DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[Winenoob66]

Hi guys I am wanting to try my hand at making DB but I went to the LHBS and all I could get was a 6.5 gal fermenting bucket. My question is.. will this be big enough or will it overflow?

EC-1118 is the yeast I am gonna run with.

 

[seth8530]

Depends on how big of a batch you make (; I would stick to a 5 gallon batch.

 

[Winenoob66]

lol wonder what is would taste like if I kept the ingredients the same but only used water to 5 gal.

 

[Elmer]

Hi guys I am wanting to try my hand at making DB but I went to the LHBS and all I could get was a 6.5 gal fermenting bucket. My question is.. will this be big enough or will it overflow?

EC-1118 is the yeast I am gonna run with.

I use the 6.5 gallon bucket and I did not over flow!

 

[Winenoob66]

you done the 6 gal mix and was fine with only a half gall headspace ?

My bucket is 6.5 to the bottom of the lid.

 

[Elmer]

you done the 6 gal mix and was fine with only a half gall headspace ?

My bucket is 6.5 to the bottom of the lid.

Yes, it is close.
So stirr carefully. Drop the fruit in carefully.
But I have done it twice!

 

[Winenoob66]

Cool Thanks Elmer

 

[jamesngalveston]

wineboob, the wine will taste more fruity, if you only use 5 gallons of water, it will not hurt otherwise...
i use a 5 gallon all the time, when i dont have a 6 are 7 gallon carboy available.

 

[Winenoob66]

I think I will go with 5 gal of water then I really want the fruityness

 

[jamesngalveston]

good choice.....i would guess this is your first db....well, all i can say is..
home depot sales 20 gallon brute trash cans, that make great primarys.
i panicked yesterday...my sister asked if i had anymore dragon blood becuase she was out, i went throug about 150 bottles and couldnt find one....i forgot i moved it to my other wine storage.still i only have about 50 bottles of various...so time to crank up for the summer.

 

[Winenoob66]

lmao @ the 20 Gallon Brute trash cans. I have all the stuff to do 2 batches now so soon as primary gets empty I might start a new one. I even have 2 empty 5 gal carboys already, soon my 6 gal and the other 5 will be free that's if I get off my bum and get to washing bottles for the 2 mixes I have in them now.

 

[Greydog]

I started 6 gallons of DB on 11 Dec. I started with an SG of 1.082 and planned to stop fermentation at 1.010 and not back-sweeten. All went as planned until today. I racked the wine off the lees and dosed it with 1/4 tsp of potassium metabisulfite and 3 teaspoons of potassium sorbate and began degassing. Ran the battery down on my drill motor after about a half hour so I decided to recharge the battery while I ran some errands. Returned home after about 4 hours and started to degass again but it was fermenting again with vigor!! How much sorbate is safe to use in 6 gallons of wine? I'll probably ferment it bone dry now and back sweeten before bottling.

 

[jamesngalveston]

you can hasten the ferment by racking off the lees...its best to add the sorbate/kmeta after it clears...

 

[Greydog]

Yeah, I screwed up. For some reason I thought I could stop fermentation with the sulphite and sorbate....which I learned I can't. When this batch ferments below 1.000, and has cleared, can I back sweeten without adding more sorbate than I've already dumped in there? I don't want to ruin this batch.

 

[jamesngalveston]

you dont need to add more sorbate..

 

[dangerdave]

James is right. Don't add more sorbate. You don't want to know what that taste like! Leave it until it's dry (three days with as stable SG), then back sweeten to taste. Start small with the sugar and work up.

I've been testing my new batches with less sugar. I have a batch I just bottled yesterday. This one had only 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon. It sat in the carboy for a month before bottling, and it's great! I'm to the point now where I always make two or three batches at a time. If I'm doing one, it doesn't take much extra effort to make another right beside it...or three together in the Brute!

 

[jamesngalveston]

hey dave, how is the clearing agent test going.

 

[dangerdave]

Here ya go, James! Thirteen days after starting primary fermentation, four days after adding the clearing agents. The Sparkolloid is catching up, but it's still a bit hazy. It usually takes a week for the Sparkoilloid to finish clearing. Like I said, if they taste the same, it's Super Kleer for me from now on!

 

[jamesngalveston]

thanks for the info....cant wait till you taste them..to see if you can tell a difference in taste.

 

[Greydog]

Thanx James and Dave. I had a hard time getting this to start fermenting in my cool basement but once it started it's going gangbusters!! Actually looks like blood in the carboy. I'll try 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon when its time. The sweetness tasted just perfect at sg of 1.010 when I tried to stop the fermentation so I'll see how close 1/2 cup per gallon gets me to that. I don't care for real sweet wine. Still don't know what possessed me to think I could stop the fermentation???