DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[barryjo]

I am an avid DB maker and so excited I bought a new carboy! BUT It is a 7 gallon carboy - not a 6 gallon. Can't return it as I bought it several hours away from my house. Any suggestions????

There is nothing magic about using a 6 gal carboy. Either increase the volume as suggested (not a bad idea BTW) or use as it is. A larger volume carboy will prevent (most) volcanoes! Always a fun occurrence! If you are concerned about headspace, don't worry . While fermenting, CO2 fills the space. And in the secondary, as long as no outside air enters, you should be good. I usually rack just before fermentation is done for this reason.

 

[dcbrown73]

I was going to move along to the next step, but my fermentation happened slower than my other wines, but it's still moving. I racked it into a secondary fermentation carboy at 1.005 even though it doesn't say to do that. I just wanted to get it out of the bucket and into something with less headspace as I got down low. As of yesterday, it's at 0.995. I'm going to let it bottom out before I move forward with it (clearing / sorbate) I run the degassing whip on it for a little bit each day when I check the gravity so it's degassed before I add the sparkloid.

I'm pretty excited about this and my buddy came over and read the DB instructions and he got pretty excited about it too.

 

[dcbrown73]

I racked it and topped it up with a Beringer White Zinfandel as the instructions said. I didn't need much White Zin as it seems I had slightly over six gallons to start with.

So, I haven't tried White Zinfandel in years basically because when I had tried it well before I really got into wine, I didn't like it.

So, I tried what was left after topping off the DB and I have to say. My thoughts have not changed. This is one wine I really do not like. Regular Zinfandel is quickly becoming one of my favorite grapes/wine along with Pinot Noir, Shiraz/Syrah and of course many red blends from Europe. White Zinfandel, yeah not so much. I poured the rest of the bottle out. It's undrinkable for me. I'm glad I didn't need much for the DB and hopefully it doesn't impart that flavor on the DB.


Ready for clearing!

 

[wineforfun]

@dcbrown73 Have you made DB before? You do realize it is much closer to a White Zin than a regular Zin?

 

[dcbrown73]

@dcbrown73 Have you made DB before? You do realize it is much closer to a White Zin than a regular Zin?

Nope, this is my only my 3rd batch ever and first non-kit batch. I will be extremely sad if it tastes like White Zinfandel. That taste profile does not jive with me at all. Since taking up wine, my palate has opened up 2-3x what it used to be, but I learned last night. White Zinfandel (at least Beringers) is still a no-go.

It's weird too, because I can taste rose petals and stuff in some wines which I like, but the White Zinfandel is like eating a rose that had it's flavor intensified an immeasurable amount. It's just way to intense of a rose petal flavor.

I'm hoping the DB tastes more like the fruit I'm making it from. (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries) If it actually taste like White Zin, it will be given away or dumped.

 

[bkisel]

David, even if your DB doesn't turn out to your particular liking it seems DB, in my experience, is liked by most folks. Worst case is you'll have almost 30 bottles of wine to gift to folks who will likely enjoy your DB.

 

[wineforfun]

Nope, this is my only my 3rd batch ever and first non-kit batch. I will be extremely sad if it tastes like White Zinfandel. That taste profile does not jive with me at all. Since taking up wine, my palate has opened up 2-3x what it used to be, but I learned last night. White Zinfandel (at least Beringers) is still a no-go.

It's weird too, because I can taste rose petals and stuff in some wines which I like, but the White Zinfandel is like eating a rose that had it's flavor intensified an immeasurable amount. It's just way to intense of a rose petal flavor.

I'm hoping the DB tastes more like the fruit I'm making it from. (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries) If it actually taste like White Zin, it will be given away or dumped.

Again, it's not a White Zin, but similar. I believe DB is a fuller, thicker flavor than most of the thinner White Zins. Also, your DB is going to have a "bite" (from the lemon juice) that White Zins don't have.
I am a dry red drinker also, but don't mind a DB type wine once in awhile. I just make mine around 13% ABV and semi-sweet to semi-dry. You need some sugar to pull out the berry flavor in it.
Another thing, even if it isn't to your liking at bottling, give it a few months as a few months in the bottle seems to bring the fruit more forward and blend things together.

 

[reefman]

I'm not a huge fan of DB, but my wife and her friends all like it.
I've only made one batch so far, and if I make it again, I will increase the amount of fruit for sure.

