DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

You make some good points for it being considered a DB variation... Can't we all just get along?

Are you sure we shouldn't drink some wine and debate this further? LOLOL

 

[E_Feythaelas]

First timer wondering about ingredients...

Hi! New guy, here. I was planning on making this for my first go at wine making this weekend. I was going through the several thousand comments before hoping if someone could give me a couple quick answers?

For the main ingredients, will any tannin, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and energizer do? Or should I use specific brands?

Can I bulk age it for a few months and then bottle it? Or should I just bottle right away and let it age in the bottle?

Thanks in advance!
-Pat

 

[calvin]

Yes any brand will work

Bulk aging will reduce chances of getting sediment in your bottles

If this is truly your first wine you will probably be to excited to drink it to let it age in a carboy. I say bottle it up and drink it!

 

[roger80465]

Hi! New guy, here. I was planning on making this for my first go at wine making this weekend. I was going through the several thousand comments before hoping if someone could give me a couple quick answers?

For the main ingredients, will any tannin, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and energizer do? Or should I use specific brands?

Can I bulk age it for a few months and then bottle it? Or should I just bottle right away and let it age in the bottle?

Thanks in advance!
-Pat

If you are going to use a kit, all of that is included, if needed. Just follow the instructions on your first attempt. Once you see how the manufacturer planned for the wine to turn out, you can make your own improvements. Enjoy the ride.

 

[E_Feythaelas]

Thank you so much!! I am very excited. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[Medic8106]

Started my first "full" batch of dragon blood yesterday and pitched the yeast tonight. The fruit is 9 lbs of strawberry/banana mix and 2 lbs of boysenberries. Excited to see how this batch turns out. SG starting at 1.074.

 

[HeadWatersWine]

Here it is: I wanted to rerack my version of dragonsblood (blueberry/mixed berry/lemon/lime) only had a 5 gallon carboy so back sweetened it to 1.010 and I had gallon left over. I bottled the excess and put a label on it so you can see. Also, took the liberty to change the name of my basement wine making to Marienstadt Wine. This is taken from the original name of our very German town. It is a very drinkable wine at this early stage.

 

[willie]

Here it is: I wanted to rerack my version of dragonsblood (blueberry/mixed berry/lemon/lime) only had a 5 gallon carboy so back sweetened it to 1.010 and I had gallon left over. I bottled the excess and put a label on it so you can see. Also, took the liberty to change the name of my basement wine making to Marienstadt Wine. This is taken from the original name of our very German town. It is a very drinkable wine at this early stage.

Congrats to you on this batch of wine. It looks really good. And I like your excellent label.

Will

 

[willie]

Hi! New guy, here. I was planning on making this for my first go at wine making this weekend. I was going through the several thousand comments before hoping if someone could give me a couple quick answers?

For the main ingredients, will any tannin, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and energizer do? Or should I use specific brands?

Can I bulk age it for a few months and then bottle it? Or should I just bottle right away and let it age in the bottle?

Thanks in advance!
-Pat

Welcome, Pat just wanted to add that I for the first few batches bottled DB right after I filtered it. But now that we have a small stash I bulk age for a month or so. But as, Dave and others will say that this recipe is made fast to be drank fast. Good Luck.

Will

 

[E_Feythaelas]

Thank you very much!

-Pat

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Happy New Year, everyone! May the coming days, weeks, and months be filled with merriment, happiness, and love...and, of course, lots and lots of Dragon Blood!

 

[beano]

Happy New Year, everyone! May the coming days, weeks, and months be filled with merriment, happiness, and love...and, of course, lots and lots of Dragon Blood!

Thanks Val,

I hope everyone has a great new years!!

Best wishes to all of you!

Beano Joe

 

[WildBillCiarbino]

Hey All, hope everyone had a Happy New Year!!!
Sorry for the essay, but I figured I'd give as much info as possible....
This is my first attempt at making Dragon Blood. I set up the must as described by DangerDave on 12/18, and pitched yeast 24 hours afterwards with the brew belt plugged in, on 12/19.
Nothing at all happened in the first 48 hours, so, fearing I had a bad yeast packet I tried pitching another packet of yeast on the 21st. I was a bit hasty grabbing in the 'fridge and accidentally pitched an 71B-1122 the second pitching, when I had originally used EC-1118. I had a mini-heart attack by the time I realized the error of my ways (6 hours later when I was throwing something else in the trash can), but hoped for the best. Yeast activity was present 12ish hours later after the second pitch.
S.G. readings were as follows:
12/21---1.080
12/22---1.080
12/23---1.078
12/24---1.076
12/25---1.048
12/26---1.015
12/27---0.990

Now when I was open fermenting as recommended, I noticed a pretty potent funky fruit smell but chalked it up to the fermentation process. I've read that sometimes it can get a bit funky.
On the 29th after I noticed it had flatlined, I racked into a carboy, added the Sorbate, K Meta, and Sparkalloid and I've been slowly degassing this week (have a brake bleeder right now, AllinOne wine pump is being shipped as i type). It's nearly clear now, but the smell/taste of the wine isn't quite right, it's very similar to the funky, almost rotten-fruit smell that I experienced when fermentation was taking place. Will this go away eventually? I'm wondering if I got a bad batch of triple-berry from the local WalMart, but for now I'm doing the smart thing and just being patient. I'll probably bulk-age for another month or so before tasting again and back sweetening.

