DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[user 32114]

View attachment 63251
That’s a better look at the difference in colour between my Toon Blood (9.7 lbs Saskatoon, also known as Juneberry or Serviceberry) on the left and Berry Cherry Dragon Blood (4.2 lbs Blueberry & 11 lbs Sour Cherry) on the right. It's hard to see in the thumbnail, but the Cherry is more like a pale orange than red. The saskatoons and cherries are home-grown. I also had a few lbs of store-bought blueberries in the freezer I wanted to use. I figured the cherries would benefit more from the blueberries than the saskatoons, even though there were more cherries by weight. I would say I was right. This year I think I'll try one with just the cherries to see how much difference the blueberries made. The cherry one is a little lighter on flavour than the saskatoon one too.

was checking our your colors, i'll be bottling my first dragon blood, here in about a week, tart/sour cherry, black raspberry, and blueberry, all the wines i;ve made from scratch, but after finally reading the DDDB thread, and him saying that any combo was fine, i did a little reading, i've made cherries, but black raspberry and blueberry i've never made. so i went with if it sounds good ,,do it,, lol, i've done many different fruits and berries that are local to me, but this is going to be an adventure, got 2-6's of that and a 6, that's half them 3 and half strawberry,
Dawg

 

[user 32114]

View attachment 63251
That’s a better look at the difference in colour between my Toon Blood (9.7 lbs Saskatoon, also known as Juneberry or Serviceberry) on the left and Berry Cherry Dragon Blood (4.2 lbs Blueberry & 11 lbs Sour Cherry) on the right. It's hard to see in the thumbnail, but the Cherry is more like a pale orange than red. The saskatoons and cherries are home-grown. I also had a few lbs of store-bought blueberries in the freezer I wanted to use. I figured the cherries would benefit more from the blueberries than the saskatoons, even though there were more cherries by weight. I would say I was right. This year I think I'll try one with just the cherries to see how much difference the blueberries made. The cherry one is a little lighter on flavour than the saskatoon one too.

colors are good, i've heard of juneberry, and heard of saskatoon, but never seen any in my neck of the woods.
Dawg

 

[KCCam]

Pretty sure they're just different names for the same berry. I Googled it, so it must be true. I've always heard them referred to as saskatoon berries up here in Canada. Good luck with your first Dragon Blood. I hope you like it. I'm sure you will. I grow a few hot pepper plants every year. Maybe I should throw a ghost pepper into a batch. What do you think?

 

[user 32114]

Pretty sure they're just different names for the same berry. I Googled it, so it must be true. I've always heard them referred to as saskatoon berries up here in Canada. Good luck with your first Dragon Blood. I hope you like it. I'm sure you will. I grow a few hot pepper plants every year. Maybe I should throw a ghost pepper into a batch. What do you think?

oh man, you're a cool dude, i cant believe this, hehe, my great grandma started me on hot peppers when i was 4, i got on the table, ghost, scorpion, and carolina reapers, my nephew told me a couple days ago they got a new worlds hottest, reapers are 2.5 million scofield heat units, on here most don't joke around,, life's to short, to not enjoy. you have a sense of humor, make country wines, and i'll be danged , a true pepper eater, a person worth their salt, heck now i'm laughing,,,
Dawg

 

[user 32114]

Pretty sure they're just different names for the same berry. I Googled it, so it must be true. I've always heard them referred to as saskatoon berries up here in Canada. Good luck with your first Dragon Blood. I hope you like it. I'm sure you will. I grow a few hot pepper plants every year. Maybe I should throw a ghost pepper into a batch. What do you think?

i ain't ever done any pepper wine, i'll mull that over, my country wines i like sweet and very fruity or bold berry flavorful, and yep i'm ready to try them dragons bloods, i figure i'll make some straight black raspberry, welp i'm outta here for now, have a good one man,
Dawg

 

[KCCam]

oh man, you're a cool dude

Ya, that's what they tell me!

