DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[wineforfun]

Never made that mix but did use a tropical mix, ie: mango, pineapple, strawberry and something else. It was based off of Dave's "Tropical Daze" recipe. I used 3lbs. for a 2 gal. batch. Flavor was just fine. Not overwhelming, but there.

For your 6 gal. batch, try 6lbs. of peaches and 6 pounds of mangos. I think you will be happy with the result. Just make sure and squeeze the %&$#* out of the fruit bag every day.

 

[JetJockey]

To answer the other part of the question, regardless of the fruit amount, I add enough water to the primary to the 6 gal mark. Therefore, the amount of water varies based on the amount of fruit. Actually I use higher amounts of fruit, so I top up at least 6.5 gallons or more. Just so I can stir. This yeast doesn't foam much. I use an AIO wine pump so I'm not moving the primary or stirring it to get CO2 out before the secondary to cause a spill.

 

[jumby]

I make a peach, mango, pineapple variant all the time and use 9-10 lbs of fruit. It's by far the most popular fruit wine I make.

 

[opus345]

I'm 3 weeks into my first DB and close to bottling. I want to get another batch going but have a question. Many of my questions have been answered by reading this LENGTHY thread but I'm up to post # 2360 and haven't seen an answer to my question. (apologies if this has been asked already) I'm going to start a batch of Peach/Mango and am going with 10# of each fruit. I was a little surprised how much the water level raised with the addition of 6#. So adding 16#-20# of fruit like many are doing now, do you reduce the amount of water into the must to say, 5 or 5 1/2 gallons help with the volume of the extra fruit? I think my primary is 7 1/2 gallons and a little concerned about getting too high (no pun intended) in the primary.

One answer is to increase the size of your primary. You should be able to pick up an NSF Rubbermaid 20 Gal Brute at either Home Depot or Walmart. They are also available at Amazon. The cool part about getting a Brute is that you are now ready to start double and triple batches of DB.

 

[drainsurgeon]

One answer is to increase the size of your primary. You should be able to pick up an NSF Rubbermaid 20 Gal Brute at either Home Depot or Walmart. They are also available at Amazon. The cool part about getting a Brute is that you are now ready to start double and triple batches of DB.

Thanks Opus, I have given that idea some thought. Might have to make a trip to Home Depot tomorrow.

 

[drainsurgeon]

Bob, I'll top it to the 6 gallon mark and not worry about getting too close to the top then...see what happens.

Jumby, I had thought about adding some pineapple also. Did you also add some pineapple juice with the lemon? If so, how much of both?

 

[Winenoob66]

Why not just drop the lemon and use 2 48oz cans of pineapple juice instead?

 

[jumby]

Bob, I'll top it to the 6 gallon mark and not worry about getting too close to the top then...see what happens.

Jumby, I had thought about adding some pineapple also. Did you also add some pineapple juice with the lemon? If so, how much of both?

I stuck with the lemon juice. The only variations I did from Dave's original recipe is I added more fruit and I use SuperKleer instead of Sparkolloid. I back sweeten with 1 cup of sugar per gallon..

 

[bkisel]

My first Brute bucket was not carried by Home Depot in-store. It had to be ordered online and then picked up at the store. Think it came in about 2-3 days - very fast.

My second Brute was ordered off Amazon and probaly arrived in 5-6 days.

I recommend the white buckets so that they can be marked on the outside and the same marks can bee seen through to the inside of the bucket.

 

[NCWC]

Gave my brew a taste today seamed flat the ph was 3.15 raised it to 2.90-293 range added a touch more tannin powder tasted better needs to rest now for a week or 3

 

[drainsurgeon]

Why not just drop the lemon and use 2 48oz cans of pineapple juice instead?

I'm sure that I read (post 20,000 something ) that someone tried this and all they could taste was the pineapple. I want all the flavors to come through so I will probably reduce the lemon juice and maybe split the starter juice between lemon and lime. Maybe 16oz of each and will add the little bit of pineapple juice that is in the cans with the pineapple. If the taste test (after clearing) is missing something I can still add a concentrate or f-pac to bring that flavor through. My first batch of DB is ready to bottle and is already a great wine. Can't wait for it to age a bit. Thanks for the idea though!

