DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[willie]

Just started my first try at DB today. We are looking forward to seeing how it goes. used pretty much the Danger Dave recipe but reduced the lemon juice somewhat- strong lemon flavor would not be a hit with my wife. Will let you know how it turns out.
Joe

We usually use 30-32 oz of lemon or lime juice. Or even a mixture of both. In our present ferment we used 30 oz of lime juice for a little different taste. Good luck with your 1st batch of DB. It's a great wine. As it ages to about 2-3 months old it will really start to taste good. It's been close to 5 yrs sense I started making this wonderful wine and have made many variations and flavors but Danger Daves Original Wyman's Triple Berry recipe is our favorite. Just this year I have 2 other family members that is making it now. There is a lot of great information in this thread which I have read just about every post. I have really learned a lot from reading it. Good luck.

Will

 

[willie]

Bottled my strawberry wine today. Turned out great. Used the original Dragon's Blood recipe, except used 6 lbs of strawberries for 3 gallons and went a little lighter on the lemon juice (20 oz). Back sweetened with two and a half cups of sugar.

Nice looking bottles of strawberry you have there Monty.

 

[tyfattori]

Got my Dragon Blood bottled this morning first time making wine and I enjoyed it a lot! I used the same exact original recipe and it tastes awesome can’t wait until the flavors come out in a few months. I got almost 30 bottles filled, the 4 shown are to enjoy while the rest sit.

 

[Jal5]

Mine is working right along schedule. Day 5 since pitching yeast and the SG is down to 1.004 already! Amazing how fast this primary fermentation goes, keeping it covered with a fleece jacket at 80 degrees. At this rate I will be ready to put it in the glass carboy by Friday I think. Joe

 

[Jal5]

At a constant SG of .994 over 48 hrs. and racked into the glass carboy today for the next week or so after adding the other ingredients as in the recipe. Used Dualfine clearing agent per suggestion from the local wine making store owner, hoping that clears it well. Some lees still in the wine that are easily visible.
Should I rack a second time before waiting a week or leave them for now? The yield was almost a full 6 gal. from the primary on this batch. Used a plastic hanger with 2 zip ties attached at the end and a drill to degass. That was very easy compared to trying to stir the daylights out of it by hand!
Joe

 

[willie]

At a constant SG of .994 over 48 hrs. and racked into the glass carboy today for the next week or so after adding the other ingredients as in the recipe. Used Dualfine clearing agent per suggestion from the local wine making store owner, hoping that clears it well. Some lees still in the wine that are easily visible.
Should I rack a second time before waiting a week or leave them for now? The yield was almost a full 6 gal. from the primary on this batch. Used a plastic hanger with 2 zip ties attached at the end and a drill to degass. That was very easy compared to trying to stir the daylights out of it by hand!
Joe

I would just let it sit for 7-10 days before you rack again. And make sure the wine is clear.


Will

 

[Jal5]

It's clearing very nicely for only about 24 hrs after adding the clearing agent. I think this is going to turn out really nice. I topped up the 5 g. today using some from the 1 g. that was overflow and then backfilled the 1g. with some 100% organic concord grape juice. We will see how this turns out.
Joe

 

[gainescd]

I started a variation of this June of 2017. I used a Muscat concentrate in place of the initial sugar addition. Honey was added to reach initial gravity. Kept up with the timeline and moved to secondary and stabilized and clarified before life got in the way. With the exception of maintaining airlock level has been left alone. My question is am I OK to back sweeten as is of do I need to do anything with stabilization again prior to adding sweetener? Next question would be what conversion for sugar to honey should I use as I want to use honey?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and advice.

