DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[dangerdave]

I've been out of town, then down with a cold, so I've been a bit out of touch. Thanks for keeping the discussion going, all.

Sleep is the answer. More sleep.

 

[bkisel]

I've been out of town, then down with a cold, so I've been a bit out of touch. Thanks for keeping the discussion going, all.

Sleep is the answer. More sleep.

Still not over the cold? Sleep and if one can get the sympathy - a doting spouse.

 

[JetJockey]

Sorry, should have mentioned it is Dragon's Blood.......but with Frozen Wild Blueberries.....Jet Blue!

I am looking at my Dragon's Blood Recipe now, and it doesn't say to add K-Meta until fermentation is done, SG is stable at <1.000, and I'm ready to clear......

BUT.....I'll assume it's ok if I dissolve the 1/4tsp in the water? I just wasn't sure if it needed to be mixed IN the fruit to kill the yeast there, or if it would be a strong enough concentration if it was in the water and then the fruit bag was added....... Again, I'm probably over thinking this, as I tend to do that in life

Rosa,
I used 100% fresh blueberries for my current batch and I used 1/4 tsp. kmeta in a small primary with the fresh blueberries to kill the native yeasts BEFORE starting the regular DB recipe. I had my berries frozen from summer so the juice strained through the nylon bag and the blueberries were in the bag and tied. I left the kmeta/thawed blueberries/juice sit 24 hours before starting the DB recipe to ensure the native yeasts on the blueberries were killed!

I did add the additional kmeta per the DB recipe after fermentation.

 

[jamesngalveston]

not only does k-meta kill wild yeast,bacteria, it will slow down a ferment.
that is the reason dave omits it from the recipe.....to get a fast ferment.
after all, its a wine that goes from 0 to bottle in around 15 days.

 

[boozehound]

Jet jockey. How many lbs of fresh blueberrys did u use? I also have a freezer full and would like to make DB outta them but don't want to screw it up.


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[jamesngalveston]

for a full bodied and full flavored, i would use 4 lbs per gallon and would omit the lemon....

 

[boozehound]

Sounds good. So without lemon use 1/2teaspoon acid blend per gallon?


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[Rosa321]

Rosa,
I used 100% fresh blueberries for my current batch and I used 1/4 tsp. kmeta in a small primary with the fresh blueberries to kill the native yeasts BEFORE starting the regular DB recipe. I had my berries frozen from summer so the juice strained through the nylon bag and the blueberries were in the bag and tied. I left the kmeta/thawed blueberries/juice sit 24 hours before starting the DB recipe to ensure the native yeasts on the blueberries were killed!

I did add the additional kmeta per the DB recipe after fermentation.

Thanks Bob!!! I wasn't sure how to do it , but I'm a big believer in living and learning.

Your wine sounds delicious Maybe I'll try a smaller batch of 100% blueberry......Have you done this many times before? Does it take a long time to age?

 

[Winenoob66]

Here's a thought for you guys that are wanting to use fresh fruit, When you cold stabilize wine it kills the yeast and helps clear it, so technically if you freeze the fruit (which will also help to draw out the juices) it will kill any wild yeast so you won't have to add any K-meta before fermenting.

 

[jamesngalveston]

it really does not matter if the fruit has wild yeast on it are not...
when you add water,sugar and chemicals, and then add your wine yeast the dominate strain kills off the lesser wild.
and no wild yeast will start ferment after 2 to 5 days, which gives you plenty of time to start it with your own yeast.

 

[kryptonitewine]

I used frozen blueberries and added no kmeta. Worked fine for me. Maybe I got lucky but Dave doesn't add kmeta to his either.


Jim

 

[kryptonitewine]

for a full bodied and full flavored, i would use 4 lbs per gallon and would omit the lemon....

I used half the normal amount of lemon and about 3lbs of fruit/gallon. Very happy with my results. 4lbs would be awesome but I didn't save that many from summer.


Jim

 

[China-Clipper]

Ready to rack

Well, my DB is ready to rack to a bucket for degas and sweetening, then back to the carboy for clearing. In the mean time I picked up a new kit...anybody have any luck with this Cabernet Sauvignon?

 

[tmmii]

Day 4, my kitchen is smelling delicious from this stuff!!


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[jamesngalveston]

china clipper, you should clear it before adding sorbate and backsweetning.
and always mix your sorbate with a little water before adding to wine.

 

[bkisel]

china clipper, you should clear it before adding sorbate and backsweetning.
and always mix your sorbate with a little water before adding to wine.

I intended to do it just like china-clipper reasoning that it is how I've done it, according to directions, with the kits I've made. Clearing came after stabilization and back sweetening. Is there some difference with DB or fruit wines in general that requires a different procedure?

Why always? With the 8 RJS kits I've done instructions just have you pouring the sorbate and k-meta into the wine and stirring. The 1 MM kit I did had me mix with water as you say.

Thanx...

 

[China-Clipper]

I intended to do what I said, but since I had already added the sorbate, this is what I'm doing now. Rack back into carboy (sorbate already added), degas some more, add k-meta and super-kleer. Then I'll wait until final clearing, rack into pail and sweeten to taste...then bottle. Think this will be OK?

 

[Rosa321]

Here's a thought for you guys that are wanting to use fresh fruit, When you cold stabilize wine it kills the yeast and helps clear it, so technically if you freeze the fruit (which will also help to draw out the juices) it will kill any wild yeast so you won't have to add any K-meta before fermenting.

Hmmmmm....... Interesting idea. Do you have any articles to support this?
As a former pharmaceutical microbiologist, I know freezing cultures (cryopreservation) does not kill them, or sterilize. Frozen cultures can be used as starter cultures quite easily.
I don't know if I buy the idea that freezing kills the yeast.


However...... James might be on to something...... The wild yeast may very well just be overwhelmed and out numbered by the yeast we add. And in the amount of time we let it ferment may not be long enough to see the wild yeast amount to much.

I added k-meta to the blueberries just in case..... I'd rather a slower ferment than to risk losing my hard grown, hard picked berries!!!!

Perhaps future experimentation is needed!!!

 

[jamesngalveston]

answers:

never add sorbate to a cloudy wine....many many document supports this..
the least amounts of viable yeast will be in a clear wine. thus allowing the sorbate to work better.
always mix sorbate with water first, it then becomes sorbic acid which is soluble in alcohol.
potassium sorbate is not soluble in alcohol.

I have made two batches of wine with wild yeast, the first was a mustang grapes, it took 3 weeks to start ferment and took 4 months to ferment dry.
Same with a blackberry...took about a month to really start ferment, and about 4 to complete.
Both had no added chemincals...just sugar ,fruit,juice.
and both were unpleasant to drink.

read: http://www.vawa.net/winemaking-articles/sorbatetable.html

look it up.

 

[China-Clipper]

Well, after the DB clears I guess I'll just have to re-sorbate, as the super-kleer will pull out the sorbate too....correct?