on here most don't joke around

I don't know, I think you're being a little harsh. I've seen lots of jocularity! Did you catch the Cork Soaker SNL skit recently posted on another thread?

i got on the table, ghost, scorpion, and carolina reapers

I've tried to grow scorpion and reaper. I get flowers, but have never had one bear any fruit. Very short growing season here, you have to start seeds in, like January, or buy the plants at a greenhouse already started. If you put them out before the end of May, you risk having them snowed on.

a true pepper eater

Uh, umm, well, not quite a pepper eater. Have you seen the videos of people actually eating a Carolina Reaper? Not me, no thanks! But we make our own salsa that I can make a few jars nice and hot for me, and I dry the peppers and put them in a pepper mill to "enhance" whatever I chose (everything). I don't think I would actually enjoy eating anything much hotter than a jalapeno (sorry, am I not a cool dude now?).

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

View attachment 63251
That’s a better look at the difference in colour between my Toon Blood (9.7 lbs Saskatoon, also known as Juneberry or Serviceberry) on the left and Berry Cherry Dragon Blood (4.2 lbs Blueberry & 11 lbs Sour Cherry) on the right. It's hard to see in the thumbnail, but the Cherry is more like a pale orange than red. The saskatoons and cherries are home-grown. I also had a few lbs of store-bought blueberries in the freezer I wanted to use. I figured the cherries would benefit more from the blueberries than the saskatoons, even though there were more cherries by weight. I would say I was right. This year I think I'll try one with just the cherries to see how much difference the blueberries made. The cherry one is a little lighter on flavour than the saskatoon one too.

I have yet to try making a cherry wine but it's on my to do list. We bought a cherry tree at Costco this spring but unfortunately it didn't live and so my dream of having my own is going to be on hold for now.

I've never heard Juneberries called Saskatoons. I have a tree in the backyard and used them in one of my wines a couple years ago (with some other fruit) but I guess I wasn't impressed enough to try again. Now you've got me wondering whether I need to give them another chance

The color on both batches is lovely. Which one do you like the best?

 

[user 32114]

Ya, that's what they tell me!

I don't know, I think you're being a little harsh. I've seen lots of jocularity! Did you catch the Cork Soaker SNL skit recently posted on another thread?

I've tried to grow scorpion and reaper. I get flowers, but have never had one bear any fruit. Very short growing season here, you have to start seeds in, like January, or buy the plants at a greenhouse already started. If you put them out before the end of May, you risk having them snowed on.

Uh, umm, well, not quite a pepper eater. Have you seen the videos of people actually eating a Carolina Reaper? Not me, no thanks! But we make our own salsa that I can make a few jars nice and hot for me, and I dry the peppers and put them in a pepper mill to "enhance" whatever I chose (everything). I don't think I would actually enjoy eating anything much hotter than a jalapeno (sorry, am I not a cool dude now?).

naw you're still cool,, lol
Dawg

 

[KCCam]

The color on both batches is lovely. Which one do you like the best?

Ahh, there’s the rub. I do not have a refined palate, nor the vocabulary. To me they are quite similar. The Saskatoon DB (SDB) finished at 0.988 & the Cherry Blueberry DB (CBDB) finished at 0.990. Dry, the CBDB has a slight sweetness to it and is a milder taste. I suspect the blueberries contributed to the colour and taste more than the cherries in it, even though there’s almost 3 times as many cherries by weight. The SDB has a little stronger flavour, more sour, with a hint of bitterness. I think I like it better. I’m doing backsweetening tests and the sugar softens that a bit, and of course brings the berry flavour out. But I can’t decide how much sugar I like best — they all taste so good. I’ll have to do a bunch more sampling.

 

[KDav]

Hi all. I bottled my batch over the weekend but it seems I couldn't get it as clear as what it should be. It is clearer in the glass than what this bottle looks like. This is 3 months with racking once a month, and treated with bentonite. The only noteable difference in method was that I went a bit heavier on fruit per litre and added a large bunch of crushed muscadine grapes. It tastes great but this is the first time I've not been able to clear a wine? Any help or advice for future batches would be great!

