DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[WildBillCiarbino]

Has anyone just blended or use food processor on the fruit instead of the squeezing method Dave taught us? By the way I have read this whole thread over a months time and just don't remember seeing the answer.

I'd imagine you could do that---it'll just take additional racking to remove the extra debris floating around in there. I've seen people who let fruit float in the must and disregard mesh bags altogether, but they have these issues. The end result is probably the same or identical as using a bag, just more cleanup/clearing is required if the fruit matter is more finely smashed/squished/cut/blended.

 

[boozehound]

Anyone got the amount of acid blend to use instead of lemon juice?

Thanks jd

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Anyone got the amount of acid blend to use instead of lemon juice?

Thanks jd

Danger Dave has his Dragonette version which uses 3 tsp. of acid blend in place of the lemon juice. I notice that the recipe also ups the fruit to 12 pounds though...I don't know if there is a direct correlation!

 

[dangerdave]

Sorry for the loss of the DB, jd. There's more where that came from! Wine on!

In my experience, there is no need or benefit to processing the fruit before primary. It just makes a bigger mess and loss of wine at rackings. I have stream-lined my own process, and continue to tweak my methods for my own batches. Not all of these are reflected in the posted recipe. I might consider adding more notes in a new version of the recipe some day, but having multiple versions floating around, I have found, has caused confusion at times. Better to stick with the one version and let people decide from there where they want to take their own. For example, I now make all my batches in my Brute, three at a time (18 gallons). I use triple everything, except just one packet of yeast. I add one third cup of untoast oak powder per batch, and extra wine tannin after fermentation (3 tsp per batch). I use an extended brew belt wrapped around the Brute to keep it warm, and keep it up off the floor with a pallet. I handle my fruit while it's still frozen, placing six pounds of fruit per batch into cheap knee-high womens stockings. These are simply discarded when fermentation is complete and they've been squeezed down to nothing. I use kieselsol and chitosan for clearing. About half of each batch goes into gallon jugs for easy household consumption (and fewer bottles to wash!) while the rest gets bottled for gifting and swapping.

Now all my secrets are out!

 

[dangerdave]

I was not very happy with the outcome of the Draggonette, although some people like that version. I never had a chance to check the pH of the Dragonette vs the original, so I have no idea if 3 tsp was enough. I started with that amout because most recipes I found that use acid blend said so. May be someone who regularly makes the Dragonette will chime in.

 

[Ctmaro]

Danger Dave has his Dragonette version which uses 3 tsp. of acid blend in place of the lemon juice. I notice that the recipe also ups the fruit to 12 pounds though...I don't know if there is a direct correlation!

While on the subject of Dragonette;

I am thinking of trying a straight strawberry Dragonette, but run into the same problem I have had before when making plain strawberry wine: How do I get the additional juice from frozen (thawed) strawberries? Or can I buy strawberry juice somewhere?

I've looked everywhere I can think of, and can't find just juice anywhere. I don't want anything artificial.

Could I just add strawberries into the wine at step 4?

I've heard of people using extracts, but am afraid of an artificial taste to my finished wine.

Anyone have any ideas?

Mark

 

[dangerdave]

Vintner's Harvest makes a strawberry wine base. I have used several of their products with success, but not the strawberry (I mean that I haven't tried it). It's also probably not the cheapest option, but there it is.

 

[wineforfun]

Dave,
I agree with the Dragonette. We did not care for it. It seemed very flat to us. Have stuck with the original with modifications.

Also, are you only adding 1/3cup of oak and 3 tsp. tannin to that 18 gal. batch? or are you talking a regular 6 gal. batch?

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

This isn't Dragon Blood related but I value all of your wine knowledge and have a question. I have only been making wine for about 7 months and have made mostly Dragon Blood and other fruit wines and meads. I am stepping out and made a Cabernet Sauvignon from a kit. I have chosen to age in the bottles because carboys are a precious commodity for me and I have tons of bottles. So at bottling, the wine tastes good but "thin", for a lack of a better term. Since I haven't done a whole lot of aging with the varieties I've made, I don't completely understand what improves over time. I know that flavors can come forward but will aging improve the overall body of the wine?

 

[dangerdave]

Dave,
I agree with the Dragonette. We did not care for it. It seemed very flat to us. Have stuck with the original with modifications.

Also, are you only adding 1/3cup of oak and 3 tsp. tannin to that 18 gal. batch? or are you talking a regular 6 gal. batch?

Sorry if that was confusing. I'm adding 1 cup of oak to the 18 gallons in the fermenter. After I rack the wine into carboys, I add 3 tsp of wine tannin to each of the three six gallon batches. My wife has bad fibromyalgia, and she says she can tell the difference in her pain level with the extra tannin---which is known to have some anti-inflamitory properties.