 

[Aleks]

Hi everyone,been reading this thread for hours now and I`m almost ready to make dragon blood as my first wine. Thank you Dave.
This might be a stupid question, what is Realemon? Is it something you drink from the bottle or is it like freshly squeezed lemon?
I can`t find it in Norway so can I use fresh lemon juice? Same amount?

 

[wineforfun]

Hi everyone,been reading this thread for hours now and I`m almost ready to make dragon blood as my first wine. Thank you Dave.
This might be a stupid question, what is Realemon? Is it something you drink from the bottle or is it like freshly squeezed lemon?
I can`t find it in Norway so can I use fresh lemon juice? Same amount?

It is a brand of lemon juice here in the US. Here is a link. https://www.drpeppersnapplegroup.com/brands/realemon/
Just use whatever is the equivalent in Norway.

 

[Aleks]

The frozen mixed berry we have in store here is: 25% blackberry, 25% raspberry, 20% blueberry, 20% red currants and 10% black currants. any good?

 

[Aleks]

Thanks wineforfun

 

[dcbrown73]

The frozen mixed berry we have in store here is: 25% blackberry, 25% raspberry, 20% blueberry, 20% red currants and 10% black currants. any good?

Sounds like it would make a good wine. My frozen mixed fruit was strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. It made a great wine too, though I mostly taste the strawberries and blueberries.

 

[chrisjw]

I'm sure that I read (post 20,000 something ) that someone tried this and all they could taste was the pineapple. I want all the flavors to come through so I will probably reduce the lemon juice and maybe split the starter juice between lemon and lime. Maybe 16oz of each and will add the little bit of pineapple juice that is in the cans with the pineapple. If the taste test (after clearing) is missing something I can still add a concentrate or f-pac to bring that flavor through. My first batch of DB is ready to bottle and is already a great wine. Can't wait for it to age a bit. Thanks for the idea though!

I used 64 oz of 100% pineapple juice (instead of lemon juice) and cannot taste pineapple at all. The most distinctive flavor is raspberry from the 6 lbs of frozen triple berry. I just sweetened this batch today so maybe it will change over time. My only worry is acidity level. It tastes fine but I need to test it.

 

[drainsurgeon]

I used 64 oz of 100% pineapple juice (instead of lemon juice) and cannot taste pineapple at all. The most distinctive flavor is raspberry from the 6 lbs of frozen triple berry. I just sweetened this batch today so maybe it will change over time. My only worry is acidity level. It tastes fine but I need to test it.

I never thought to try the pineapple juice with the triple berry. Sounds . The batch I'm about to start is more of a tropical blend. I'm using peaches, mangoes, pineapple and throwing in 2 or 3 bananas. I'm thinking about mixing lemon, lime and pineapple juice in the starter. I'm surprised you can't taste pineapple with 64 oz. Evidently it cleared ok so I'm adding some in mine. I still don't understand the acidity thing and how it affects the finished product. We're all learning thanks to this great forum!

 

[drainsurgeon]

My first Brute bucket was not carried by Home Depot in-store. It had to be ordered online and then picked up at the store. Think it came in about 2-3 days - very fast.

My second Brute was ordered off Amazon and probaly arrived in 5-6 days.

I recommend the white buckets so that they can be marked on the outside and the same marks can bee seen through to the inside of the bucket.

Thanks bkisel, I just ordered from Amazon. They were about 1/2 the price of Home Depot.

 

[drainsurgeon]

Wow! I finally caught up to the current posts after reading the whole Dragon Blood Thread. I can't say enough about this forum and what I've learned in the last 3 weeks. I've got 5 pages of notes and 8 recipes from this thread alone! I'm bottling my first batch today and it is fantastic! I've been stealing glasses out of the carboy for about a week already. Can't wait to see how much better it will get in a couple of months. (like it will last that long) Ordered my 20 gal Brute today and will start my second DB this afternoon (Mango, Peach, Pineapple).

Once again, thank you all for being so patient with apprentice brewers and sharing the vast knowledge you all have acquired.

Even though I've been brewing kits for several years (and not really understanding what all the packets were or what they did), this has been like a shot of adrenaline in a glass-what fun!!

My wife has been starting to use the "obsession" word lately. Are there therapy classes available?