DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

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Long-time lurker, but just as an FYI from other wines, powdered spices like cinnamon r chocolate can take forever to settle out and clear. A much better idea is to go with cacao/coco nibs for chocolate flavor...2 yrs and I'm still waiting on my holiday mead to clear because of the powdered cinnamon, nutmeg and clove (pumpkin spice).


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Extracts and flavoring work great, both natural and artificial. I have used chocolate extract to flavor wine before. It works great and won't cloud your wine.
 
How about Dark Hershey Syrup before primary fermentation? It would give you flavor and sugar would it not. Do you think the yeast will eat it? I'm just thinking out of the box......how about Hershey Dry powder added to primary......? Sounds good though.

Good luck!



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Extracts and flavoring work great, both natural and artificial. I have used chocolate extract to flavor wine before. It works great and won't cloud your wine.

I think I am going to go with an extract or flavoring as you suggested. I know my brew shop has that stuff too. I need to get some started! (I will share results sometime) :)
 
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DB Acid Tests Tonight

Ambient: 74 F
Must: 80 F Brew Belt
SG: 1.062
S/P: 36 hrs EC 1118

ImageUploadedByWine Making1403132483.021017.jpg
ImageUploadedByWine Making1403132503.653851.jpg

Tartaric: 0.56

:) I'll take it.

Thanks again Danger!!


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I dropped below 1.000. I removed the fruit and I'm beginning my three day wait. The instructions say to stop stirring but they don't say anything about covering it differently. Do I keep covering it the same way for the next three days or do I need to snap my lid down and add an airlock? I'm concerned because it's not producing much if any co2 to protect the wine.
 
I dropped below 1.000. I removed the fruit and I'm beginning my three day wait. The instructions say to stop stirring but they don't say anything about covering it differently. Do I keep covering it the same way for the next three days or do I need to snap my lid down and add an airlock? I'm concerned because it's not producing much if any co2 to protect the wine.

Notes from my fist DB shows that I dropped below 1.00 on day 9 (SG 0.997). I removed the fruit bag after squeezing [probably gave it one last good stir] and locked down my primary. My notes indicate that I was, at that point, getting a bubble about every 4 seconds.

REF:

Day 1 (Monday) DB started SG 1.075
Day 2 (Tuesday) SG 1.074, Temp 80F +- / Pitched yeast
Day 5 (Friday) SG 1.040, Temp 80F +-
Day 7 (Sunday) SG 1.014, Temp 80F +-
Day 8 (Monday) SG 1.010, Temp 82F +-
Day 9 (Tuesday) SG 0.997, Temp 80F +- / Locked down / Bubble every ~4 seconds
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%
Day 16 (Tuesday) Racked to Bubbler from glass carboy to get off of clearing sediment. Wine looks pretty clear but will probably drop a bit more sediment. Tasted good even at this early stage.
Day 28 (Wednesday 3/26/14) Bottled 30.5 equivalent. / Some very fine sediment on bottom. Did not suck up but next time rack to bucket to bottle. / Steal taste – thought Janet would say a bit tart and want sweetened but.. surprise… she liked it as is! / Janet and I split the .5 bottle. Very pleased! We would rate as 8.5 on a scale of 1-10.

Lessons Learned: a) Use less water. Had ~800ML over 23L/6 gallon. b) Maybe degas in a bucket a little longer so won’t have to hand vacuum pump? c) Rack to bucket for bottling to double insure no sediment brought into bottle. d) Would mashing/crushing fruit before adding result in a bit more fruit flavor being extracted?
 
Notes from my fist DB shows that I dropped below 1.00 on day 9 (SG 0.997). I removed the fruit bag after squeezing [probably gave it one last good stir] and locked down my primary. My notes indicate that I was, at that point, getting a bubble about every 4 seconds.

REF:

Day 1 (Monday) DB started SG 1.075
Day 2 (Tuesday) SG 1.074, Temp 80F +- / Pitched yeast
Day 5 (Friday) SG 1.040, Temp 80F +-
Day 7 (Sunday) SG 1.014, Temp 80F +-
Day 8 (Monday) SG 1.010, Temp 82F +-
Day 9 (Tuesday) SG 0.997, Temp 80F +- / Locked down / Bubble every ~4 seconds
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%
Day 16 (Tuesday) Racked to Bubbler from glass carboy to get off of clearing sediment. Wine looks pretty clear but will probably drop a bit more sediment. Tasted good even at this early stage.
Day 28 (Wednesday 3/26/14) Bottled 30.5 equivalent. / Some very fine sediment on bottom. Did not suck up but next time rack to bucket to bottle. / Steal taste – thought Janet would say a bit tart and want sweetened but.. surprise… she liked it as is! / Janet and I split the .5 bottle. Very pleased! We would rate as 8.5 on a scale of 1-10.

Lessons Learned: a) Use less water. Had ~800ML over 23L/6 gallon. b) Maybe degas in a bucket a little longer so won’t have to hand vacuum pump? c) Rack to bucket for bottling to double insure no sediment brought into bottle. d) Would mashing/crushing fruit before adding result in a bit more fruit flavor being extracted?


I'm following you. If I get below a SG < 1 I'm locking it down with a bubbler.




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I'm following you. If I get below a SG < 1 I'm locking it down with a bubbler.

That is what I did but you should go to the very first post in this thread and check out Dave's instructions in Step 4. For part of my DB making I followed kit making procedures that I found more comfortable to me.
 
By all means, do what makes you comfortable. I leave mine just as it was after removing the fruit, lid loose, covered with a towel. Always have. If you're not peeking at it, then the CO2 stays under the lid. Leave it sit, don't stir, and in a few days, proceed.

