DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[willie]

UPDATE- I completed the 1st rack of our Sweet Strawberry Tart yesterday after 3 days of SG readings of .992. I was lucky that I didn't have to top it off. In fact I wasn't able to quite put in all the Daily's Strawberry mix that, Dave has in his recipe so I will add the rest when I back sweeten. I have a batch of Tropical Blood that we will be bottling probably this Sat.

Will

 

[JSquared]

Update, my first batch of Original Dragon Blood has finally dropped below 1.0 SG, I'm now waiting for 3 days with the same reading to rack. I have a question, do more of you rack to a carboy to degas or to a second bucket to degas and then move to a carboy? I'm going to be degassing with a wand on a drill. The reason I ask is, I will need to purchase another bucket if I rack to a bucket if I go that route. Thanks for any advise, I'm such a noob still!

 

[willie]

Update, my first batch of Original Dragon Blood has finally dropped below 1.0 SG, I'm now waiting for 3 days with the same reading to rack. I have a question, do more of you rack to a carboy to degas or to a second bucket to degas and then move to a carboy? I'm going to be degassing with a wand on a drill. The reason I ask is, I will need to purchase another bucket if I rack to a bucket if I go that route. Thanks for any advise, I'm such a noob still!

JSquared, I just rack to a carboy add chems. and Degas real good so your clearing chem. works. Your really going to enjoy your DB. As soon as you have your bucket empty you should start planning starting another batch of what ever you want very soon. This great recipe is to make fast and drink fast. It will taste the best between 2-6 months old. Good luck and enjoy.

Will

 

[JSquared]

JSquared, I just rack to a carboy add chems. and Degas real good so your clearing chem. works. Your really going to enjoy your DB. As soon as you have your bucket empty you should start planning starting another batch of what ever you want very soon. This great recipe is to make fast and drink fast. It will taste the best between 2-6 months old. Good luck and enjoy.



Will

Thanks, I'll move it to my carboy and degas there! I'm thinking of either trying the tropical or the strawberry tart next. With so many variations, it's hard to decide and they all sound fabulous!

 

[bkisel]

... I have a question, do more of you rack to a carboy to degas or to a second bucket to degas and then move to a carboy? I'm going to be degassing with a wand on a drill. The reason I ask is, I will need to purchase another bucket if I rack to a bucket if I go that route. Thanks for any advise, I'm such a noob still!

My glass 23L/6 gal. Italian carboys are more like 6.5 gal. When I transfer to the carboy the wine generally comes up to the shoulder leaving nice head space for degassing etc.. After 2-4 days [not topped off at this point] most of what is going to settle early has done so and I rack to one of my plastic carboys to get the wine of the sediment and to begin bulk aging.

If I did not have the over capacity glass carboys I would rack to another bucket, do my stuff there and then rack again into one of my 6 gal. plastic carboys.

 

[JetJockey]

Just be careful with the stirring! You can cause a volcano if there's a lot of CO2. I rack half and vigorously stir, then add 1/4 more and stir again. When the gas is out, I add the rest and stir again. The CO2 comes out easier in warm wine than cold.

 

[JSquared]

Another noob question, how can you tell when all the CO2 is gone? I've been really stirring it twice a day and it has foamed a lot but how do you tell the difference between the gases and just bubbles from mixing? Thanks again, y'all are so helpful!!

 

[maurtis]

The bubbles from dissolved CO2 created during fermentation will be very small, bubbles from mixing will be much larger and come out pretty soon after you stop stirring.

And once you get to the end of fermentation you should see a lot less foaming.

 

[JetJockey]

I fill a big shot glass about 3/4 full and cover with my hand. I shake vigorously and slowly take my hand away while listening closely. If there is CO2, you will hear it escape or puff. Called a puff test. The benefit is you have to drink the shot when done. ;-)

 

[dangerdave]

If you stir it well during primary fermentation as instructed, you'll drive off a lot of CO2 that will make it much easier to degas later. When I started making wine, I stirred once...then got a vacuum pump. Now, there's no question about the gas. Apply pump. No bubbles = no gas.

