DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[willie]

I racked it yesterday to a carboy and didn't have enough wine to fill it up to the tip, the neck is open to air and it's sitting at the top ridge on the carboy. Is this okay?

Without seeing a pic of the carboy I am thinking you should add some white zin. or Moscato but I have had my wine down from a inch or more from the neck and it was just fine. I want to say that time would play in here. Would rack soon after the wine is good and clear. Someone else may have a different opinion. Just going by my experience.

Will

 

[Steve Wargo]

I racked it yesterday to a carboy and didn't have enough wine to fill it up to the tip, the neck is open to air and it's sitting at the top ridge on the carboy. Is this okay?

You can always add sanitized marbles or something to take up space in the carboy. Also, maybe place the carboy on the floor where temps are cooler. The top of the fridge might be too warm

 

[G259]

I racked it yesterday to a carboy and didn't have enough wine to fill it up to the tip, the neck is open to air and it's sitting at the top ridge on the carboy. Is this okay?

No, keep the airlock on it, air will spoil it over time.
(just making sure you at least have an airlock on!)

A little air under the airlock is not a problem, as CO2 from the fermentation will fill this gap, and protect your wine.

If the 'curl' of the neck is filled with wine, you are good to go.

 

[Mountainjack]

Has anyone made Cherry? do you need more than 6lbs for 6 gal?

Back in 15 I did a cherry berry blend of fruits from Sam's. It consisted of Dark Sweet Cherries, Red Tart Cherries, Strawberries, and Blueberries. I used 6# of fruit and was very pleased with it. I need to make another batch if Sam's still carries that blend.

 

[Lwrightjs]

Would I have any issues if I didn't degas properly before bottling? Most of the gas was gone but would the rest disappate over time?

 

[Johnd]

Would I have any issues if I didn't degas properly before bottling? Most of the gas was gone but would the rest disappate over time?

No, once it’s bottled, it can’t get out.

 

[G259]

When you open it, it may pop, or more than pop. I have had to clean wine off of my ceiling (and everywhere else), btw - I have 9' ceilings (and it wasn't a little)! One of those occurrences when time stops, and the only thing you can say is 'No Way!'

 

[C Jones]

New to the group. I just back sweetened my first batch today. It's a four berry. S.g. was 1.085 and finished at .990. Used 3/4 cup per gal and Sg was at about 1.005. Its hot going down and semi sweet. Leaving for 5 days.
I did six gallons and went to a one and five for final test..
This was fun.
My next batch is going to be with blackberries I grew and maybe some blueberries.
Trying to decide on a blue ,black
Or just blackberry.
Any suggestions?

 

[porkchopmessiah]

No, once it’s bottled, it can’t get out.

On degassing, I recently bought a vac pump, having read that too much vaccum for too long adversely effects flavor, any guidelines on pressure and duration?

 

[dangerdave]

BlackBerry is one of my favorites. Did a batch a few years ago with 30lbs a friend gave me. Delicious!

As for degassing...I have never heard of “too much vacuum for too long effects flavor”. Just degas until it’s degassed.

 

[Johnd]

On degassing, I recently bought a vac pump, having read that too much vaccum for too long adversely effects flavor, any guidelines on pressure and duration?

When vacuum degassing, the initial release of CO2 is pretty substantial, very small bubbles that foam up a lot, and switching the pump on an off will help prevent sucking foam into the vacuum line if you don't have a lot of head space. My setup has an inline valve in the suction line that can be adjusted to allow air in, thereby decreasing the vacuum and the foaming. As the vacuuming progresses, and the amount of foaming subsides, slowly closing off the inline valve allows the vacuum to increase slightly. Once the inline valve is completely shut, and the vacuum nears 29 inHg, the bubbles typically become very large (as opposed to the little foamy bubbles). I'll let it run like that maybe 30 seconds or so, then shut it down. At that point, I call it done and have not had any CO2 issues when doing it that way, nor any loss of taste.

 

[porkchopmessiah]

On degassing, I recently bought a vac pump, having read that too much vaccum for too long adversely effects flavor, any guidelines on pressure and duration?

Fair enoug....bottled last night

 

[DinoSorez]

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• DinoSorez
• Aug 5, 2019

Bottled them yesterday, half of them are sweetend with a 1:1 simple syrup and 1/2 Tbsp of that syrup in each bottle and the rest aren't sweetened at all. I enjoy it alot, i like the tartness, but it's also not overly tart.

Hopefully you can all see the picture

 

[dangerdave]

That’s awesome Dino! Great job!

 

[DinoSorez]

Just made up another batch, except with just blueberries and its 20 lbs of fruit. The problem is that I forgot my yeast at work last night and won't be able to add the yeast until it has been sitting for 48 hours, is there anything that I should be doing to the must before adding the yeast, now that it has been such a long time?

 

[willie]

Just made up another batch, except with just blueberries and its 20 lbs of fruit. The problem is that I forgot my yeast at work last night and won't be able to add the yeast until it has been sitting for 48 hours, is there anything that I should be doing to the must before adding the yeast, now that it has been such a long time?

Your must should be fine till you can add your yeast.

Will

 

[detlion1643]

My wife likes sweet wines while I prefer not so fruity and dry. So with all of my fruit wines, when done in primary (under 1.000), while racking to secondary I drop in sorbate and 5-6 cups of sugar. This normally gets the sugar levels to around 1.015. Way too much for me but my wife loves them that sweet. With DB, I've made a couple smaller batches around 1.005 and it came out great to my tastes. A couple ice cubes and chilled DB on a hot evening after yard work, yes please!

 

[crushday]

Has anyone accomplished an extended maceration by keeping the berries on the dragon’s blood must for 8-9 weeks? Unless I hear otherwise, that’s my plan right now. I’m going to start the wine this week.

 

[gbrickey]

I do extended maceration on premium red kits that include the grape skins - but even so only do a max of 4 weeks total including fermentation. When I made Dragon's blood I squished all the berries into a pulp on the first day, and continued to mash it every day during fermentation. By the end of fermentation there wasn't much left in the bag but seeds and maybe some blueberry skins. I would worry that 8-9 weeks with all those seeds would create too much of the bitter tannin that seeds have. My wine came out perfect - beautiful red color and very fruity.

 

[crushday]

I do extended maceration on premium red kits that include the grape skins - but even so only do a max of 4 weeks total including fermentation. When I made Dragon's blood I squished all the berries into a pulp on the first day, and continued to mash it every day during fermentation. By the end of fermentation there wasn't much left in the bag but seeds and maybe some blueberry skins. I would worry that 8-9 weeks with all those seeds would create too much of the bitter tannin that seeds have. My wine came out perfect - beautiful red color and very fruity.

Very good. Voice of experience prevails on my first attempt. Subsequent attempts likely will be different and I’ll have a sample to compare.