DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[barbl72]

so what should I do today? should I rack off the lees and try to degas again? Then add more superkleer? Or just wait it out?

 

[jamesngalveston]

barb. barb. barb.
go to home depot are a harbor freight buy a cheap cordless drill.
get one of the plastic white coat hangers...cut it on one end so its straight,
cut the other end where there is still some bend on it.
put it drill and go to town........
you will never degass it by hand, well maybe but will take a month.

 

[barbl72]

I have degassed by hand the past 9 batches of wine with no problems what so ever! I have some muscles now.
Should I rack it again before degassing again? I do have a drill and plastic coathanger I could use. That's a good idea James!

 

[jamesngalveston]

stirrer made form clothes hanger.

 

[jamesngalveston]

i used to degass for about 15 minutes the hit the reverse on the drill and another 15 minutes.....usually two times is enough to degass.

 

[Rosa321]

i doubt it. I double the fruit on every batch, and have no problems clearing db.
if i make a peach i do it from concentrate with saved peach skins for color and even that clears very fast.
if its strawberry i use three times the fruit and it clears....

hhmmmmm......... good to know. Just still worried/wondering what went wrong with mine. I tried to remove as many floaters as I could, but when disturbed, it just fell apart. Now there's some suspended in the liquid.

I guess I just have to let it go for a long time to see if it clears.......

 

[jamesngalveston]

do you have a filter system....
maybe syphon with a cheese cloth, are pour into a bucket through a cheesecloth

 

[Rosa321]

do you have a filter system....
maybe syphon with a cheese cloth, are pour into a bucket through a cheesecloth

I do not have a filter "system". But I could invest in a fine filter funnel and maybe rack to another carboy through the filter funnel?
That is def an option.......

My concern is preventing this from happening in the future......just not sure what went wrong this time through......

 

[Julie]

Rosa, let it go for another week or two before doing anything, I think you are rushing it.

Barbl72, don't worry about degassing, at this point just rack. When you rack you are degassing as well. There seems to be overload of worry on degassing. There is no need to worry about degassing your wine until the last couple of months before bottling. It is rare that I need to degass a wine. I do not make dragon's blood but I do make a couple of batches of skeeter pee every year, which is the same thing and I have yet needed to worry about degassing.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I wish i could tell you, but I really have no idea.
I have made around 60 to 70 gallons of the original db and maybe 80 are 90 of variants, I have never had that happen....
Some other crazy stuff, but not that.I did get something similar in a blackberry once, but it was because i did not add salt to my egg whites when i finned the wine. Salt is a must using egg whites. Keeps it from coagulating.

 

[jamesngalveston]

Dragon blood is suppose to be a very early drinker, like from start to bottling in a month , but you can rush it too much if you do have problems...
I do not move my wine until it is dry in the primary.
I then put in a second carboy and degass the hell out of it.
I rack when it has 1/2 inch of sediment and degass.
I rack again when it has 1/2 inch and degass again.
I then add super kleer and let it clear.
I then rack add sorbate and or fruit pack, and or simple syrup.
Let clear and bottle.
Usually this all happens in 4 to 6 weeks.
I am not advising any one else to practice this method...It works for me.
Just saying.

 

[jdmyers]

I know its hard to wait for your db. especially when it usually cleers so fast. but just keep racking and wait it out. The longer it takes will only bring more of the flavors out

 

[bkisel]

I was talking to a long time wine making friend at Church today about the DB I've been making. Ed said that generally you want to drink your fruit wines within a year. He said that at about a year or so they start dropping their flavor and color. Would you say this is be true in general and true for DB?

Thanx...

 

[Julie]

I was talking to a long time wine making friend at Church today about the DB I've been making. Ed said that generally you want to drink your fruit wines within a year. He said that at about a year or so they start dropping their flavor and color. Would you say this is be true in general and true for DB?

Thanx...

NO, I don't even start drinking my fruit wines until they are a year old.

 

[Julie]

Dragon blood is suppose to be a very early drinker, like from start to bottling in a month , but you can rush it too much if you do have problems...
I do not move my wine until it is dry in the primary.
I then put in a second carboy and degass the hell out of it.
I rack when it has 1/2 inch of sediment and degass.
I rack again when it has 1/2 inch and degass again.
I then add super kleer and let it clear.
I then rack add sorbate and or fruit pack, and or simple syrup.
Let clear and bottle.
Usually this all happens in 4 to 6 weeks.
I am not advising any one else to practice this method...It works for me.
Just saying.

This is good for someone who is making there first batch but once you have made a couple batches you should not be in this much of a hurry.

 

[jdmyers]

im with julie on this we TRY to let our go for a year as for db not really sure as it seems to go faster than i can make it. ounce anybody finds out its ready we seem to get very popular with friends and family

 

[jamesngalveston]

Ok, what ever you say....But DB is suppose to be a very early drinker, a very early bottled wine.......
Maybe i can not read as well as you....But i think the original recipe said.
Wine in 15 days.......please correct me if I am wrong.
Never mind..it is not worth the post.......
Thanks.

 

[Julie]

Ok, what ever you say....But DB is suppose to be a very early drinker, a very early bottled wine.......
Maybe i can not read as well as you....But i think the original recipe said.
Wine in 15 days.......please correct me if I am wrong.
Never mind..it is not worth the post.......
Thanks.

James, don't get mad because some one isn't agreeing with you. I read thru Dave's original recipe and I didn't see any set time frame. Can you post where it said this wine in 15 days? I could have very well missed that. Thanks.

 

[Hokapsig]

I just found a leftover bottle of DB from late 2012/early 2013 and took it to a birthday party. It was the HIT of the party, with a tart berry and semisweet taste. I wish I had more to break out. I was offered money for a case of DB.

Time to think about making another batch....

 

[jdmyers]

sound like somebody needs a nap. or maybe a few glasses of db to mellow out