 

[wineforfun]

Sorry if that was confusing. I'm adding 1 cup of oak to the 18 gallons in the fermenter. After I rack the wine into carboys, I add 3 tsp of wine tannin to each of the three six gallon batches. My wife has bad fibromyalgia, and she says she can tell the difference in her pain level with the extra tannin---which is known to have some anti-inflamitory properties.

I gotcha, thanks for the clarification. Are you just using basic tannin or is it something special?

 

[dangerdave]

Just basic stuff, nothing special.

 

[wineforfun]

Thank you.

 

[maurtis]

Sorry if that was confusing. I'm adding 1 cup of oak to the 18 gallons in the fermenter. After I rack the wine into carboys, I add 3 tsp of wine tannin to each of the three six gallon batches. My wife has bad fibromyalgia, and she says she can tell the difference in her pain level with the extra tannin---which is known to have some anti-inflamitory properties.

Interesting. My wife has fibro as well. I will try oaking in the primary and extra tannin in the secondary for my next batch. Thanks for the tip, Dave!

 

[Medic8106]

I racked my strawberry/banana/boysenberry dragon blood to the secondary on Jan 7th. Added kmeta 1/4 tsp and sparkalloid. I just got around to sweetening yesterday and noted a slight sulphur smell. Not horrible but enough even my wife smelled it during the process. I splash racked yesterday. Will it go away in time or should I splash rack again? Thoughts?

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

I racked my strawberry/banana/boysenberry dragon blood to the secondary on Jan 7th. Added kmeta 1/4 tsp and sparkalloid. I just got around to sweetening yesterday and noted a slight sulphur smell. Not horrible but enough even my wife smelled it during the process. I splash racked yesterday. Will it go away in time or should I splash rack again? Thoughts?

I have the All-In-One Wine Pump so when I notice the sulfur smell I will splash rack back and forth between two carboys several times. The smell is usually gone within a day. I would say that if you can still smell the sulfur after 24 hours, I would splash rack again.

 

[Ctmaro]

I racked my strawberry/banana/boysenberry dragon blood to the secondary on Jan 7th. Added kmeta 1/4 tsp and sparkalloid. I just got around to sweetening yesterday and noted a slight sulphur smell. Not horrible but enough even my wife smelled it during the process. I splash racked yesterday. Will it go away in time or should I splash rack again? Thoughts?

Hi Nathan,

I've had sulfur smell twice on my wines, and fixed them both by stripping some copper house wire bare, and stirring it in my wine. The copper reacts with H2S, precipitating out. It only takes 5 of 10 seconds of stirring and its gone.

Mark

 

[maurtis]

I would get a little sulfur smell when I would add all of my yeast nutrient all in the beginning. Once I started adding some in the beginning and the rest at the 1/3 or 1/2 sugar break I have not had an issue. I was stressing out my yeast.

But yes, I found that a splash racking would help cut the smell a good bit and the rest dissipated by the time I bottled.

 

[Ctmaro]

While on the subject of Dragonette;

I am thinking of trying a straight strawberry Dragonette, but run into the same problem I have had before when making plain strawberry wine: How do I get the additional juice from frozen (thawed) strawberries? Or can I buy strawberry juice somewhere?

I've looked everywhere I can think of, and can't find just juice anywhere. I don't want anything artificial.

Could I just add strawberries into the wine at step 4?

I've heard of people using extracts, but am afraid of an artificial taste to my finished wine.

Anyone have any ideas?

Mark

OKay. I am still working the kinks out on a Strawberry DB.

Now I am thinking a variation on Dave's "Sweet Strawberry Tart." I'll follow the "Tart" recipe with half the lemon juice, and then try adding strawberry juice instead of Daiquiri Mix.

Tart recipe says 1 cup of french medium toast oak; I have chips. Is this what you, Dave, used? I also saw mention of 1/3 cup oak powder ( I don't have ).

I'm still not sure about the juice. Am looking into Dave's suggest, but sounds spendy. I found, on-line, where you take 2# strawberries and 1 qt. water, and slowly simmer for 20 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve. It was part of a strawberry lemonade recipe. I might try that.

I will probably reduce the sugar way down; shooting for more of a dry wine with strawberry flavor.

Anyone out there making a dry DB? How does the fruit flavor hold up to being a dry wine?

I made a regular dry raspberry and seemed to lose a lot of the raspberry flavor even after flavor packing with fresh raspberry juice.

Mark

 

[Medic8106]

Thanks everyone. I will try the wire and then remember to add the nutrient in steps. It didn't have this smell when I went from the primary to secondary though.