DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[TableSeven]

So this is my first from scratch wine. I had to man up & taste it because a beer brewing friend asked if I did and the answer was no, I had tasted early on a kit and it scared me...so curiosity got the better of me and I tasted it.. OMG it was WONDERFUL.

I'm at 1.050 today, how much is this flavor going to change? How do I keep this or does this just keep getting better?

 

[Rosa321]

So this is my first from scratch wine. I had to man up & taste it because a beer brewing friend asked if I did and the answer was no, I had tasted early on a kit and it scared me...so curiosity got the better of me and I tasted it.. OMG it was WONDERFUL.

I'm at 1.050 today, how much is this flavor going to change? How do I keep this or does this just keep getting better?

Did you follow the recipe exactly? 6lbs of fruit, lemon juice, etc?
In my experience, If you let it ferment to dry, the taste will change quite a bit.
I'm told it changes as it ages.

If you used more fruit up front, or acid blend instead of lemon juice, I'm told the final product can be different....

 

[sour_grapes]

Just finished racking my first batch from primary bucket to carboy.
Day 1 (Monday) DB started SG 1.075

Day 14 (Sunday) SG 0.992, Temp 80F +- / rack from bucket, stab agents, back sweeten 4.5 cups, clearing agents, stir degassing, started vacuum pump degassing / calculated ABV = 10.76%

Bkisel, we are very simpatico! I started my first DB batch on 2/21, and I also racked it to the carboy today (and stabilized and degassed). I started at SG=1.082 and ended at 0.992 for 11.8%. I was AMAZED at how effective the SuperKleer was today. Went from totally cloudy to nearly clear in about 4 hours.

 

[bkisel]

Bkisel, we are very simpatico! I started my first DB batch on 2/21, and I also racked it to the carboy today (and stabilized and degassed). I started at SG=1.082 and ended at 0.992 for 11.8%. I was AMAZED at how effective the SuperKleer was today. Went from totally cloudy to nearly clear in about 4 hours.

Glad to read your batch is moving right along. Mine will take awhile to clear. LHBS doesn't carry SuperKleer so I'm using Chitosan & Kieselsol. I've used the K&C in all the 8 kits I've done and everyone has cleared over the course of several days. My hope is that the C&K will be as effective as the SuperKleer you used, just take longer to do its stuff.

Good luck with your final results!

 

[Enologo]

Glad to read your batch is moving right along. Mine will take awhile to clear. LHBS doesn't carry SuperKleer so I'm using Chitosan & Kieselsol. I've used the K&C in all the 8 kits I've done and everyone has cleared over the course of several days. My hope is that the C&K will be as effective as the SuperKleer you used, just take longer to do its stuff.

Good luck with your final results!

If I'm not mistaken Super Clear is Chitosan & Kieselsol just packaged together.Should work the same.

 

[FTC Wines]

My 2 cents! Found & drank a bottle of Dragon Blood last night from 2011!! Still GOOD, not sure if it's better, can't remember that far back. But it was good. Roy

 

[sour_grapes]

Glad to read your batch is moving right along. Mine will take awhile to clear. LHBS doesn't carry SuperKleer so I'm using Chitosan & Kieselsol. I've used the K&C in all the 8 kits I've done and everyone has cleared over the course of several days. My hope is that the C&K will be as effective as the SuperKleer you used, just take longer to do its stuff.

Good luck with your final results!

If I'm not mistaken Super Clear is Chitosan & Kieselsol just packaged together.Should work the same.

Yup, I used Kieselol and Chitosan.

 

[jamesngalveston]

Paul, I am glad that your about. finished with your dragon blood. I hope you find it a great wine for those hot summers you have there.
If you decide you do not like it, I will gladly take it off your hands.......

Not checked for punctuation.
Not checked for spelling errors.
This is a comment, do not use for reference information.

 

[bkisel]

If I'm not mistaken Super Clear is Chitosan & Kieselsol just packaged together.Should work the same.

I do already see sediment at the bottom of the carboy but I wouldn't yet call the wine clear. Could it be that I switched up the steps by adding the sugar between stabilization and adding the clearing agents? I switched up Dave's steps because this is how I've done it with a number of my back sweetened kits and all have turned out just fine.

 

[jamesngalveston]

give it some time. you should be fine.

 

[TableSeven]

Did you follow the recipe exactly? 6lbs of fruit, lemon juice, etc?
In my experience, If you let it ferment to dry, the taste will change quite a bit.
I'm told it changes as it ages.

If you used more fruit up front, or acid blend instead of lemon juice, I'm told the final product can be different....

I used less lemon (the large bottles here are smaller) and 3 cups more sugar to get the SG to 1.075 at the beginning.

My worry is if my one wine tasted horrible before it was finished but tasted great finished, but this one tastes great before it is finished will it stay good.. I should know, I've done enough tank tours lol but this is my baby.

 

[jamesngalveston]

after its degassed cleared stabilized it should be like all db....very good early drinker.....

 

[wildvines]

What housing filter is used for the DB. The pd 1 or 5


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[RotGut76]

I've been working on a all blueberry version of DB. After racking to the secondary and back sweetening I wasn't really liking the flavor of it. I bulk aged it a bit. Still not happy. So I put a little sample in a mason jar and added a little oak to it. It greatly improved the flavor IMO. Tastes kind of port(ish).

My problem is the small amount I have in the mason jar is carbonating. Its been sitting for about a week in a 1/2 filled 1 pint jar. Before I add oak to the entire batch is there anything I should know? Could it be carbonating or is it oxidizing because of the head space in the jar? It still tastes ok though.

 

[sour_grapes]

I have to ask the obvious: Did you use potassium sorbate before backsweetening?

 

[bkisel]

Question on degassing my DB...

Wine is now in a carboy and even though I've degassed using drill device I'm following up with a VacuVin. All the small bubbles are gone but I keep pulling up these larger bubbles right off the bottom out of the sediment. Should I keep pumping to bring up these larger bubbles or rack off the sediment now or stop pumping and wait a week or so before racking?

Thanx...

 

[RotGut76]

I have to ask the obvious: Did you use potassium sorbate before backsweetening?

I'm pretty sure I did. Would adding more have a negative effect?

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[wildvines]

Just filtered and bottled my first batch. Hope it gets better. Looks clear


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[bkisel]

wildvines, that sure is looking nice.

 

[Rosa321]

I used less lemon (the large bottles here are smaller) and 3 cups more sugar to get the SG to 1.075 at the beginning.

My worry is if my one wine tasted horrible before it was finished but tasted great finished, but this one tastes great before it is finished will it stay good.. I should know, I've done enough tank tours lol but this is my baby.

what did you do this time to make it so special? My gut tells me it can only get better from here