DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[cheesehead]

Thanks to all who replied for the info , I will just let it clear on its own now, I dont want to add any more chemicals or agents that might affect the final taste. I was under the impression that this was a 30 day wine to bottle, but I see that it will take longer to clear. At this stage it needs to clear ALOT more before I even backsweeten and add the extract and food coloring. Better stock up on filters too (whole-house). Again thanks to all for giving me hope on this batch , secretly I thought this might be the 1st to be tossed out, WHEW!

 

[willie]

Thanks to all who replied for the info , I will just let it clear on its own now, I dont want to add any more chemicals or agents that might affect the final taste. I was under the impression that this was a 30 day wine to bottle, but I see that it will take longer to clear. At this stage it needs to clear ALOT more before I even backsweeten and add the extract and food coloring. Better stock up on filters too (whole-house). Again thanks to all for giving me hope on this batch , secretly I thought this might be the 1st to be tossed out, WHEW!

Cheesehead, thanks for your posts on Dave's Strawberry. I also have the same problem. I have the carboy sitting with what looks to be about 1-2 inches of sediment on the bottom. I was thinking that when I start another batch I would add the strawberry mix into the nylon bag with the strawberries when starting the ferment instead of the carboy after 1st rack as I did this time. But right now with the present batch I will just let it sit for a few more days before I rack again and back sweeten. Just might take a month as, Dave has said to fully clear.

Will

 

[Ctmaro]

Besides having clearing issues with strawberries, I have also had lots of gross lees.

I am making a 10 gallon batch (2 strainer bags) of triple berry (Strawberry, Blueberry, & Blackberry), and not squeezing the bags to help prevent extra lees. I just stir and push the bags to the bottom 3 or 4 times a day.

I am now thinking of trying a "Second Wine" with the left-over fruit. I'm planning on mixing up a 3 gallons combination:

20 oz Lemon Juice
3 cn Wh. Grape Conc.
6 lb sugar (SG 1.09)
1/2 tsp tannin
3 tsp yeast nutrient
3 t yeast energizer
1 t pectic emzyme
3 gal Water

Then drop the 2 bags of fruit (12# originally) and the slurry into the new must.

Has anyone tried this? I have done this before with a mead must, and it worked pretty good.

Mark

 

[maurtis]

Besides having clearing issues with strawberries, I have also had lots of gross lees.

I am making a 10 gallon batch (2 strainer bags) of triple berry (Strawberry, Blueberry, & Blackberry), and not squeezing the bags to help prevent extra lees. I just stir and push the bags to the bottom 3 or 4 times a day.

I am now thinking of trying a "Second Wine" with the left-over fruit. I'm planning on mixing up a 3 gallons combination:

20 oz Lemon Juice
3 cn Wh. Grape Conc.
6 lb sugar (SG 1.09)
1/2 tsp tannin
3 tsp yeast nutrient
3 t yeast energizer
1 t pectic emzyme
3 gal Water

Then drop the 2 bags of fruit (12# originally) and the slurry into the new must.

Has anyone tried this? I have done this before with a mead must, and it worked pretty good.

Mark

By not squeezing the bags, aren't you going to miss out on a lot of the fruit flavor? By the time I am done with my triple berry batch primary fermentation there is nothing left in the bags but purple mush, but the wine is nice and fruity.

 

[wineforfun]

Besides having clearing issues with strawberries, I have also had lots of gross lees.

I am making a 10 gallon batch (2 strainer bags) of triple berry (Strawberry, Blueberry, & Blackberry), and not squeezing the bags to help prevent extra lees. I just stir and push the bags to the bottom 3 or 4 times a day.

I am now thinking of trying a "Second Wine" with the left-over fruit. I'm planning on mixing up a 3 gallons combination:

20 oz Lemon Juice
3 cn Wh. Grape Conc.
6 lb sugar (SG 1.09)
1/2 tsp tannin
3 tsp yeast nutrient
3 t yeast energizer
1 t pectic emzyme
3 gal Water

Then drop the 2 bags of fruit (12# originally) and the slurry into the new must.

Has anyone tried this? I have done this before with a mead must, and it worked pretty good.