 

[HarrysHomeBrew]

I back sweetened mine last night. I hope I did not screw it up. I added sugar til Brix was at 5. After sugar and water mixed it was more than 6 gallons so I had a huge glass of it last night it tasted like like fruity red sangria box wine. Can't wait to bottle next week

People said to add sugar till it tasted good but don't add too much because with in about a month it will really come out with the fruit flavors I wanted it sweet. We will see

 

[Tess]

Glad to see this one is still popular. It was my first wine. It is also where I learned the Basic winemaking skills. Winemakers tend to toss a recipe at you when you're new. They do not realize how new we really are. They tell you the ingredients and how much and that is all. lol. I hope to never have to follow them Baking!! I needed this step By step recipe or I would have never even considered going past first Base in winemaking!! Still my son ask me to make this!! lol I will too. Next Batch for sure!!

 

[Tess]

I back sweetened mine last night. I hope I did not screw it up. I added sugar til Brix was at 5. After sugar and water mixed it was more than 6 gallons so I had a huge glass of it last night it tasted like like fruity red sangria box wine. Can't wait to bottle next week

People said to add sugar till it tasted good but don't add too much because with in about a month it will really come out with the fruit flavors I wanted it sweet. We will see

Pretty hard to screw this one up. lol It will Be fine.

 

[Jal5]

Update to previous post: my 5 gal. batch is clearing very well! The 1 gal. that I backfilled with 100% concord grape concentrate organic juice yesterday has started to ferment again. I guess I didn't take into account the amount of sugar in that concentrate. And the 1 gal. was the overflow from the primary fermenter bucket and didn't have very much of the final added ingredients to stabilize and clarify etc. I just added some of the 5 gal. containing the added ingredients to the 1 gal. and thought that was enough. A learning process!

Now I will have a one gallon batch that is "high test" for comparison with the regular 5 gal DB version.
Joe

 

[AdamWallace]

Just shooting this out there. This is my first time making DB and only second attempt at any wine. It took about two full weeks to get below SG 1.000. I followed directions exactly and racked into secondary fermenter. Waiting to clear now, it’s been 4 days and doesn’t seem to be clearing much. Am I just being impatient and anxious?

 

[AdamWallace]

P.S. I’ve enjoyed this so far very much just hoping for a great final product. The first was good, just not great.and def not clear enough. But I’m learning

 

[roboto65]

Yeah I have the luxury of time on my side well I say that meaning I am gone for 2 weeks at a time so mine have all cleared great. And I only have a week home so mine also goes to primary without getting to 1.000.

Just shooting this out there. This is my first time making DB and only second attempt at any wine. It took about two full weeks to get below SG 1.000. I followed directions exactly and racked into secondary fermenter. Waiting to clear now, it’s been 4 days and doesn’t seem to be clearing much. Am I just being impatient and anxious?

I would let it sit and see what happens not much can go wrong in 2 weeks or even a month I have learned that even in beer making

 

[AdamWallace]

Thanks, I will attempt patience

 

[Tess]

Just shooting this out there. This is my first time making DB and only second attempt at any wine. It took about two full weeks to get below SG 1.000. I followed directions exactly and racked into secondary fermenter. Waiting to clear now, it’s been 4 days and doesn’t seem to be clearing much. Am I just being impatient and anxious?

It will clear just give it the time it needs.

 

[willie]

Just shooting this out there. This is my first time making DB and only second attempt at any wine. It took about two full weeks to get below SG 1.000. I followed directions exactly and racked into secondary fermenter. Waiting to clear now, it’s been 4 days and doesn’t seem to be clearing much. Am I just being impatient and anxious?

Just to add to what Tess has stated check the wine's temperature. I try to keep mine at about 75 degrees F. after the first rack and it is clearing. And I keep it at that temp. till I filter and bottle. And when you are fermenting if you have it between 75-80 + degrees the ferment will go to dry much faster than say if it is only 70 degrees. My average ferment usually last for 7-9 days to get an SG reading of .990

Will

 

[AdamWallace]

Thanks a bunch, I think temperature control is def what I’ll do better next time. It has stayed around 70 the entire process. I’ll see what I can do tonight to warm it up a bit and see if that helps clear it off. Thanks again

 

[Jal5]

Nice color on the 5 gallon! That 1 gal. Is still fermenting.