 

[avan]

Just wanted to share. I’ve made 2 batches of the original dragon blood recipe. The first batch I had to top up with a finished white Zinfandel due to headspace. The second batch I calculated the headspace perfectly. Well the second batch was low in body and mouthfeel in our opinion. So we did some taste testing and added about 2 tsp of finished white Zinfandel per 4 oz and it really gives the wine the body (I think) it needs. So we ended up topping up our 5 gallon batch (in secondary) With a 1.5 L bottle of white Zinfandel. It’s excellent. But I think any white you love would work too. For my next batch I may add white grape juice in place of some of the water instead of adding finished wine to top up. We shall see. It’s a great recipe to play with and really make your own. Foolproof!

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

I’ll have to do a bunch more sampling.

I call it quality control tasting.

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Hi all. I bottled my batch over the weekend but it seems I couldn't get it as clear as what it should be. It is clearer in the glass than what this bottle looks like. This is 3 months with racking once a month, and treated with bentonite. The only noteable difference in method was that I went a bit heavier on fruit per litre and added a large bunch of crushed muscadine grapes. It tastes great but this is the first time I've not been able to clear a wine? Any help or advice for future batches would be great!

I've not had a lot of luck with bentonite so always use SuperKleer (also known as Dualfine) to clear my wines. I then filter it before bottling using the Vinbrite filter. It's not a fancy system, is inexpensive and does an adequate job... it help gives the wine a bit of polishing.

 

[KCCam]

The only noteable difference in method was that I went a bit heavier on fruit per litre and added a large bunch of crushed muscadine grapes.

With more fruit, it could possibly be pectic haze. What type of fruit? I’ve read that pectic enzyme (PE) will not affect the taste at all and is safe to use as much as required. It helped my first batch of DB, and I put double the recipe amount in my current two batches due to using fresh fruit. With DualFine they’ve cleared in 2 days! Next time it won’t clear like that I would try a dose to see if it helps. I’ve also read starch haze can be a problem with some fruit, like bananas.

 

[KCCam]

I've not had a lot of luck with bentonite so always use SuperKleer (also known as Dualfine) to clear my wines.

It sounds like you meant to say “no luck with bentonite so always use SuperKleer”. Or do you mean what you say? All the kits I’ve ever done use both: bentonite up front (more effective/efficient during primary fermentation when the active yeast has everything in suspension), and DualFine/SuperKleer at the end, before bottling.

 

[KCCam]

I call it quality control tasting.

Hahaha, after enough Quality Control, I call it whatever it wants me to!

 

[sour_grapes]

I've not had a lot of luck with bentonite so always use SuperKleer (also known as Dualfine) to clear my wines.

It sounds like you meant to say “no luck with bentonite so always use SuperKleer”. Or do you mean what you say?

Umm, evidently she meant BOTH of the things that you suggest she may have meant.

 

[KCCam]

Umm, evidently she meant BOTH of the things that you suggest she may have meant.

OOPS. I’m sure I read that 5 times before I posted. Did not see the “not”. Lol. Maybe I’ve been Quality Controlling a little too much. Hic.
... hang on, I think I need to try one with a little less sugar...

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

OOPS. I’m sure I read that 5 times before I posted. Did not see the “not”. Lol. Maybe I’ve been Quality Controlling a little too much. Hic.
... hang on, I think I need to try one with a little less sugar...

. Well, I could have used better English, so maybe it's me who's been quality controlling too much this morning

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Hi all. I bottled my batch over the weekend but it seems I couldn't get it as clear as what it should be. It is clearer in the glass than what this bottle looks like. This is 3 months with racking once a month, and treated with bentonite. The only noteable difference in method was that I went a bit heavier on fruit per litre and added a large bunch of crushed muscadine grapes. It tastes great but this is the first time I've not been able to clear a wine? Any help or advice for future batches would be great!

This is my lime Skeeter Pee 4 days after adding SuperKleer.