Mark

If you are just making regular DB, which it appears you basically are, you will not have the lees problem those are having with the strawberry tart. I have made numerous batches of DB and never had any clearing issues.
As stated, you will want to be squeezing the bags to extract as much fruit juice/flavor as you can.

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Thanks to all who replied for the info , I will just let it clear on its own now, I dont want to add any more chemicals or agents that might affect the final taste. I was under the impression that this was a 30 day wine to bottle, but I see that it will take longer to clear. At this stage it needs to clear ALOT more before I even backsweeten and add the extract and food coloring. Better stock up on filters too (whole-house). Again thanks to all for giving me hope on this batch , secretly I thought this might be the 1st to be tossed out, WHEW!

I had an elderberry-plum DB that would not clear despite 2 doses of SuperKleer and extra pectic enzyme at the onset. I finally ran it through my Vinbrite but it took about 3 filters to make it through and still didn't look clear. However, about 5 or so days after filtering, it suddenly dropped a ton of sediment and got crystal clear. I filtered it one more time for good measure and am now very pleased. Total time from start of ferment to in the bottle was 7-8 weeks. So moral of the story...it will eventually clear...and if you really need your DB quick, stick with the triple or quad berry version

 

[maurtis]

...and if you really need your DB quick, stick with the triple or quad berry version

Yup, triple berry clears in no time, easily two weeks from start to clear. And it is gorgeous.

 

[cheesehead]

I had an elderberry-plum DB that would not clear despite 2 doses of SuperKleer and extra pectic enzyme at the onset. I finally ran it through my Vinbrite but it took about 3 filters to make it through and still didn't look clear. However, about 5 or so days after filtering, it suddenly dropped a ton of sediment and got crystal clear. I filtered it one more time for good measure and am now very pleased. Total time from start of ferment to in the bottle was 7-8 weeks. So moral of the story...it will eventually clear...and if you really need your DB quick, stick with the triple or quad berry version

I totally agree with the triple berry clearing quickly, only the strawberry and tropical Daze that i made were /are late to clear, tropical had peach, mango, orange, pineapple , some strawberry , banana and took 2 doses of super clear with double pectic enzyme dose but eventually cleared enough to filter 1x with the whole house filter, currently my 6 gal batch of strawberry is now sitting on about 1-1/2" of sediment for the 3rd time, seems never-ending, lol, but will keep racking off and eventually i will get to the filtering phase

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

I am actually glad this discussion is coming up about the strawberry because I am planning a batch of the Strawberry Tart for summer and now I know I need to start it early so it has some extra time to clear!

 

[SwampDog35]

We live in the New Orleans area and the big thing around here within the next month is Strawberry season. Can't wait to get some fresh ones and start with our "Strawberry Tart"

 

[billyPre]

Thanks everyone for all the excellent information. I started a batch of Dragons Blood last week and feel pretty confident it will turn out great. I've never done this before and had a question about the last step.

Before bottling you add sugar to the carboy to back sweeten then wait a week. Even if the sugar is dissolved well, wont it settle to the bottom during this week. I'm thinking it would be similar to the cool-aide in the fridge that needs a stir before every serving. During this week I am sure sediment will drop also so I would be reluctant to stir before bottling.

Yes that is pantyhose over my bucket. My SO is terrified of ants, and so the pantyhose was the only thing we could think of to allow air in but keep bugs out.

Thanks again, as soon as this is done fermenting we are going to start a batch of Skeeter Pee then Dave's Strawberry tart. Going to need some more bottles.

 

[bkisel]

Thanks everyone for all the excellent information. I started a batch of Dragons Blood last week and feel pretty confident it will turn out great. I've never done this before and had a question about the last step.

Before bottling you add sugar to the carboy to back sweeten then wait a week. Even if the sugar is dissolved well, wont it settle to the bottom during this week. I'm thinking it would be similar to the cool-aide in the fridge that needs a stir before every serving. During this week I am sure sediment will drop also so I would be reluctant to stir before bottling.

Yes that is pantyhose over my bucket. My SO is terrified of ants, and so the pantyhose was the only thing we could think of to allow air in but keep bugs out.

Thanks again, as soon as this is done fermenting we are going to start a batch of Skeeter Pee then Dave's Strawberry tart. Going to need some more bottles.

Welcome to the forum!

Congrats on your first batch of DB!

