DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[reefman]

It was the degassing I followed the recipe and last night I opened a bottle and it tickles the tongue a bit. Still tastes good though just can't be gifted like I had intended

Jocelyn,
It might be re-fermentation as well. Especially if you have sediment.

 

[gaboy]

I Googled the term "food grade plastic". It appears either grade 1 or grade 2 is OK. The grade number is embossed on the bottom usually. Do NOT use the flimsy clear bottles except under extreme conditions. They usually have lots of indentations for strength and are real nasty to clean. IMHO.
Most of my secondaries are "repurposed" Culligan bottles.

Barryjo, THANKS for the info. The bottles you have are the ones I'm talking about. GaBoy

 

[maurtis]

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN!
My beautiful delicious dragons blood was crystal clear for about a month before I bottled. 1 week in there and there is sediment forming? What did I do wrong? Could it be the corks? Ugh I am so upset that was supposed to be my christmas gift wine. And now it looks gross.

Did you remember to sorbate going into the secondary? As reefman mentioned, I wonder if you kicked off fermentation again, assuming you backsweetened before bottling. When you popped the cork on the bottle, did it seem pressurized at all?

If it tasted fine (other than being "prickly") I would not think it is an infection. I would imagine extra CO2 from fermentation in the bottle could give the wine a prickly feeling.

 

[Jocelyn]

Did you remember to sorbate going into the secondary? As reefman mentioned, I wonder if you kicked off fermentation again, assuming you backsweetened before bottling. When you popped the cork on the bottle, did it seem pressurized at all?

If it tasted fine (other than being "prickly") I would not think it is an infection. I would imagine extra CO2 from fermentation in the bottle could give the wine a prickly feeling.

Yup I remembered the sorbate.

 

[wineforfun]

Did you use Sparklloid?
If so, I noticed I have bottled different wines that looked crystal clear. A month later I could see this whispy stuff floating around.

SuperKleer tends to compact the lees much better, eliiminating a lot of this.

 

[beano]

This is just another variation of the most famous Danger Daves Dragon Blood. I hope it comes out well, but as always, I'm sure it will. It is for 6 gallons.

This recipe contains:

4 lbs. frozen quadberry mix (strawberrys, blueberrys, red raspberrys and blackberrys)
1.5 lbs. fresh cranberrys, frozen then thawed.
32 oz. Welches concord grape jelly
1 big banana, frozen then thawed, sliced thin.
8 oz. red raisins
32 oz. lemon juice concentrate
Invert sugar to SG of 1.110 (my taste)

Other than the fruit ingredients, I followed the standard Dragon Blood recipe as far as the chemical additions go with the exception of an extra 1/2 tsp peptic enzyme because of the jelly. The jelly seems to add alot more flavor to the DB. I get it when its on sale at the Dollar General @ $2.00 a quart.
Just thought I'd share and I will update in a day or two on the progress of this ferminte.
I just pitched my yeast a few minites before tacking this pic. It looks good and has a great taste. We'll see what happens, yup!!

Beano Joe

My DB is now at an SG of 1.005. Down from an original SG of 1.110. I like to stop it around this point so I don't have to back sweeten.
After tasting it was good going down but left a vegital or green kind of after taste in my mouth. Not real pronounced, but there none the less.

I am wondering if the fresh, then frozen cranberrys are at fault? Some not being ripe enough I'm thinking. Not a problem I've encountered before with fresh frozen fruits. Any thoughts on this and maybe a way to remove this taste. It does not really taste bad, just bothersome to me. Less than perfect, ya know.

 

[gaboy]

My DB is now at an SG of 1.005. Down from an original SG of 1.110. I like to stop it around this point so I don't have to back sweeten.
After tasting it was good going down but left a vegital or green kind of after taste in my mouth. Not real pronounced, but there none the less.

I am wondering if the fresh, then frozen cranberrys are at fault? Some not being ripe enough I'm thinking. Not a problem I've encountered before with fresh frozen fruits. Any thoughts on this and maybe a way to remove this taste. It does not really taste bad, just bothersome to me. Less than perfect, ya know.

