DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[ckvchestnut]

Yes realemon I have used as well as no name they are both the same and will work without a problem! There's always acid blend if you're that worried about the bensoate...


Carolyn

 

[Rosa321]

20 cups of sugar...

Domino® Granulated Sugar

5 lbs. ------------- 11 1/2 cups

So if the chart is right and my math is right I take 3 cups out of the 10 pound bag of sugar I bought and that will leave me 20 cups called for in step 1 of the DB recipe, right?

[Yes, I know, a I'm asking for a little to much hand holding but having only done kits up to this point I'm just a bit anxious to get this DB done correctly.]

Thanx...

I would measure it out and test. I am pretty sure my 10lb bag was very close to 20cups, and my SG was lower than I wanted it. So just to be safe, measure out what you are actually putting in....

 

[RotGut76]

Due to the rapid weather changes in my area. My Primary filled with DB got up to about 79 Degrees F last night. Should I be worried? I moved it to a cooler spot. It seems ok as of now. If problems should arise what should I look for?

 

[bkisel]

Yes realemon I have used as well as no name they are both the same and will work without a problem! There's always acid blend if you're that worried about the bensoate...


Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn, only worried because of the conflicting information. I'm going to use it and will know for certain for myself. I think I saw the very same preservatives on the RealLemon label as on the generic that I bought yesterday. Dave's recipe clearly mentions RealLemon and says nothing about concern for the preservatives.

Thanks.

 

[ckvchestnut]

Yep it's all good bkisel! Just be sure to wait the 24hrs


Carolyn

 

[bkisel]

I would measure it out and test. I am pretty sure my 10lb bag was very close to 20cups, and my SG was lower than I wanted it. So just to be safe, measure out what you are actually putting in....

Your advice along with that of a previous poster does of course makes eminent sense. Thing is I'm going to be holding out about a half gallon of water today so that tomorrow I can add dissolved Bentonite along with pitching the yeast.

I'll hold some sugar out this morning and make final adjustment to SG tomorrow just before pitching the yeast.

Thanks to both posters.

 

[ckvchestnut]

Due to the rapid weather changes in my area. My Primary filled with DB got up to about 79 Degrees F last night. Should I be worried? I moved it to a cooler spot. It seems ok as of now. If problems should arise what should I look for?

It should be fine just want to watch for frequent changes of temp and if it's really too hot the yeasts can stress. My indicator of stress is a ferment that starts to smell to sulphurish. Stir it well everyday and do the nutrients in 3 parts if you can. But if you used ec1118 they can tolerate up to 95 degrees. Here's a chart the EC-1118 is also known as premier curvee or prisse de mousse.

Good temp range is 72 to 78 but once the ferment starts and getting going it will create it's own heat as well.

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp


Carolyn

 

[ckvchestnut]

Your advice along with that of a previous poster does of course makes eminent sense. Thing is I'm going to be holding out about a half gallon of water today so that tomorrow I can add dissolved Bentonite along with pitching the yeast.



I'll hold some sugar out this morning and make final adjustment to SG tomorrow just before pitching the yeast.



Thanks to both posters.

Thats what I do now bring SG to just under my targeted SG and then test again in 24 hrs before pitching yeast! Have fun with it!


Carolyn

 

[Rosa321]

Your advice along with that of a previous poster does of course makes eminent sense. Thing is I'm going to be holding out about a half gallon of water today so that tomorrow I can add dissolved Bentonite along with pitching the yeast.

I'll hold some sugar out this morning and make final adjustment to SG tomorrow just before pitching the yeast.

Thanks to both posters.

Sounds great!!! Just wanted you to be aware by removing the 3 cups it could be more or less sugar than you bargained for. Good luck and enjoy!!!

 

[jamesngalveston]

i have had db batches get to 100 degress during ferment.

the lemon juice with the sulphides is just fine......

you can ferment anything that that has sulphides in it.

 

[ckvchestnut]

I purposely left a tiny amount of liquid and lees in the bottom of my fermenter pail from a Liebfraumilch before starting this batch of dragonette... It looks like it's bubbling and forming a bit of a cap this morning! I'm still going to pitch some ec1118 tonight but it was interesting to see development so soon. I literally left perhaps 2 tbsps of the juice going in the bottom. It was not at the end of ferment but I needed the pail so I racked it out to the carboy at 1.030.


