DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[calvin]

Good luck getting the new house! Hope it works out for you. Sounds like it has everything you could want. A winemaking room

 

[jojabri]

Okay, last post for the night: In reference to this DB query:

Anyone try sweetening there dragon blood with Splenda or other no calorie sweetener to make a "diet dragon blood". I've noticed since I've been drinking a lot more wine I've been packing on pounds. And I sure as hell don't want to drink less wine.

I think the artificial sweeteners was giving off an off taste, I can't be sure of that but I know there have been members who bottle their wines dry and just sweeten with Splenda as they open the bottle.

Hrm, well, tell yah what. I have a 18 gal batch of blackberry db that will be going to demijohn and carboys tomorrow. I'll make a 1 gal experiment using Splena when I back sweeten. I don't mind playing guinea pig.

Cool. Let us know how it turns out please

Tonight I cracked open 3 bottles of the blackberry DB, 1 was back sweetened with Splenda (A), 1 was not back sweetened but had Splenda added at pouring (B), the 3rd was straight sugar at back sweetening (C). They were bot bottles on 5/23/14 so it's only been a few weeks.

My conclusion is that with this experiment there was very little difference between bottle A and bottle B. Bottle C was great (I love Blackberry DB)! A and B both had the Splenda aftertaste, but A was a bit more prominent than B.


If you really are adamant about watching your sugar intake, using Splenda or another sugar substitute is a viable option. That being said, you have to take the "diet-y" taste with it. If you are already a regular user of a sugar substitute, this would be no issue. Being that it was only a 1 gallon experiment, I will try to open another bottle later and compare again. Who knows what Splenda would do after some time is involved.

My personal opinion for the time being is: Bottle without back sweetening and add at pouring if you are wanting to use a sugar substitute.

 

[user 31015]

Since alcohol is calories I'm not sure why you'd bother skimping on what would be... what.. less than a teaspoon of sugar per glass anyway?

 

[freqflyer]

I've done both. As a general rule, you can't use "too much" fruit in a DB unless you're really going overboard. I know a lot of folks double to 2 pounds of fruit per gallon as a standard. The more fruit, the more fruit flavor.

The tropical one is really good! Pineapple and mango tend to throw a lot of lees, just so you know. Sometimes, I use pineapple juice either as a substitute or addition.

The beauty in Dragon Blood variants is there are really no wrong answers and you can let your creativity take over.

Will the extra lees cause a problem or just take longer to clear. Also, did you replace the water with pineapple juice? If so how much?

 

[jojabri]

Will the extra lees cause a problem or just take longer to clear. Also, did you replace the water with pineapple juice? If so how much?

The extra lees aren't really a problem, but it will slightly decrease your yield and generally take a bit more time to clear.

As stated before, there are so many variations to make, that there are few wrong answers. With the pineapple juice, you can substitute that for the lemon juice (two cans of pineapple covers the acidity of the 1 bottle of lemon juice pretty well), or you can just add a can. It will "up" your acidity a bit if you just add it, but not drastically.

 

[bkisel]

FYI... More positive feedback from a couple who tried a bottle of my DB (I label it Lemon Berry Wine) that I had given them a week ago. Liked it enough to ask for the recipe. Interestingly Barbara generally likes a sweeter wine and Will a dryer wine yet both almost raved about the DB I gave them.

 

[cheesehead]

I'm getting ready to make my first batch of DB. My local Walmart has two types of fruits. I'm looking for suggestions on which one to use.

Strawberry, peach, mango, and pineapple. 4 poounds for $8.98. Would two packages work or would 8 pounds be too much for a six gallon batch?

Blueberry, strawberry, raspberry. 3 pounds for $9.97.

What are your suggestions?

go for it !!! I Just finished a batch using the above fruits-S-P-M-P 12 lbs plus an additional 2 1/2 lbs of strawberries for 6 gallon batch and substituted pineapple juice and orange juice for the real lemon although i did add about 24 oz of lemon juice to keep it inline with the DB recipes for contest purposes,lol- and it was just bottled last weekend. it came out with a golden/ copperish color and deep fruit taste with a smooth kick,12.5% abv-- so far a hit with those that were fortunate to taste the 2 bottles i uncorked that nite. and yes it did take a while to clear, actually hit it with 2 rounds of sparkelloid and multiple (3) filterings with the whole house filter (1 micron) when all was said and done i had actually made approx 7 gals after all rackings and filterings and bottled 35 bottles of pure golden goodness, Good luck and report back on your endeavor

 

[bkisel]

I'm getting ready to make my first batch of DB. My local Walmart has two types of fruits. I'm looking for suggestions on which one to use.

Strawberry, peach, mango, and pineapple. 4 poounds for $8.98. Would two packages work or would 8 pounds be too much for a six gallon batch?

Blueberry, strawberry, raspberry. 3 pounds for $9.97.

What are your suggestions?

I suggest, for the first batch, you use six pounds of the triple berry blend; stick to the DB recipe as found in the first post of this thread.

Good luck!

 

[Rosa321]

go for it !!! I Just finished a batch using the above fruits-S-P-M-P 12 lbs plus an additional 2 1/2 lbs of strawberries for 6 gallon batch and substituted pineapple juice and orange juice for the real lemon although i did add about 24 oz of lemon juice to keep it inline with the DB recipes for contest purposes,lol- and it was just bottled last weekend. it came out with a golden/ copperish color and deep fruit taste with a smooth kick,12.5% abv-- so far a hit with those that were fortunate to taste the 2 bottles i uncorked that nite. and yes it did take a while to clear, actually hit it with 2 rounds of sparkelloid and multiple (3) filterings with the whole house filter (1 micron) when all was said and done i had actually made approx 7 gals after all rackings and filterings and bottled 35 bottles of pure golden goodness, Good luck and report back on your endeavor

Hmmm....... I have a triple berry DB clearing now. I used strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry. I hit it once with super kleer, and once with pectic enzyme. It's still not clear, and it's been a few months.