 

[homesteader26]

Agree with JetJockey 3 days below 0.996 before adding k-meta, sorbate and degassing then clear and a week wait before adding any additional sugar back. It works great - patience is key.

 

[gaboy]

Can a BREW BELT be used on plactic BETTER Bottles without damage to the carboy?

 

[willie]

Can a BREW BELT be used on plactic BETTER Bottles without damage to the carboy?

I have a brew belt on one of my plastic carboys as I type. No problems here. If it gets too warm just put an insulating object between belt and carboy. I like to have temp. around 75 degrees.

Will

 

[gaboy]

Willie,THANKS for the info!!

 

[robert81650]

Thanks Dave for the post and recipe......gonna try soon.

 

[cheesehead]

If you stir it well during primary fermentation as instructed, you'll drive off a lot of CO2 that will make it much easier to degas later. When I started making wine, I stirred once...then got a vacuum pump. Now, there's no question about the gas. Apply pump. No bubbles = no gas.

Dave, did you run into any issues with your strawberry recipe clearing? Ive hit mine with 2 doses of superkleer and added an additional partial dose of pectic enzyme to get it to clear and it looks like i am going to have to rack it a few more times to get it of the lees. I should technically be bottling it this week but thats a definite nogo as it isnt near as clear prior to filtering as it should be. I did add 2 bottles (58.6 oz) of real fruit daiquiri mix so that was a bit more than your 96oz's and that may have initiated a referment early on but no activity now for 8 days SG is .990 just extremely cloudy but smells great in the house and even tastes good prior to backsweetening also have racked 4 additional times to degass, any suggestions master? lol

 

[calvin]

I would try a full extra dose of pectic enzyme. I had the same problem with my first batch. My second batch I used double the pectic enzyme in the primary and it cleared really fast. Also make sure it is degassed.

 

[dangerdave]

Dave, did you run into any issues with your strawberry recipe clearing? Ive hit mine with 2 doses of superkleer and added an additional partial dose of pectic enzyme to get it to clear and it looks like i am going to have to rack it a few more times to get it of the lees. I should technically be bottling it this week but thats a definite nogo as it isnt near as clear prior to filtering as it should be. I did add 2 bottles (58.6 oz) of real fruit daiquiri mix so that was a bit more than your 96oz's and that may have initiated a referment early on but no activity now for 8 days SG is .990 just extremely cloudy but smells great in the house and even tastes good prior to backsweetening also have racked 4 additional times to degass, any suggestions master? lol

Strawberry has always been problematic for me. In the end, you'll just have to let it sit and clear. Mine took close to a month and several rackings until I thought it was clear enough to filter. I was wrong, and it took several filters (Vinbrite) to get it all through. If I had had the time, I would have left it sit for another month.

 

[Johngottshall]

Strawberry has always been problematic for me. In the end, you'll just have to let it sit and clear. Mine took close to a month and several rackings until I thought it was clear enough to filter. I was wrong, and it took several filters (Vinbrite) to get it all through. If I had had the time, I would have left it sit for another month.

I thought it was just me I ran mine thru a filter on Saturday it took about 1 1/2 to get it filtered but still cloudy as hell OK just letting it sit for awhile

 

[PittGrad]

Just wrapping up my first batch of DB, and will be ready to bottle this coming weekend. Color beautiful, cleared beautifully--the only issue is that though it tastes nice and fruity up front, it has an unmistakable bitterness on the finish. ONLY deviation from the stock recipe was cutting lemon juice to just 32 oz. but there still seems to be that 'store bought, not fresh' lemon juice bitterness.

I did back sweeten on the lighter side (little less than 3 cups total) but not sure i want to attempt to throw more sugar at this just to hide bitterness.

Hoping others might have had similar very early taste, and can tell me that it will even out after couple months in the bottle?