amount so will see if the fizzing is reduced by morning.

 

[bkisel]

Day 6 on batch number 3... SG @ 1.028 and temp at 78F with 72F basement temp. Lots of fermentation activity still going on.

 

[bkisel]

The gravity was at .990 when I racked to secondary and that is where it has been for the last 4 days. So it has definitely fermented to dry.

UPDATE: Looking over the recipe and through my notes, it appears that I quite drastically under-dosed the Potassium Metabisulfite when I racked into the secondary. I went ahead and added the correct amount so will see if the fizzing is reduced by morning.

That sure sounds like it could be the root cause of your issue. You haven't done any back sweetening yet have you?

 

[RotGut76]

I would just like to post something I have discovered after doing multiple batches and variations of DBSP.

When I make a tropical version it takes a little bit longer to age in the bottle. It seems if I drink it to young it is a little harsh, kind of stingy on the tongue and tart. However, it does mellow after about 2 months in bottle.

I'm thinking, I could be wrong but, that the acid in the more tropical fruits causes that stingy feeling. I don't seem to have this problem using the triple berry, blueberry, strawberry, etc.

Anyway that's my 2 cents.

 

[RotGut76]

I found this berry blend at Target. I made a batch of DBSP from it. It came out really really good. Similar to the original triple berry but the pomegranate really adds a new level to it.



Plus Antioxidants!!!!

 

[willie]

I found this berry blend at Target. I made a batch of DBSP from it. It came out really really good. Similar to the original triple berry but the pomegranate really adds a new level to it.



Plus Antioxidants!!!!

Thanks for the info. about Target. We will have to pick up a few bags.
Will

 

[RotGut76]

Thanks for the info. about Target. We will have to pick up a few bags.
Will

No problem. I also go to my local dollar tree. They has 12 ounce bags of frozen fruit for $1.

I usually use about 8 lbs of fruit in my batches so it works out to be 10 bags for $10. As opposed to the supermarket price of about $11 for a 3lb bag.

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

That sure sounds like it could be the root cause of your issue. You haven't done any back sweetening yet have you?

No, I haven't backsweetened yet. I'm waiting to see if the fizzing stops and until it clears. I got my ALL In One Wine Pump yesterday so used it to splash rack today. For the first time, I don't see any fizz! Hopefully between the metabisulfite dose and the degassing, I can finally make some progress toward getting this closer to bottling.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

I picked 20 pounds of blueberries today...I see a batch of Blueberry DB in my future! Hopefully I have learned from my mistakes with my first DB batch and will have smooth sailing with my next try!

 

[jojabri]

No problem. I also go to my local dollar tree. They has 12 ounce bags of frozen fruit for $1.

I usually use about 8 lbs of fruit in my batches so it works out to be 10 bags for $10. As opposed to the supermarket price of about $11 for a 3lb bag.

Jealous! Our Dollar Tree SUCKS!

About the best I can do is a quad-berry blend 5lb for $14.49.

 

[bkisel]

Jealous! Our Dollar Tree SUCKS!

About the best I can do is a quad-berry blend 5lb for $14.49.

Batch 2 was and batch 3 that I'm working on now is with a penta-berry mix from Costco -strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, cranberry and cherry. Caught 3 pound bags on sale for seven dollars US and change if I remember correctly. They're also organic but I don't know if that makes a dimes worth of difference in the taste of the wine.