DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[Elmer]

6 months of bulk aging and took a sip.
SWMBO felt it was tart.
There was a tannic feel to it with a noticeable back of jaw punch.

Any thoughts as to why?

 

[dangerdave]

It’s supposed to be tart. It’s triple berry lemon wine. And I like tannin myself.

I’m not sure what “back of jaw punch” means. Could you explain?

Is it original recipe or did you switch things up?

 

[Elmer]

It’s supposed to be tart. It’s triple berry lemon wine. And I like tannin myself.

I’m not sure what “back of jaw punch” means. Could you explain?

Is it original recipe or did you switch things up?

I omit the lemon juice, mostly. I only put about 5-10 oz in (don’t have notes near me).
I also add about 1 oz of oak chips as it ages.

“Back of jaw punch” is that intense feeling in the jaw when you drink something.
I usually get it with red wine.
My untrained pallet assumes it is tannin.

I want to hand these bottles out for the holiday, but trying to determine if wine bad or just tart. I also assume that “bad” would be more vinegar taste.

I will rack again see what happens.

 

[crushday]

I tried my first bottle of DDDB tonight. I started it on August 20, 2019 according to DD’s recipe and bottled it on November 1st, 2019. Made to recipe adjusted for a 6.5 gallon batch. I used 8 pounds of Costco Triple Berries. Back sweetened with 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon. Tastes really good but a little too sweet for me.

Based on tonight’s tasting, I will make again but this time I’ll use only raspberries instead of the triple berry mix from Costco and only back-sweeten with 1/3 cup of sugar per gallon.

Thanks Danger Dave...

 

[bshef]

I back sweetened one gallon with frozen white grape concentrate and no sugar. It was just right for me. I'm planning on back sweetening the rest with frozen berry blend concentrate. Just enough to take the edge off the tartness. I also cut the lemon juice in half at the start. I interpret the back of jaw punch as tartness. A hint of back sweeten is the key. Never overdo; you can always add simple syrup if a bottle is not sweet enough. Too sweet and you have to find something super dry for a blend or make more and blend.

 

[Alibi Wines]

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

I make a cherry. 3 pounds tart, 3 pounds sweet. Backsweeten with 3 cups sugar, and sometimes for a real crowd pleaser, I'll add 6 oz. Brewers best natural chocolate People love it.

 

[patrikthehun]

Thank you Dave for a great recipe. I made a batch in Hungary and it turned out great. I'll try an apricot style this summer.
Great thread btw, read the whole thing, very good read and nice people.

 

[G259]

Apricot, I lost 1/3 to 1/2 of my volume to the solids that dropped out. Plan for that and have smaller vessles to to rack into. Search 'apricot' on this site.

 

[Jeremiah]

First batch clearing nicely! Unintentionally a quad berry. I bought my Triple Berry Blend from 2 different stores and they didn't contain the same blend. I had to say WOAH to my non-wine drinking friend who performed the taste test - she chugged the whole cup and loved it.

 

[willie]

View attachment 58626

First batch clearing nicely! Unintentionally a quad berry. I bought my Triple Berry Blend from 2 different stores and they didn't contain the same blend. I had to say WOAH to my non-wine drinking friend who performed the taste test - she chugged the whole cup and loved it.

Yep that's good ole Dragon Blood. It has a strange effect on the non wine drinkers. Lol

Will

 

[steve.m.molk]

Why only 1 pound per gallon of fruit it's usually 3-4 pounds per gallon?

 

[Johnd]

Why only 1 pound per gallon of fruit it's usually 3-4 pounds per gallon?

Use whatever # per gallon suits your fancy. I don’t like adding water to the fruit at all, and make mine with no water added.

 

[Jeremiah]

All bottled! Thanks for this thread.

 

[RocketBee]

I just started my first batch of DD-DB today. A productive day of work around the house...finished off a long-term project and a few odds and ends too. The day was capped off by putting all of the elements together, S.G. 1.075 before fruit was added. Everything is covered, but not sealed, yeast gets added tomorrow afternoon. I found organic triple berry mix at Sam's for $8.98/3 lb. bag. Not bad! Going to follow the recipe as closely as possible. Excited!

 

[Lwrightjs]

Just pitched yeast on another dragons blood. It's like.. 5 or 6..or 7 gallons and the OG is... Like 1.070 to 1080? The only downfall of drinking wine while making wine is that you sometimes end up with a different product than you expected. [emoji23]

 

[Jared Durham]

We are on our 4th batch. We normally do 2 6 gallon buckets at a time. Just finished fermenting 4 x 6 gallon batches. This is amazing stuff. Everyone wants some and we enjoy drinking it. So easy, you know exactly what you are getting. I hate wine, this is delicious!

 

[RocketBee]

About six days after yeast pitch on my first batch of Dragon's Blood and I'm starting to notice a slight rotten egg smell which I assume is a SO2 due to stressed yeast. Is there anything I should do in addition to the steps laid out in the directions? Add more nutrient?

Current S.G. is 1.010...still dropping over time, but the curve is naturally not as steep as earlier in the week. The temperature -- after the initial spike at 36 hours post yeast-pitch when it climbed to 77F -- has slowly dropped. I've been trying to manage it to be at or just below 70F and have been within 1 degree of 70F over the past two days. I've followed the directions closely except I've been pressing the fruit and stirring twice daily, roughly every 12 hours.

 

[Johnd]

About six days after yeast pitch on my first batch of Dragon's Blood and I'm starting to notice a slight rotten egg smell which I assume is a SO2 due to stressed yeast. Is there anything I should do in addition to the steps laid out in the directions? Add more nutrient?

Current S.G. is 1.010...still dropping over time, but the curve is naturally not as steep as earlier in the week. The temperature -- after the initial spike at 36 hours post yeast-pitch when it climbed to 77F -- has slowly dropped. I've been trying to manage it to be at or just below 70F and have been within 1 degree of 70F over the past two days. I've followed the directions closely except I've been pressing the fruit and stirring twice daily, roughly every 12 hours.

Sounds like a well orchestrated fermentation. The only nutrients that you should use at this point in time are organic, like Fermaid O, and you should use a small dose to get over the finish line. Keep in mind, that if you stick your nose down into the fermentation, it’s not uncommon to detect a slight sulfur odor, but a shot of “O” for insurance is what I would do if it were mine. In these cases, a little prevention really can save you a lot of hassle down the road.

 

[willie]

About six days after yeast pitch on my first batch of Dragon's Blood and I'm starting to notice a slight rotten egg smell which I assume is a SO2 due to stressed yeast. Is there anything I should do in addition to the steps laid out in the directions? Add more nutrient?

Current S.G. is 1.010...still dropping over time, but the curve is naturally not as steep as earlier in the week. The temperature -- after the initial spike at 36 hours post yeast-pitch when it climbed to 77F -- has slowly dropped. I've been trying to manage it to be at or just below 70F and have been within 1 degree of 70F over the past two days. I've followed the directions closely except I've been pressing the fruit and stirring twice daily, roughly every 12 hours.

Sounds like your ferment is going just fine. You don't have to add any extra chems. If you followed Dave's recipe it's pretty much full proof. What you smell is pretty normal. It will go away when your ferment is finished.

Will

 

[fsa46]

Has anyone tried any of the Vintners fruit wine bases for DB recipe ? I've used it for making wine with excellent results and would think that it would really compliment the lemon in Dragon Blood.