If that makes you nervous, lock it down and add an airlock. It's your wine, after all.
 
So I have to thank Dave. I'm sitting here sipping my 3rd not a kit wine (it's my night time) and it all started with DB. Then I moved on to skeeter pee, made a concord, fortified some and started another batch of skeeter pee, after this will be another DB and we'll see from there. Had I never found the DB recipe..

:HB
 
You can always go to a craft store and buy some marbles or decorative glass beads. Sanitize them and pour them in to raise the liquid level.

oooh! What a unique idea! :b

Do you find the marbles a problem later when you go to rinse the carboy? hehe
Like how do you keep them from going down the drain? :(

But I love that idea.....might just have to try it soon!!!!
 
oooh! What a unique idea! :b

Do you find the marbles a problem later when you go to rinse the carboy? hehe
Like how do you keep them from going down the drain? :(

But I love that idea.....might just have to try it soon!!!!

I'll sometimes use marbles. My sink has a strainer but even so when cleaning a carboy with marbles in it I'll pour into a colander to catch the marbles.
 
My 4-berry Dragons Blood cleared (week or so after sparklloid)...still somewhat dark in the 5 gal carboy, but if I pour a sample I can see it's clear. I checked SG and I was at 0.993. I racked to a bucket and was quite conservative, leaving quite a bit behind. I thought the batch needed a little "body" so I added two frozen cans of cranberry concentrate. Tasted better but not nearly there. Added 2 cups of sugar and got much better. I needed to replenish all that I had left behind, so I added a bottle of Twisted Zin and a quart of blueberry juice. Tastes pretty darn good now! Racked back to the carboy. Bottling in another week or so! Took another SG reading to see that I am at 1.01 now.
 
My 4-berry Dragons Blood cleared (week or so after sparklloid)...still somewhat dark in the 5 gal carboy, but if I pour a sample I can see it's clear. I checked SG and I was at 0.993. I racked to a bucket and was quite conservative, leaving quite a bit behind. I thought the batch needed a little "body" so I added two frozen cans of cranberry concentrate. Tasted better but not nearly there. Added 2 cups of sugar and got much better. I needed to replenish all that I had left behind, so I added a bottle of Twisted Zin and a quart of blueberry juice. Tastes pretty darn good now! Racked back to the carboy. Bottling in another week or so! Took another SG reading to see that I am at 1.01 now.


Mine might need body also. Tried some last night. SG 1.002....got curious. Thanks for the idea about juice concentrate and fresh juice. There is a Wholefoods near me that ha so many 100% organic non "from concentrate" juices that I might add to my DB. That blueberry juice sounds good.




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I racked mine into a carboy today and added the clearing and stabilizing stuff . I came up two bottles over. I have them corked with a vacuvin. Will they keep and clear just like the carboy as long as i keep a vacuum on them?
 
I racked mine into a carboy today and added the clearing and stabilizing stuff . I came up two bottles over. I have them corked with a vacuvin. Will they keep and clear just like the carboy as long as i keep a vacuum on them?

Screw tops come in handy here as temp reserve holds.

After fermentation stage I keep reserves in pop bottles and plastic bottles and glass jugs (3 or 4 litres ) of all sizes. I deliberately make more than carboy if not a kit, for topping off. I don't like topping off with water - worst case I might use a water/vodka 11 percent mix but I prefer to have reserve.

Been doing that a long time - don't bother with a vacuum - just seal them with an appropriate lid or whatever , if it's going to be a few weeks time and I'm afraid the seal is dodgy I double seal with saran wrap and an elastic hair band.

Sometime for many batches (maybe last of a batch or a limited 1-2 gallon recipe) I put in some wine in a clear screw top (750 ml) or clear pop bottle 2 litre etc and observe for a few days or a week to see how well I filtered it - then I bottle.
Or I use this method to successively rack off the worst of sediment.


Haven't has any problems with finished wine this way.

---Filtering time -
if you use a whole house filter - you will want to run it all through together (because 100 -150 ml can't get through the filter at the end - which you can use as taster or lump with leftovers - so you don't want to do that twice and
Also at backsweeten time you do it as a batch - then in the latter case with the increased volume you will definitely need extra bottles of various sizes - screw top or pop bottles while you wait to bottle.
Waste not want not.
Also I batch things when I want to add a clearing agent - I would put the two bottles together in a jug or 2 litre to add clearing agent then separate again,
Also sulphide is a pain because it is very difficult dose small amounts of liquid - in this case I use campden pills (1 -2 pills per gallon is the formula so I might cut one in half for a 2 bottle batch - maybe the other half later before final filtering racking - lots luck trying to measure out grains of sulphide when usage is 1/4 tsp per 6 gallons!
---

I'm getting expert and judging the size of the leftover reserve and selecting the appropriate bottle my - smallest being the airline bottles.

too many odds and ends it's a bit of a drag siphoning off the top and racking etc. but the plus side I end up with all these small odd sizes in my fridge which I later at leisure do taste tests.

- with small bottles - the slow level "pour' method leaving the dross works better than "siphon".
 
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First Batch

Okay I don't know what took me so long but I started my first batch of DB on Saturday. I went with double the fruit but without the bag and it has an honest to goodness cap I've been punching down twice a day. I also skipped the Tannin because I went with oak chips in the primary, anyone else try this?? :re
 
My current "perfected version" calls for the addition of 1/3 cup of untoasted American oak in the primary and three tsp of finishing tannin near the end, in addition to everything else in the recipe. This was after nearly three years of tasting and testing.

Beggarsu: I do the same thing. Waste nothing. I have collected a large number of jugs, bottles, and jars for the sole purpose of collecting dregs for topping up later. Some of my leftovers ahve resulted in some very interesting blends, as well.
 

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