No the sugar, unless you used way to much for back sweetening, should have totally dissolved with your stirring when you added it and will not settle out. Also, many of us do some stirring of our wine just before bottling with no ill effect. This is normally to add 1/4 tsp of k-meta before bottling. It is a gentle stirring that does little if anything to introduce O2.

 

[billyPre]

Welcome to the forum!

Congrats on your first batch of DB!

No the sugar, unless you used way to much for back sweetening, should have totally dissolved with your stirring when you added it and will not settle out. Also, many of us do some stirring of our wine just before bottling with no ill effect. This is normally to add 1/4 tsp of k-meta before bottling. It is a gentle stirring that does little if anything to introduce O2.

Thanks, I don't have a fancy filter i just wanted to try and get as much of the lees out as possible. This is my first batch and am wanting it as clear as possible.

 

[stef57]

Hey guys,
I've got my first 2 batches of DB in the books... The first was the original recipe and is in bottles, the 2nd is Strawberry and has been back sweetened but still in a carboy.
Although both batches turned out quite tasty, I would like them to have a bit more body.. Now I know that its to late for the one in bottles and that since I already sweetened the other, I'm pretty much limited to glycerin....

But for my future batches, is there a way to add body at the beginning or during the fermentation process? Or is it just a matter of doing an f-pack before adding the sugar?

Has anyone try adding raisins to the primary? I'm guessing that would add body, but how much to put in... 1lb or so??

Any other tricks of the trade out there??

Thanks for the help and guidance

 

[bkisel]

Some use the addition of bananas to add body to their thin wines. I've done it several times, using 2 sliced bananas in secondary, but never in a controlled test (e.g. same batch some with some without) so really don't know if it makes a big difference.

http://winemakermag.com/393-i-ve-read-you-can-use-bananas-to-give-body-to-thin-wines-can-you-please-explain-why-this-works-and-any-impact-on-flavor

 

[maurtis]

Welcome to the forum!

Also, many of us do some stirring of our wine just before bottling with no ill effect. This is normally to add 1/4 tsp of k-meta before bottling. It is a gentle stirring that does little if anything to introduce O2.

You guys add more k-meta at bottling, along with the first dose when going into the secondary?

I have only been adding k-meta when going into the secondary.

 

[maurtis]

I have a question about bananas as well. I have searched and found so much varying information, clearly it is an art and not a science.

I have seen people suggest the following:

- Ripen bananas, freeze, thaw, slice with peel and all and put in primary
- Same as above but put in secondary
- Boil bananas down and use the fluid in the primary or secondary

I think my DB is fine as is, but I want to give my Mt. Dew wine another go and it could really use some body. It has flavor but is extremely thin. Jack Keller mentioned adding bananas in his blog, suggesting 2.5 lbs of bananas per gallon of wine, boiled down and added into the primary. That seems like a LOT of banana.

 

[gaboy]

Does anyone here have MUSCADINE vines? I just planted some 2 yr old plants and an looking for pointers?

 

[bkisel]

You guys add more k-meta at bottling, along with the first dose when going into the secondary?

I have only been adding k-meta when going into the secondary.

Sorry for the confusion...

With DB I do not! DB, mine anyways, gets bottled and consumed way to fast to be concerned with adding more k-meta. With my kits I will add and stir in an extra 1/4 tsp k-meta just before bottling.

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Hey guys,
I've got my first 2 batches of DB in the books... The first was the original recipe and is in bottles, the 2nd is Strawberry and has been back sweetened but still in a carboy.
Although both batches turned out quite tasty, I would like them to have a bit more body.. Now I know that its to late for the one in bottles and that since I already sweetened the other, I'm pretty much limited to glycerin....

But for my future batches, is there a way to add body at the beginning or during the fermentation process? Or is it just a matter of doing an f-pack before adding the sugar?

Has anyone try adding raisins to the primary? I'm guessing that would add body, but how much to put in... 1lb or so??

Any other tricks of the trade out there??

Thanks for the help and guidance

I add 1 pound of raisins, 2-3 bananas (frozen, then thawed) and a handful of oak chips to every batch of DB. I'm not a wine expert by any stretch of the imagination so I couldn't tell you if my batches have more body because of these additions...all I know is that they are great and everyone loves them