Beano, Do you use the WHOLE banana, with skin, or take the skin off and use only the edible part? GaBoy

 

[beano]

Beano, Do you use the WHOLE banana, with skin, or take the skin off and use only the edible part? GaBoy

Yes, the whole banana, skin included. Frozen then sliced thin. I always add them this way.
The banana usually just disappears. Like I said, never a problem before. Thats why I'm thinking unripe cranberrys. I did, last evening add some light toasted white american oak to it . First time i've used oak. I read on one of the posts here that the oak would absorb vegital and other off tastes. I tasted this evening and didn't taste the offending aftertaste, but the taste is a newer, better flavor. Almost orangey if you will. Gonna let this set a couple of weeks and see what happens.

Beano Joe

 

[gaboy]

Yes, the whole banana, skin included. Frozen then sliced thin. I always add them this way.
The banana usually just disappears. Like I said, never a problem before. Thats why I'm thinking unripe cranberrys. I did, last evening add some light toasted white american oak to it . First time i've used oak. I read on one of the posts here that the oak would absorb vegital and other off tastes. I tasted this evening and didn't taste the offending aftertaste, but the taste is a newer, better flavor. Almost orangey if you will. Gonna let this set a couple of weeks and see what happens.

Beano Joe

Thanks for the reply Beano! How much oak did you add, if I may ask? GaBoy

 

[jamesjr]

I just started my first batch of db and I used alot of frozen berries and I also added a little container of fresh mixed berries and forgot to use campden..... I froze all berries first am I at a big risk of contamination? I also used a new white pantyhose lol am I just making rookie mistakes or do u think it will turn out fine be honest thanks

 

[calvin]

You should be ok. Did you sanitize the pantyhose?

 

[jamesjr]

Yea and I soaked it in some water to make sure no color leaks out. This is also my first time using a bucket instead of a carboy. I sanitized everything tho.

 

[beano]

Thanks for the reply Beano! How much oak did you add, if I may ask? GaBoy

I used about 5oz in five gallons. Being my first time useing any oak I wanted to go easy and see what it does to the wine.

Beano Joe

 

[gaboy]

Just starting out, finding very informative info on this forum!! What is the MINIMUN headspace you can get by with, the foaming of fermentation, in my fermentation bucket? Want to be CLOSE to top but NOT runover.. Thanks!!!! GaBoy

 

[reefman]

Well, that's a loaded question. My only batch of DB produced about an inch of foam according to my notes. (I'm more of a skeeter pee fan myself)
The best answer is that it varies. I've had batches with literally no foam, and others that had a good three inches of foam. It depends on the wine type. and also the yeast type.
Other things can affect foam production as well, such as additives and fermentation temperature.
My best answer would be to leave about 3 to 4 inches of head space in your primary fermentation bucket. You will learn with time which combinations produce the most foam.

 

[sour_grapes]

Also, there is a product called FermCap that greatly reduces foaming. It is a food-safe surfactant, so it does not allow the bubbles to form.

 

[auggydoggy502]

I have a 1 gallon batch and a 7 gallon batch of db going. The one gallon batch is at the back sweetened stage and didnt have as much fruity taste as i would like so i put 1lb of triple berry fruit in the juicer and pored it in. Lots of fine particulates are in there and have settled to the bottom but arnt very compact. Should i ad sparkeloid to it agian? Should i go this same route with the 7 gallon batch when the time comes?

 

[Rosa321]

HELLO AGAIN!

I just stopped in to check out what everyone has been up to. I have been super busy teaching, working on my doctorate, and of course MAKING WINE!!!
I had a monumental blueberry harvest and I'm reaping the benefits. I think I'm going to start a mango version soon.
Anyway.....I just wanted to say hello, happy wine making, and hopefully I'll find some time during winter break to hang out here a bit more

 

[Rosa321]

I have a 1 gallon batch and a 7 gallon batch of db going. The one gallon batch is at the back sweetened stage and didnt have as much fruity taste as i would like so i put 1lb of triple berry fruit in the juicer and pored it in. Lots of fine particulates are in there and have settled to the bottom but arnt very compact. Should i ad sparkeloid to it agian? Should i go this same route with the 7 gallon batch when the time comes?

It will eventually clear, no matter what size batch. My advice (and the hardest part of this whole process) is to be patient!
Racking the wine will help. But basically, go out to dinner, catch a movie, put the carboy somewhere that you won't look at it every day and FORGET ABOUT IT! It will clear in time. Rushing it will result in cloudy wine in the bottle.

 

[jumby]

30 bottles of DangerDave's Dragon Blood bottled, labeled and in the cellar. I used a Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry mix. Hope you don't mind Dave but I changed the name of mine to "Bella Rossore". Translated from Italian that means "Beautiful Blush".