Does anybody else recommend using super kleer again? I don't want to strip flavor, but my fear is that it wont clear in time for late summer drinking :-(

Could there possibly be a starch haze? I didn't think so, but I'm thinking maybe another enzyme might be in order.....

 

[freqflyer]

Do you recommend a 1 micron filter or 5 micron filter for db?

 

[willie]

Just finished filtering 2nd batch of DB using our new Vinbrite filter kit. I have to report it worked great and the wine is clear and ready to bottle.
Our 3rd batch of DB looks like it has just gone to dry at .990. This is the original Wyman Three Berry Blend that I started with an SG of 1.084.

Will

 

[bkisel]

Just finished filtering 2nd batch of DB using our new Vinbrite filter kit. I have to report it worked great and the wine is clear and ready to bottle.
Our 3rd batch of DB looks like it has just gone to dry at .990. This is the original Wyman Three Berry Blend that I started with an SG of 1.084.

Will

How long did it take to filter your DB (assuming 6 gallons, right?)? Can the filter pads be rinsed and reused?

BTW, my two DB batches were bottled unfiltered and have not dropped any sediment.

Thanks...

 

[jojabri]

Oh my glob! Cracked open a bottle of my tropical DB that has been aging in bottle 6 months. It's SPECTACULAR! Much better than it originally was fresh out of the carboy! A tad over sweet, but just a tad. I suppose next round I should knock the sugar down just a bit when back sweetening.

I'm in love again.... aaah, and love is sweet!

 

[cheesehead]

Hmmm....... I have a triple berry DB clearing now. I used strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry. I hit it once with super kleer, and once with pectic enzyme. It's still not clear, and it's been a few months.

Does anybody else recommend using super kleer again? I don't want to strip flavor, but my fear is that it wont clear in time for late summer drinking :-(

Could there possibly be a starch haze? I didn't think so, but I'm thinking maybe another enzyme might be in order.....

I had this issue with my last batch not clearing quickly after using sparkelloid and it was due to the pectic haze so i added a 2nd dose of the enzyme and let it sit for 2 weeks, it cleared nicely and i was able to filter the rest with a 1 micron filter. Patience!!!! is what i keep telling myself , but its so darn hard to practice in this hobby, lol

 

[bkisel]

Oh my glob! Cracked open a bottle of my tropical DB that has been aging in bottle 6 months. It's SPECTACULAR! Much better than it originally was fresh out of the carboy! A tad over sweet, but just a tad. I suppose next round I should knock the sugar down just a bit when back sweetening.

I'm in love again.... aaah, and love is sweet!

That's great to know but I can't see any bottle of my DB lasting 6 months!

 

[fabrictodyefor]

Oh my glob! Cracked open a bottle of my tropical DB that has been aging in bottle 6 months. It's SPECTACULAR! Much better than it originally was fresh out of the carboy! A tad over sweet, but just a tad. I suppose next round I should knock the sugar down just a bit when back sweetening.

I'm in love again.... aaah, and love is sweet!

So now maybe I'll thief a taste of my tropical DB. I used pumpkinman's recipe for Tropical Daze and was not very happy with the outcome. It's been sitting in a car boy since 4/20. I haven't back sweetened yet as I wasn't sure I was going to like it! I'll let you know!

 

[willie]

How long did it take to filter your DB (assuming 6 gallons, right?)? Can the filter pads be rinsed and reused?

BTW, my two DB batches were bottled unfiltered and have not dropped any sediment.

Thanks...

Bill, as for how long it took to filter the wine with the Vinbrite kit I can only guess about 20-30 min. I didn't watch the time. Just went about doing a few other things till it was done. And the pamphlet that came with it said do not reuse the filter. Six filters came with the new kit.

Will











v

 

[Rosa321]

I had this issue with my last batch not clearing quickly after using sparkelloid and it was due to the pectic haze so i added a 2nd dose of the enzyme and let it sit for 2 weeks, it cleared nicely and i was able to filter the rest with a 1 micron filter. Patience!!!! is what i keep telling myself , but its so darn hard to practice in this hobby, lol

Baaaaah!!!!! I racked, added pectic enzyme and degassed again (in case that was an issue) a few Weeks ago. No improvement yet :-(
I don't mind having patience.... I just don't know enough yet to know if it's normal or if something is wrong. I guess I'll just keep hanging in there. Maybe it will make a nice fall wine haha

 

[jojabri]

That's great to know but I can't see any bottle of my DB lasting 6 months!

I think this was maybe my 3rd or 4th attempt of a BD style. So it's a total noob wine. But waiting really was worth it!

I take 4 bottles out of each batch to let age. Its hard to look at all that deliciousness and not pop the cork. Apparently patience is a virtue, even with DB's.

 

[freqflyer]

Oh my glob! Cracked open a bottle of my tropical DB that has been aging in bottle 6 months. It's SPECTACULAR! Much better than it originally was fresh out of the carboy! A tad over sweet, but just a tad. I suppose next round I should knock the sugar down just a bit when back sweetening.

I'm in love again.... aaah, and love is sweet!

How much sugar did you add to it?