 

[wineforfun]

I'm not a huge fan of DB, but my wife and her friends all like it.
I've only made one batch so far, and if I make it again, I will increase the amount of fruit for sure.

My favorite DB so far has been Jericurl's Christmas DB. DB with some nice additions such as anise and other things.

I have tried many variations of DB and that one is my favorite. If I make the standard version(which isn't very often) I like to use lime juice in place of the lemon juice.

 

[reefman]

Is there a link to Jericurls recipe?...sounds interesting.

 

[wineforfun]

Is there a link to Jericurls recipe?...sounds interesting.

Ok, I just scanned through a bunch of DB pages and jericurl pages, no luck. Maybe she will she this, @jericurl, and respond. I have it at home and can post next week if not.

 

[Jericurl]

Ok, I just scanned through a bunch of DB pages and jericurl pages, no luck. Maybe she will she this, @jericurl, and respond. I have it at home and can post next week if not.

Hi guys!

@wineforfun , thanks for the kudos.

The easiest way I've found to search for this recipe to is to be in this thread, hit the search within this thread link, then type in Christmas.
It hits all the tweaks people have done with this recipe.
And of course, all thanks to @dangerdave for starting this whole DB craze!

Here are a few links to get you started @reefman :

Here is the original Christmas 2013:
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=475043&postcount=832

Here is what I did for Christmas 2015:
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=581959&postcount=3386

Here is how I tweaked my Christmas 2015 batch:
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=581241&postcount=3367


And here is my overall absolute favorite DB recipe that I've done:
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=552451&postcount=2807

 

[Kracker]

getting ready to start my first batch. should the fruit be mashed up? also anyone have the breakdown for 5 gallons? im not good at that part

 

[Winenoob66]

No need to mash up the fruit the Pectin will practically dissolve it on its own. As for making it into a 5 gallon batch. The first batch I done was a 5 gallon batch I just changed the chemicals to label directions and kept the fruit the same. As for the Lemon juice that I now cut way back to 32 oz for a 6 gallon batch because it is so tart. So if I was you I would cut back to 32oz unless you like tartness.

 

[dallase]

No need to mash up the fruit the Pectin will practically dissolve it on its own. As for making it into a 5 gallon batch. The first batch I done was a 5 gallon batch I just changed the chemicals to label directions and kept the fruit the same. As for the Lemon juice that I now cut way back to 32 oz for a 6 gallon batch because it is so tart. So if I was you I would cut back to 32oz unless you like tartness.

What are pH and TA after fermentation? Do you add any acid blend to replace what you loose from less lemon?

I followed recipe (except i took to 13.5abv), and after a couple months in carboy, I find the tartness has softened. At first it does have quite a bite.

 

[Black-opal]

dried cherry DB question

Has anyone tackled this using dried cherries? I have access to a few pounds of them that I was thinking of adding to my 'newpee' (skeeter pee made with Newmans Own instead of real lemon.)

 

[Winenoob66]

I have never done a ph or ta reading its not really a science experiment its just a simple drink quick fruit wine like Dave intended it to be

I did find that by dropping the lemon down some and decreasing the ABV to around 9 or 10 % it is drinkable quicker than 3 months with a smooth flavor

 

[dcbrown73]

The easiest way I've found to search for this recipe to is to be in this thread, hit the search within this thread link, then type in Christmas.
It hits all the tweaks people have done with this recipe.
And of course, all thanks to @dangerdave for starting this whole DB craze!

Another great way to search websites that have lots of content is to use Google and use their results. In Google's search window, just type the following:

site:winemakingtalk.com (search term)

Using the "site: domainname" (no space after the colon, I had to add a space because the forum wants to add an emoji) tells Google to only search that specific website for the content you're looking for. This works with any site, but I use it all the time for searching Internet forums like this. Their search is generally much better (and faster) than the forum's built in search.

 

[Jericurl]

Has anyone tackled this using dried cherries? I have access to a few pounds of them that I was thinking of adding to my 'newpee' (skeeter pee made with Newmans Own instead of real lemon.)

Haven't tried it, but I can see a cherry limeade (or lemonaid) twist working really well with DB.
Just make sure the dried cherries don't have sulfites or sorbic acid added.

eta: If you do it, I would add some water and send the cherries through the food processor.

 

[Black-opal]

it'll be limeade, I like the flavor profile better.

my thoughts were to chop up the dried cherries in cherry juice and let them rehydrate a bit before the yeast is pitched.

I will let you all know how it comes out!