DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

My second batch of DB (a blueberry this time) should be dry tomorrow, so will likely rack on Monday. My palate is incredibly crude so whether a wine is dry/off-dry/sweet, etc does not matter so much. So when I shared my first DB most of my friends who routinely drink wine said they would have preferred it to be a bit dryer.

Like a bonehead I did not take an FG measurement after I backsweetened my first batch so I have no idea where I landed at. I likely stuck with the 3/4 cups of sugar per gallon. I saw that Dave mentioned he went with 1/2 cup per gallon now. That might do the trick.

What FG do you guys normally backsweeten to? I would think off-dry would be what I am shooting for with a fruit wine?

With my 2 batches of original DB, I have backsweetened them to 1.010 making it a sweet wine and I (and everyone else so far) think it's perfect. HOWEVER, the straight blueberry version I made is maybe becoming a bit too sweet after a month in the bottle at that FG. I am hoping that a bit more time aging will balance it out again.

 

[datcv]

Off dry is how I like it... If the acid balance is good then it's good with just a hint of sugar.


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making

 

[maurtis]

Thanks Val and Datcv, I may do half at 1.005 and half at 1.010 then. That should give me some good data points for future batches. I will be sure to actually take notes this time and will update this thread when I get some impressions.

 

[agsimon]

First batch done and bottled, now time to enjoy!!

 

[maurtis]

Nice agsimon, those look great!

 

[Kraffty]

agsimon, really nice job on the labels too.
Mike

 

[willie]

First batch done and bottled, now time to enjoy!!

A real nice look.

Will

 

[bkisel]

Started my DB peach variation this morning. Will pitch yeast tomorrow. Following DB recipe except ~14 pounds of peach vs. 6 of mixed berries and using Bentonite in the primary. This will turn out to be the very best DB variation ever made! ..... I hope.

 

[bkisel]

First batch done and bottled, now time to enjoy!!

Like the name and like the label.

 

[reefman]

Started my DB peach variation this morning. Will pitch yeast tomorrow. Following DB recipe except ~14 pounds of peach vs. 6 of mixed berries and using Bentonite in the primary. This will turn out to be the very best DB variation ever made! ..... I hope.

Bill,
Keep us posted. 14lbs of peach sounds lite, but let us know how it goes.

 

[bkisel]

Bill,
Keep us posted. 14lbs of peach sounds lite, but let us know how it goes.

I am a bit concerned about the 14 pounds but I saw a 5 gallon Keller Peach Wine recipe that used 13# and figured since I'm just looking for a peach vs. berry flavored DB variation I should be okay. I'm not looking to make a peach wine. I imagine if need be I could add a Welch's peach concentrate or syrup from canned peaches later in the process if the 14#s of peaches don't bring out enough of a hint of peach flavor.

Will keep folks informed.

 

[Jocelyn]

Hey guys
I'm at the stage where I add the sugar and rack off sediment then leave for two more weeks. Do I need to top off the carboy? There is going to be quite a bit of space without the sediment. And is half a cup sugar pet gallon the general concuss?

 

[bkisel]

Hey guys
I'm at the stage where I add the sugar and rack off sediment then leave for two more weeks. Do I need to top off the carboy? There is going to be quite a bit of space without the sediment. And is half a cup sugar pet gallon the general concuss?

For back sweetening I've settled on 4.5 cups for the 6 gallons - I don't think that .5/gal or 3 cups for the 6 gallon batch is the consensus.

Perhaps I'm misreading your post but I would rack first, degass and stabilize before adding the back sweetening sugar.

 

[dangerdave]

Hey guys
I'm at the stage where I add the sugar and rack off sediment then leave for two more weeks. Do I need to top off the carboy? There is going to be quite a bit of space without the sediment. And is half a cup sugar pet gallon the general concuss?

If your wine is clear, rack off of the sediment and add your sugar. I'd start by tasting it dry and see what you think. If you don't like it dry---most people don't---then I'd start with your half cup per gallon. Then taste again, and add more if you think it needs it.

Like I've warned in the recipe, it will deepen in flavor as time goes by in the bottle, so be very careful how much sugar you add. Go to the point where you think it could use just a little bit more sugar and stop. Let it sit as prescribed for a week and taste again. You can always add more sugar, but you can't take it out.

 

[barryjo]

Hey guys
I'm at the stage where I add the sugar and rack off sediment then leave for two more weeks. Do I need to top off the carboy? There is going to be quite a bit of space without the sediment. And is half a cup sugar pet gallon the general concuss?

And don't forget the sorbate!!!!!

 

[freqflyer]

My first batch of DB is too tart for my liking. I want to make a second batch with no lemon juice and no acid blend. Then mix the two and add acid blend if needed to get what I like. Is there any danger fermenting this without any lemon juice or acid blend. I'll mix the two and adjust the ph after clearing. Will there be any problems fermenting and waiting a few weeks like this?

 

[maurtis]

I just racked and backsweetened my blueberry DB. I ended up using a little less than 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon and ended up at 1.005. I dissolved 3 cups of sugar in warm water, but ended not using all of it to hit my target SG.

One thing I also did was add a small package of medium toasted french oak cubes for a week in the secondary. I heard that oak and blueberry go well together, so I figured I would give it a shot. But just one week on the oak since I did not want to go overboard. We shall see how it goes!

 

[bkisel]

Started my DB peach variation this morning. Will pitch yeast tomorrow. Following DB recipe except ~14 pounds of peach vs. 6 of mixed berries and using Bentonite in the primary. This will turn out to be the very best DB variation ever made! ..... I hope.

Yeast was pitched Tuesday morning as planned. No re-hydrating of yeast, simply squeezed and removed two fruit bags and sprinkled EC-1118 on top of swirling 78F must (used heat belt to get temp up). Must started cooking about 8 hours after pitching yeast. Checking about an hour ago basement temp was at 69.4F and must @ 80F bubbling away.

Oh, into third day of fermentation and find there is no longer a "peach" smell. Will a peach smell return later in the process? I'm thinking that my berry DB didn't smell berry-ish at this same stage.

Thanks Dave for recommending in PM to split fruit into two bags instead of using one big one. Definitely makes for easier handling.

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

My Huckleberry Dragon Blood is in the bottle! I'm calling this variety "Spellbound". I was planning to backsweeten it to around 1.008 but something happened and it ended up at 1.010...must be what it was meant to be. Anyway, so far, so yummy!

 

[bkisel]

My Huckleberry Dragon Blood is in the bottle! I'm calling this variety "Spellbound". I was planning to backsweeten it to around 1.008 but something happened and it ended up at 1.010...must be what it was meant to be. Anyway, so far, so yummy!

Very nice!