Hopefully it'll turn out okay given more time, but wanted to confirm. I'm still a relative newbie to this homemade wine hobby, so to me "weird smells" could be "normal smells." For now, my lady friend and I will patiently sip on my recently-finished Moscato.

 

[freqflyer]

It's not impossible that something went wrong but it's unlikely. Funky and weird could be normal. Is it a yeasty bread like smell? Wine tastes and smells pretty nasty until it clears.

 

[WildBillCiarbino]

Yeah, it's kinda yeasty, but the most pronounced smell is fruity, like a bad batch of fruit. I'll probably start a second batch in a week or two, since I have a fermenter & carboy available.

 

[bkisel]

It could be that you've a very sensitive nose. I've not smelled anything bad with my DB but I have had my wife ask something along the lines of.. "What's that smell in the basement? Are you making another wine?" and I've smelled little or nothing at all.

So, if I smelled something along the lines of what you're describing I'd be concerned enough to also come here and post.

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Hey All, hope everyone had a Happy New Year!!!
Sorry for the essay, but I figured I'd give as much info as possible....
This is my first attempt at making Dragon Blood. I set up the must as described by DangerDave on 12/18, and pitched yeast 24 hours afterwards with the brew belt plugged in, on 12/19.
Nothing at all happened in the first 48 hours, so, fearing I had a bad yeast packet I tried pitching another packet of yeast on the 21st. I was a bit hasty grabbing in the 'fridge and accidentally pitched an 71B-1122 the second pitching, when I had originally used EC-1118. I had a mini-heart attack by the time I realized the error of my ways (6 hours later when I was throwing something else in the trash can), but hoped for the best. Yeast activity was present 12ish hours later after the second pitch.
S.G. readings were as follows:
12/21---1.080
12/22---1.080
12/23---1.078
12/24---1.076
12/25---1.048
12/26---1.015
12/27---0.990

Now when I was open fermenting as recommended, I noticed a pretty potent funky fruit smell but chalked it up to the fermentation process. I've read that sometimes it can get a bit funky.
On the 29th after I noticed it had flatlined, I racked into a carboy, added the Sorbate, K Meta, and Sparkalloid and I've been slowly degassing this week (have a brake bleeder right now, AllinOne wine pump is being shipped as i type). It's nearly clear now, but the smell/taste of the wine isn't quite right, it's very similar to the funky, almost rotten-fruit smell that I experienced when fermentation was taking place. Will this go away eventually? I'm wondering if I got a bad batch of triple-berry from the local WalMart, but for now I'm doing the smart thing and just being patient. I'll probably bulk-age for another month or so before tasting again and back sweetening.

Hopefully it'll turn out okay given more time, but wanted to confirm. I'm still a relative newbie to this homemade wine hobby, so to me "weird smells" could be "normal smells." For now, my lady friend and I will patiently sip on my recently-finished Moscato.

I often have a bit of a sulfur or egg smell until my wine is completely degassed but I have never had a funky fruit smell. I guess I wouldn't worry too much until it is completely degassed and cleared. If it still doesn't seem right at that point, maybe age it in the carboy for a few weeks and see what you think then?

 

[Ctmaro]

Ctmaro,
Mathematically if you double the volume without adding alcohol, the resulting ABV would be half (6gal/12gal = 0.5 X ABV).

Since you like numbers, I used Fermcalc to get the following:
Your initial ABV appears to be between 11.4 to 11.7%, depending on calculation method. (Using 1.08 initial SG and 0.994 for final SG. Using all temperature corrected SG's.)

Assuming that you initially had ABV of 11.5% (Duncan Acton method) and exactly 6.0 gallons to start, you would have to add 55.562 oz (6.95 cups) of sugar to get to SG 1.02. The resulting volume would be 6.2557 gal.

Calculating the Final ABV: 6 gal. Initial vol./6.2557 gal. Final vol. = 0.9591 X 11.5% Initial ABV = Final ABV of 11.03%. (All assuming that yeast did not convert any new sugar to alcohol, i.e. yeast colony is dead.)

Thanks Bob for the answer.
Sorry its taken me a bit to get back to you.

So as I see it, if I measure my fluid volume (after racking), take a SG reading, add my sugar, measure the new volume, I should be able to figure the % new volume, and reduce ABV by that percent.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Dana355]

Just had a bottle pop the cork off bottled 4 weeks ago first time this has happened.

 

[beano]

Just had a bottle pop the cork off bottled 4 weeks ago first time this has happened.

Dana355,

This sound like an omen. You should make the sacrifice and drink it.
On the other hand, it may have had some residual sugar and wasn't quite finished. Or not gassed off good. I always leave my bottled wine to stand upright for several days to let the gasses escape in case I didn't do a good job de-gassing.
Maybe someone else will gesture a guess?

Beano Joe