Carolyn

 

[ckvchestnut]

i have had db batches get to 100 degress during ferment.



the lemon juice with the sulphides is just fine......



you can ferment anything that that has sulphides in it.

James! You're back


Carolyn

 

[bkisel]

Okay. Step one complete...

Decided against the Bentonite and stuck to the recipe. Reason is I did some quick research and came across Dave's parallel DB test with and without Bentonite. Conclusion at the end was that the DB without the Bentonite tasted better.

Took three cups of sugar out of the 10 pound bag to get my calculated 20 cups remaining. What was left was pretty much 20 cups (I counted out the cups instead of just pouring the bag in). Funny thing though I had to add 3 cups more to at the end of step 1 in order to get my SG to 1.075. So for whatever reason 10 pounds/23 cups is what I needed.

I was surprised at how high the liquid level came up when I put the berries in the primary. [The berries were put in a sanitized nylon bag.] Hope this must level won't be an issue during fermentation.

Tomorrow I'll pitch the yeast.

Thanks all for your help to this point.

 

[ckvchestnut]

That sounds great! What size pail are you using?

Ok look at this! Just from me leaving a few tbsps of my Liebfraumilch at the bottom of the pail yesterday. Haven't pitched my own yeast yet!




Carolyn

 

[JDesCotes]

I'm in the middle of doing my first dragons blood using 1 large pinapple, 1 large honeydew, 4 bananas and 4 cups of frozen mango. I am now at 1.010 SG and am very surprised how small my fruit bag has become.

I've been squeezing it every day and it is literally just pulp in it now!

 

[JDesCotes]

That sounds great! What size pail are you using?

Ok look at this! Just from me leaving a few tbsps of my Liebfraumilch at the bottom of the pail yesterday. Haven't pitched my own yeast yet!

View attachment 14011


Carolyn

I'm new to this so excuse me if this is a stupid question... If it's that active already, why would you pitch more yeast?

 

[JetJockey]

Okay. Step one complete...

I was surprised at how high the liquid level came up when I put the berries in the primary. [The berries were put in a sanitized nylon bag.] Hope this must level won't be an issue during fermentation.

I just made a 100% blueberry batch and my liquid was a little over 6 gallons BEFORE putting the fruit in. (Had trouble chasing my desired SG by putting in enough sugar for 5 gallons then adding water, then adding sugar, etc.) I was concerned that even though EC-1118 doesn't foam much, that I could have an overflow problem when squeezing/stirring. I took some of the must out and put it in a sanitized 1/2 gallon jug until the fermentation started to slow down, i.e. just fizzing. I added the "extra" must 1/3 at a time over 3 days (before fermenting dry). This worked out well and I didn't have any overflow. I just had to not get very aggressive with the stirring!

Thanks James for the suggestion on how to keep from overflowing my fermenting must!

 

[JetJockey]

I'm new to this so excuse me if this is a stupid question... If it's that active already, why would you pitch more yeast?

I'm sure Carolyn was using the leftover must from a previous batch of wine (still left in bottom of primary) to "start" her new batch of DB. Therefore she started with some active fermenting must that started fermenting her DB ingredients before she added the yeast called for in the DB recipe.

 

[ckvchestnut]

Ya! Basically I just wanted to see if it would start fermenting on its own and it did which I knew it would but just had no idea how fast it would do this! I wonder how many yeast cells are contained in just a few tbsps of must?? Lol well the yeast I used in the Liebfraumilch just happened to be EC-1118. I guess I was on the bench about whether or not I need to add an extra pkg of yeast if I'm getting this much action already? It's about 6.5 gallons.... Will it be a slower ferment?


Carolyn

 

[JDesCotes]

From what I've read, yeast should multiply until they reach a stable amount in your primary. If you throw in 1 packet or 12, it should not make too much of a difference in ferment time.

Again, I am new so this isn't practical experience... Just from what I've read.

Me being very cheap, I wouldn't add more yeast