DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[bkisel]

Finally with temperature at 78 fermentation starts.

As the saying goes... "All's well that ends well."

 

[Julie]

Finally with temperature at 78 fermentation starts. View attachment 15730


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You really need to get that into a bucket, keeping it in a carboy with an airlock will stress the yeast which can create a stuck fermentation.

 

[reefman]

I couldn't agree more, Julie knows her stuff. She helped me out a lot when I was new.
If the fermentation sticks, and the Sp G has dropped to around 1.020, you will not likely get it started again, and adding more yeast at that point could ruin it with some off tastes.

 

[shrive22]

Ok I'll transfer back to an old Chilean juice bucket. Thanks.



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[shrive22]

Julie, quick question, why would keeping it in carboy stress the yeast?


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[Julie]

At the beginning of a fermentation, yeast need oxygen, putting it in a carboy at the beginning lowers the amount of oxygen it can get and adding an airlock pretty much blocks oxygen all together, that is why the yeast gets stressed

 

[go_mustangs]

Hi there, I would like to start my first batch of this but I will be in Mexico from 6/1/14 until 6/8/14. Is there a timeline that would make starting a batch before I leave feasible or am I better off waiting until I get back. The temperature is rising and something tells me this will be a popular beverage of choice during the summer months. Thank you in advance for any help you can lend.

 

[StoneCreek]

Start it now. It'll be in the secondary by the time you leave and it'll start cleaning while your gone.


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[Rosa321]

this is a very newbie question.... but how do I know when a wine is done clearing? I made a batch of Dragonette, I used a lot of fruit.... 12 pounds up front and then I'd have to check my notes, but either 3 or 6 pounds to make juice out of. I used a triple berry blend of strawberry blackberry and raspberry. anyway it's a very dark color red. and it's been clearing for a LONG time now. I did a racking at Easter time and added more pectic enzyme.

I'm just not sure how to tell if it's cleared all the way. it doesn't look particularly cloudy or like it has any floaters.... I'm wondering if maybe because it's so dark I can't tell? is there a gold standard to measure clarifying by?

Thanks!

 

[calvin]

Put a sample in a glass. Take it in a dark room and shine a flashlight through it. If you can see particles it's not completely clear.

 

[reefman]

I shine a flashlight through the carboy. And as Calvin mention, if you can see the light inside the carboy, it's reflecting off the particles. In A nice clear wine you will not see the light in the carboy. Place a piece of paper on the side opposite the flashlight, and you should see the light on it.
Someone else suggested using a red laser light.

 

[jkrug]

I use a piece of paper with print on it. If I can read the print clearly I feel I am good. Of course that does not work with reds.

 

[bkisel]

EVEN BETTER!

Bottled my 2nd batch of DB this afternoon. Got 31 & 1/2 bottles out of a full 6.5 gallon Italian carboy. Wife and I drank the half bottle and both feel it is even better than the first batch.

Here are the differences between batch 1 and 2...

• Batch 1 used a 4 berry blend (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and blackberry from Stop and Shop vs. an organic 5 berry blend (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, cranberry and cherry) from Costco.
• Batch 1 used Stop and Shop brand lemon juice and a few onces less than 48 because they didn't have ReaLemon 48 oz on the shelf. Batch 2 used ReaLemon 48 oz.
• 4.5 cups of sugar back sweetened batch 1 but only 4 cups used with batch 2.
• With batch 1 I filled the primary to the 23L line and wound up overflowing even my 6.5 gallon carboy. With batch 2 I filled the primary to maybe 1/2-3/4" below the line before adding the berries. [Still had about a cup of overflow with the second batch.]

Well anyway, for whatever reason(s) batch 2 turned out even better than batch 1. Also, DB, which I label Lemon Berry Wine, is to me tastier refrigerator temperature chilled as opposed to room temperature. [This is coming from a fan of big reds served @ room temperature.]

DB RULES!

 

[beggarsu]

I am back-sweetening the first 4.2 gallon batch of 2 .
Sampling- at 3/4 cup sugar (as simple Syrup)content per gallon - it's very good - I can taste both berry and tart in balance.

Is : 177.441 ml (3/4 cup) per 3785.41 ml (gallon) , ratio of .0468749

or about 4.7 percent sweet (sugar).

I used standard amounts (6 pounds fruit to 6 gallons percentage) - A very good recipe! Now I can substitute all different kinds of fruits - tropical daze tropical fruits with lime, or DB with Blueberry etc.

 

[Rosa321]

ok........so if it's "clear" I won't see the light in there...

Do you mean the whole beam of light?
I can't imagine not seeing ANY Light in there haha

But it looks like it's definitely not clear.......... Do you think another racking/pectic enzyme will help? Or just wait it out?

 

[freqflyer]

Latest recipe

I tried the search function with no luck and 174 pages is a bit much to wade through, although I have read many of them.

Where can I find the latest version of the original recipe, preferably in pdf format.

Thank you.

 

[user 31015]

Pretty sure Dave keeps the first post up to date. I would go to it and have a look.

 

[bkisel]

I tried the search function with no luck and 174 pages is a bit much to wade through, although I have read many of them.

Where can I find the latest version of the original recipe, preferably in pdf format.

Thank you.

Very first post of this thread. Just click "<< First"" which you'll find on the Page x of x list bar found both near the top and the bottom of this page.

Near the very bottom of the first post, after the recipe, you'll find a link to the recipe in PDF format.

Good luck!

 

[reefman]

ok........so if it's "clear" I won't see the light in there...

Do you mean the whole beam of light?
I can't imagine not seeing ANY Light in there haha

But it looks like it's definitely not clear.......... Do you think another racking/pectic enzyme will help? Or just wait it out?

Actually, I have a kit ready to bottle. It's a light red color.
It's so clear, when you shine the flashlight into it, you can only see the beam of light on the other sude of the carboy. There are no particles big enough to reflect light inside the wine.

 

[reefman]

sorry, forgot to answer your question.
my personal preference would be to wait it out. I'm not a big fan of adding extra chemicals just to speed up the process.
Other opinions may vary. Racking will help, if you see lees sitting on the bottom of the carboy.